Questions tagged [toxicity]
Questions on the harmful effects of various substances on the human body, or biological organisms in general.
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If I spilled mercury in a carpeted room 28 years ago will it have evaporated by now? [closed]
I made a really stupid mistake as a kid 28 years ago and spilled about one teaspoon of mercury onto a carpeted floor of a room about 12x12 feet. I’m assuming it was organic mercury only because it was ...
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betamechaptoethanol smell [closed]
I am doing my masters in science and today one of our neighbors from the other lab came to heat his samples on a heating pad. the samples were in small tubes which contained Betamechaptoethanol, when ...
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Do we understand why Dimethyl Mercury is so toxic?
I have read extensively about Prof. Wetterhahn and in the Wikipedia Wetterhahn mercury poisoning article it said her blood mercury (I do not know if the test measures mercury or the compound) was 4000 ...
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Are there any real dangers to using lead fishing sinkers to hold a shower curtain in place?
I am hoping someone can help me consider if there are any factors that would make the use of lead fishing sinkers such as these in the shower risky enough to stop doing it. Specifically, they are ...
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Can you infer toxicity of an ionic compound based on the toxicity of its ions in other configurations?
Suppose I have two ionic compounds: "NaY" and "XCl". If these were both 'safe' to eat, would it be true that ...
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Relationship between grams of root and content in a tea
When we make a tea from a some herb, what exactly is the relation between the weight of the herb/root stepped in hot water and how many grams/milligrams are in the tea.
For context and giving a ...
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Could a beach have green or blue sand due to a nearby copper deposit? How poisonous would such a beach be? [closed]
I am in the midst of a world building project and am wondering about green sand from copper oxide/patina material. The material could either be washed into the water from a nearby land deposit or be ...
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Why is cyanuric triazide environmental friendly and less toxic?
This is the first line on Wikipedia:
Cyanuric triazide ($\ce{C3N12}$ or $\ce{(NCN3)3}$) is described as an environmentally friendly, low toxicity, and organic primary explosive with a detonation ...
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How fast does potassium hydroxide turn into potassium carbonate, in the case of leaked AA or AAA batteries? [closed]
When batteries start to leak, the highly toxic potassium hydroxide comes out, but it reacts with the carbon dioxide in the air and turn into the less toxic potassium carbonate salt. I'm wondering how ...
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Understanding grades of steel for cookware. 18/10 vs 18/8
I am looking for a stainless steel cookware and while researching on the best kind of stainless steel cookware, I came across this comment on youtube:
Actually 18/10 steel is better and costlier. You'...
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Purpose of measuring chloroform soluble extractives
I noticed that tests such as the FDA ones are measuring "chloroform soluble extractives". I understand that chloroform is toxic and its effect to human if exposed to it. But does that mean ...
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Would the addition of Citric and Phosphoric Acid or Potassium Carbonate to agricultural water supply result in health/safety concerns?
I am doing a small greenhouse project for fun. As a side benefit of this project, I was hoping to consume the food that I will be producing. I have been checking all of the products that I will be ...
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Producing hydrogen sulfide—difficult to do much?
When I was young (nearly sixty years ago), my "chemistry set" taught me how to heat sulfur and candle wax to stink up the house. It had no warning that hydrogen sulfide is toxic and ...
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How does this coin-and-strike-paper trick work (and is it safe)?
When I was a kid I remember a thing an adult showed me where you would take a piece of strike paper from a matchbox, rest it on a "copper" coin (I have no idea what these coins are made of), ...
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What are the safest non-toxic elements I can own? [closed]
As in a recent question, I mentioned I collect elements. My collection already has quite a few elements and a rare alloy
(I have silicon, molybdenum, tungsten, gold, platinum, silver, copper, ...
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Can osmium react with oxygen at room temperature?
I’m an avid collector of elements (I love shiny rocks - don’t judge).
I’m looking to buy some osmium, as it’s one of the heaviest and hardest metals out there.
However, people online told me to avoid ...
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Why is Denaturated alcohol made poisonous? [closed]
I understand the need to denaturate alcohol, as to have a material that can be used for non-food products without the heavy alcohol beverage tax.
So, adding a foul tasting bitter substance like ...
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What replaced lead-based pigments? [closed]
In the 1960s and before, even black and white letters had some lead from the actual metallic letters used by typesetters—some rubbed off. Same thing with books printed before 1970 or so and libraries ...
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I mix table salt and baking soda with water to make mouth rinse, and leave them for several days. It started to form precipitation, and a bad odor [closed]
I mixed 2 spoons of baking soda with 1 spoon of salt and mixed them with water (but not mixing totally) and left them for several days. At first I saw some bubble but the water was clear, but then it ...
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when copper oxide is dissolved in vinegar does it release copper oxide gas [closed]
i was cleaning my pennies in a bowl of vinegar and table salt and was wondering when the copper oxide on the pennies dissolves does it release copper oxide gas or a gas i should be worried about. I ...
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Do baking soda or vinegar reduce toxicity? [closed]
Both baking soda and vinegar can be used to remove cigarette odor from cloth and surfaces, at least temporarily. Do they reduce toxicity of the third hand cigarette smoke too or just 'hide' the smell?
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What are chemicals that will create a similar reaction to baking soda and vinegar for my book?
I'm writing a book based on a dream I had, but after some research I can't find too much on a specific reaction I want. The main character mixes a clear liquid and yellow powder which hisses and ...
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Why are zinc shot and mossy zinc not considered toxic but zinc granules are?
In our lab we have three forms of zinc. We were initially experimenting with these three forms to optimize our application. We have "zinc shot", "mossy zinc", and "zinc ...
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Why are tri-organotin chloride compounds so dangerous? [closed]
Organotin compounds are compounds with the tin-carbon bond and some of them(specifically the tri-organo chloride ones) are as toxic as hydrogen cyanide. Why is this though as I don't really know some ...
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Why is osmium(VIII) oxide so toxic?
Osmium(VIII) oxide or osmium tetroxide is a volatile chemical compound with the formula of $\ce{OsO4}$. It is highly toxic for supposedly irritating mucous membranes, but I'm not too sure if it is ...
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Why are all of the group 16 hydrides/hydrogen chalcogenides except H2O toxic? [closed]
I mean ($\ce{H2O}$) is non-toxic and is needed everyday but all of the other group 16 hydrides (hydrogen sulfide ($\ce{H2S}$), hydrogen selenide ($\ce{H2Se}$), hydrogen telluride ($\ce{H2Te}$) and ...
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What toxic gases are emitted during the combustion of potassium ferrocyanide? [closed]
I have read that Hydrogen Cyanide is emitted if Potassium Ferricyanide is combusted, but would this be the same case for Potassium Ferrocyanide? I am preparing to perform some case hardening on steel ...
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Avoiding chemical reactions with carbonated alcoholic drinks
I'm making a cooling beverage dispenser for carbonated drinks. The keg remains room temperature and the beverage rises through a pipe that's coiled up inside a cooling unit filled with water or ...
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Is Fluorine more toxic than Chlorine?
Fluorine is more reactive than Chlorine. But does it mean that Fluorine can cause more damage to living tissues? If so, why wasn't Fluorine used in WW1 instead of Chlorine?
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Biological activity of the isotopes of the same element
I have a question regarding biological activity of different isotopes of the same elements, notably $\ce{^206Pb}$ and $\ce{^208Pb}$. Lead is known to be toxic, such that it can replace calcium from ...
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What compound(s) contribute to bleach's smell and are they dangerous?
Just a few hours ago, I had to deal with a mold problem on some untreated wood and was told by a hardware store worker that bleach was an effective way to deal with the problem, following up with some ...
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Accidentally sprayed the wrong product in my mouth [closed]
I sprayed the wrong product in my mouth the other day. It was a spray hand cleaner. Noticed the mistake right away and immediately spit it out and then rinsed my mouth. But even so, my tongue and ...
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Chemical safety information: Where to look to find out how poisonous poisons are?
Could someone point me toward a primer on how to read the toxicity warnings on standard chemical data sheets? Or alternatively, where one should look for more precise information than is contained on ...
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How are the toxic components in a mixture identified?
I was doing research on buckwheat sprouts (as to whether I should include them in my diet) and I came across a website that said eating too much can cause fagopyrism, which is caused by compounds ...
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How do I understand exactly how hazardous a material is based on SDS?
I work with a lab occasionally and get asked often if a chemical is safe to breathe, how hazardous is it if it lands on skin, etc. For the most part, I'll try to go to an SDS and look it up. The ...
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How do structural differences between neostigmine and TL-599 contribute to differences in toxicity?
Stevens and Beutel studied the activity of several carbamate anticholinesterases. Among other things, they found that the (4-trimethylammonio)phenyl dimethylcarbamate iodide (The para-analog of ...
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Why are S-thiocarbamates less toxic than carbamates?
According to Haley and Rhodes, neostigmine bromide (alternatively known as Prostigmine) has an LD50 in mice of around 0.165 mg/kg by IV injection. Pubchem claims that this is also the LD50 for ...
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How does lead toxicity from jewelry happen vs. occupational exposure?
It is known that lead levels in jewelry is a problem, especially for children (https://dtsc.ca.gov/toxics-in-products/lead-in-jewelry/). As a parent with jewelry-loving children I am aware that ...
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Is it OK to dispose of potassium hydrogen phthalate into the sewer system?
I have been using potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) for creating primary standards. I have looked into the Flinn catalog, and the disposal consideration is classified as "organic acids, must be ...
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Could there ever be a way to safely handle visible amounts of elements like astatine, francium, or protactinium? [closed]
This is something I'd actually be interested in doing if possible. I've asked about artificial stability here https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/584595/could-there-at-least-theoretically-ever-...
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Do hydrogen sulfide and oxygen produce pure sulfur or sulfur dioxide? If both, under which circumstances does each scenario occur? [closed]
If both of the following hydrogen sulfide and oxygen chemical equations can occur, under what circumstances is the harmless pure sulfur and the toxic sulfur dioxide produced?
$\ce{2H2S + O2 -> 2H2O ...
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Is elemental lead as toxic as lead compounds? [duplicate]
On the internet, nobody mentions about lead's oxidation state when talking about lead poisoning. I assume it's Pb(II) and Pb(IV), as chelation therapy is suggested as a treatment. Also, its ...
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Using the right equipment for successful detection of Novichok [closed]
Apparently, Navalny’s biomaterials were flown to Moscow's Nii Sklif lab which didn't find any traces of the poison. But they used an American Agilent Technologies GC-MS [1], while Bundeswehr ...
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A dataset of drugs or molecules that failed the FDA approval process
I am looking for a dataset of bad drugs, the opposite of FDA approved drugs.
There is this database of withdrawn drugs, but these drugs were withdrawn after making it into the market.
Is there any ...
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What chemical properties of ethanol make it usable for drinks as compared to that of methanol? [closed]
Methanol ($\ce{CH3OH}$) and ethanol ($\ce{C2H5OH}$) both are the organic compounds having an alcoholic group. The alcoholic beverages (liquors and spirits) for human consumption (albeit injurious to ...
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How toxic chemically is plutonium (Pu), neglecting the radioactive damage?
In Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb, he says that, while Pu is not that radioactive (which is surprising -- maybe he means compared with radium and some other elements), it is very toxic.
I would ...
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What is the mechanism of AChE inhibition by Onchidal?
A naturally-occuring neurotoxin, called Onchidal, produced by a species of sea slug acts as an irreversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase. The structure of Onchidal is presented below:
How and ...
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Why is methyl parathion less toxic than ethyl parathion?
According to the PubChem pages on ethyl parathion and methyl parathion (pages 11 and 12 of the toxicity section, respectively), methyl parathion is significantly less toxic than ethyl parathion. The ...
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Will a dangerous amount of lead leach into soil from a galvanised corrugated steel raised bed? [closed]
I have searched, found similar questions but none answer my specific need.
I have built a raised garden bed to grow vegetables (ironically due to a high lead content in our garden soil - planning to ...
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Why are carbamates capable of inhibiting acetylcholinesterase?
Certain carbamate compounds, such as the insecticide carbaryl or the Edgewood carbamates such as EA-3990, can inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. Unlike organophosphorus compounds, however, they ...
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