Alright. Uncle. I give. I thought you meant "toxic" when you said
"poison". I guess we'd agree then that HCl has a toxic action to eyes
because of it's corrosive nature but it's not posionous to the upper GI
tract? :) Symantics. Gotta love it.
I understand that radiator coolant smells sweet and therefore, attracts
deer. Never twice though.
Lama
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Gwinn" <joegwinn@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Jim L'Hommedieu" <lamadoo@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2002 9:36 PM
Subject: Poisons versus corrosives
> Yes. The above examples are of corrosion, not poisoning. The body does
not produce sulphuric acid, it's hydrochloric acid that is generated in the
stomach.
>
> The question is not if you would want somebody to wash their eyes with
stomach acid -- of course not. The question is what would happen if they by
chance got some in their eyes. It has to have happened that many a sick
child got some vomit into their eyes. I bet it hurt, but I've never heard
of a child being blinded or even damaged by such a thing. And the problem
will come from the digestive enzymes activated by the hydrochloric acid, not
from the acid itself.
>
> If on the other hand, someone drank stomach acid, at its normal
concentration, exactly nothing would happen, though it would taste very
sour. As noted before, if concentrated enough, these chemicals are
corrosive, but it does not follow that they are poisons when dilute enough
that they don't chew a hole in something.
>
> Another common chemical that's dangerously corrosive and yet not poisonous
is sodium hydroxide, also known as lye. Sodium hydroxide reacts with the
hydrochloric acid in the stomach to yield sodium chloride (ordinary table
salt) and water. People (usually toddlers) that eat lye suffer because
their esophagus and perhaps stomach is terribly burned, but are not
poisoned. Next time you are in the grocery store, read the text on a can of
lye. One of the standard uses is to "sweeten" slops fed to swine. "Slops"
is table scraps, food waste, etc that's been fermented to soften it up, but
it becomes acid in the process. Lye (sodium hydroxide) is then added to
neutralize the acid, making the slops palatable to the pigs.
>
> By the same token, many real poisons are tasteless and non-corrosive,
don't even upset the stomach, and are all the more lethal for it. For
instance, the lead oxide that used to be used in white oil paint reportedly
tastes sweet, and arsenic trioxide is tasteless. Remember Arsenic and Old
Lace?
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|