The Most Toxic Chemical You've Handled
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I think the worst I've had direct contact with was something called aqua regia which is used to dissolve stuff like gold and platinum. I also work with something called silane which is pretty explosive. There are other chemicals at work but they're all secret formulas.
I haven't handled many hazardous chemicals so much as handled animals chock full of toxins... often to throw at mates.
AIDS infested blood? No one knew that the patient had AIDS until AFTER the operation. I had my hands deep in the patient's abdomen full of blood(had gloves on obviously). Still, spent the next hour in the bathroom inspecting my hands for cuts and freaking out. That happened when I was starting out at my job.
How the hell did he think that the flask was empty? I mean, really. It's colorless, but not invisible.Knusper said:
OT: The most toxic stuff, hmm. I've had reactions that let off all kinds of nasty things (which is why they invented the hood), the first that comes to mind would be chlorine gas.
As for directly "handling" it, lab-grade ammonia probably. I work more with acids than anything else; they're less toxic and more "Oh god my hand is in a puddle on the ground". Had a couple burns from acids... hurts like a *****!
Dunno, probably first year science, drank limewater (CO2 indicator)
Teacher had spent 10 minutes explaining to us that it didn't actually taste like limes and was actually poisonous, so don't drink it.
Nautarlly I did, and it did taste sorta like limes... Go figure.
Teacher had spent 10 minutes explaining to us that it didn't actually taste like limes and was actually poisonous, so don't drink it.
Nautarlly I did, and it did taste sorta like limes... Go figure.
At one job I regularly worked around high concentrations of chlorine, hydrochloric acid, and a couple other carcinogens. Another job I worked at, I was regularly around liquid metals, and other chemicals that would kill you if you touched them but were apparently okay to breath in since the plant was mostly open air.... Glad I didn't work there very long.
My aunt's home-made chili. Honestly, the stuff makes concentrated acid seem like particularly strong orange juice.
I don't want to make too much light of the situation, since I understand that that stuff is DANGEROUS, but I thought the L4D2 hand missing its thumb was a fitting icon for someone talking about chemicals that can eat away at virtually anything.Johnny Impact said:
Wow it looks as though you've used more than your fair share of dangerous chemicals and substances! Mind if I ask what you do for a living? (Or was that all chem student stuff?)
Hydrochloric acid, definitely. It was the weak stuff though, only for my Chem class.
Oh, and this doesn't really count as a chemical, but pure Sodium. We went on a field trip to a lake and my teacher brought a small chunk of it with us. She threw it in, and, well, any a' you science majors should know what happened. Good thing there weren't any ducks around, they would've been blown sky high.
Oh, and this doesn't really count as a chemical, but pure Sodium. We went on a field trip to a lake and my teacher brought a small chunk of it with us. She threw it in, and, well, any a' you science majors should know what happened. Good thing there weren't any ducks around, they would've been blown sky high.
Dunno if anyone has already pulled this dick move (too many posts now to sift through) but I have to say that dangerous and toxic aren't interchangeable. Toxic is stuff like brevitoxin which is harmful through ingestion. Liquid nitrogen is an asphyxant when it vapourises back into nitrogen simply because it will stop you from taking up oxygen (like how carbon monoxide is), and explosives and napalm... well...
That's not to say that all explosives and asphyxants are non-toxic, but water and nitrogen, regardless of physical state, is non-toxic. The incredibly low temperature of liquid nitrogen is the only danger with it really... Nitrogen under standard conditions is basically inert, so therefore couldn't be toxic. The low temperature is a nightmare though, I can corroborate this due to the large burns I sustained when some prick spilled about half a litre of it over me by barging the tank while I was using it (you can still just about make out the scars several months on). Water... well, considering a massive amount of it is found in the body, we'd be pretty boned if it was toxic (to an appreciable level... given enough of anything you'd probably die).
Everyday toxicity can be found with nicotine, as has been mentioned, as well as stuff as commonplace as chocolate. Chocolate can lead to severe toxic damage to the nervous system, and death, but for humans this would take in excess of 20lbs. Nicotine, in a volume to form a barely visible droplet, dripped onto the tongue, is sufficient to kill an adult. It ranks alongside tetrodotoxin (and other animal venoms) and brevitoxin as one of the most toxic natural products. Also, any heavy metals, unless sufficiently chelated (bound) will do massive damage, such as gadolinium (3+ ion) used in MRI contrast agents.
Sorry... just finished the third year of a 4 years masters chemistry degree this afternoon with a synoptic exam... I'm reeling off so much chemistry to any situation at the moment, so I'm sorry
That's not to say that all explosives and asphyxants are non-toxic, but water and nitrogen, regardless of physical state, is non-toxic. The incredibly low temperature of liquid nitrogen is the only danger with it really... Nitrogen under standard conditions is basically inert, so therefore couldn't be toxic. The low temperature is a nightmare though, I can corroborate this due to the large burns I sustained when some prick spilled about half a litre of it over me by barging the tank while I was using it (you can still just about make out the scars several months on). Water... well, considering a massive amount of it is found in the body, we'd be pretty boned if it was toxic (to an appreciable level... given enough of anything you'd probably die).
Everyday toxicity can be found with nicotine, as has been mentioned, as well as stuff as commonplace as chocolate. Chocolate can lead to severe toxic damage to the nervous system, and death, but for humans this would take in excess of 20lbs. Nicotine, in a volume to form a barely visible droplet, dripped onto the tongue, is sufficient to kill an adult. It ranks alongside tetrodotoxin (and other animal venoms) and brevitoxin as one of the most toxic natural products. Also, any heavy metals, unless sufficiently chelated (bound) will do massive damage, such as gadolinium (3+ ion) used in MRI contrast agents.
Sorry... just finished the third year of a 4 years masters chemistry degree this afternoon with a synoptic exam... I'm reeling off so much chemistry to any situation at the moment, so I'm sorry
Done Mercury in hand before. Fun stuff (DO NOT DO, unless you know what you are doing with it, can easily go wrong).
Hazardous probably not originally, but I have twice helped clean out a chemical storeroom with funny smells coming from it. Both times there were defo some chemicals that were well past their date (and I saw quite a few compounds that would easily get highest warning sign).
I've always been a Chemisty guy so been around alot of the chemicals other students never even hear of ^^.
Hazardous probably not originally, but I have twice helped clean out a chemical storeroom with funny smells coming from it. Both times there were defo some chemicals that were well past their date (and I saw quite a few compounds that would easily get highest warning sign).
I've always been a Chemisty guy so been around alot of the chemicals other students never even hear of ^^.
I believe the worst thing I ever played with in Chemistry was Phosphorus pentachloride, or PCl5, whilst I've probably handled worse in Chemistry, I remember that one because the Chem teacher gave us a very specific, very graphic warning about it and it never left the confines of the glass-faced containment thing that I can't remember the name of (Had filtered airvents and such).