MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is made by chemically oxidizing DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) with hydrogen peroxide. This is an industrial process that requires controlled conditions and specialized purification equipment, not something you can safely or practically do at home. Virtually all MSM on the market is synthetically produced this way, and understanding the process can help you evaluate the quality of what you’re buying.
The Core Chemical Reaction
The starting material for MSM is DMSO, a solvent that itself is derived from wood pulp or petroleum processing. When DMSO reacts with hydrogen peroxide, it gains an extra oxygen atom, converting it from a sulfoxide into a sulfone. That sulfone is MSM. The reaction itself is straightforward in concept, but producing a pure, food-grade product from it requires careful control of temperature, pressure, and timing.
Industrial production typically runs this oxidation under low temperatures, generally between 0 and 20°C, to keep the reaction controlled and minimize unwanted byproducts. The process uses pressurized equipment to manage the flow of reactants precisely. Even small variations in conditions can leave behind unreacted DMSO or create impurities that would make the final product unsuitable for human consumption.
Purification: Distillation vs. Crystallization
Once the raw MSM is produced, it has to be purified. There are two main methods: crystallization and distillation. Crystallization dissolves the crude MSM in a solvent, then slowly cools it so pure MSM crystals form and impurities stay dissolved. It’s cheaper and less energy-intensive, but it can leave trace contaminants behind, including residual DMSO and heavy metals.
Distillation heats the MSM until it vaporizes, then collects and condenses the vapor. Because MSM has a different boiling point than its contaminants, this separation is more thorough. It uses significantly more energy, but the industry considers it the superior method. The most well-known GRAS-designated MSM product (OptiMSM, made by Bergstrom Nutrition) uses distillation specifically for this reason. If you see “distilled” on an MSM supplement label, that’s what it refers to.
Why All Commercial MSM Is Synthetic
MSM does exist naturally in small amounts in foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and milk. However, the concentrations are far too low to extract commercially. There is no cost-effective way to isolate meaningful quantities of MSM from plant or animal sources. Every MSM supplement you’ll find on shelves is produced through the DMSO oxidation process described above, regardless of how the label is marketed.
Some manufacturers imply their MSM is “plant-derived” or “natural.” This typically means the DMSO starting material came from lignin (a compound in wood pulp) rather than petroleum. The final MSM molecule is chemically identical either way. The distinction matters more for marketing than for your body.
Quality Standards and What to Look For
The FDA granted GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status to MSM for use in foods at levels up to 4,000 mg per kilogram in beverages and up to 30,000 mg per kilogram in food bars like granola and energy bars. This designation was based on review of the manufacturing process, purity specifications, and safety data.
Quality control in MSM manufacturing focuses on screening for residual DMSO, heavy metals, and other contaminants. The specifications originally included limits on aluminum content (less than 1 mg per kilogram), though these were later revised since the silicon dioxide used in production already meets Food Chemicals Codex standards. The United States Pharmacopeia maintains a monograph for MSM that sets purity benchmarks for both bulk MSM and tablet formulations.
When choosing a supplement, look for products that specify distillation purification, carry third-party testing certifications, and ideally reference compliance with USP or GRAS standards. These markers indicate the manufacturer is following the more rigorous end of production practices.
Why Home Production Isn’t Feasible
Even though the reaction sounds simple on paper, there are several reasons you can’t realistically make MSM at home. Hydrogen peroxide at the concentrations needed for this reaction is a strong oxidizer that can cause chemical burns and fires. DMSO is readily absorbed through the skin and carries anything dissolved in it directly into your bloodstream, making contamination especially dangerous. Controlling reaction temperatures near freezing while managing pressurized equipment requires lab-grade infrastructure.
The bigger problem is purification. Without access to industrial distillation or crystallization equipment, you have no reliable way to remove unreacted DMSO, residual peroxide, or trace contaminants from your product. Consuming impure MSM could expose you to compounds you’d never want in your body. Given that pharmaceutical-grade MSM supplements cost roughly $10 to $30 for a multi-month supply, the risk-to-reward ratio of home synthesis makes no practical sense.