• 5oap10116@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Chemist here: all the reds are correct but it would take so much time to explain why so many of the greens are super concerning. Every time I see this reposted it’s so concerning…I should just spend the 17 minutes and save a copy pasta response of everything horribly wrong with this.

    Edit: page 1 on the SDS for pure sulfur.

    • Contravariant@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If someone’s licking any of the transuranic elements I’m not sticking around to watch.

      Some stuff should simply not exist in a lickable quantity.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I see we’re continuing the trend of scaring literally everyone when a scientist gets excited.

  • Admetus@sopuli.xyz
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    3 months ago

    From my elementary knowledge of chemistry:

    I had to go looking for Mercury and Lead and sure enough they look about right.

    Column 1 reacts with water so you bet that’ll hurt. Hydrogen needs a boost to start reacting with oxygen so no naked flame is recommended.

    Anything in column 7 are desperate to rip electrons away from molecules so yes, permanent damage to your tongue and mouth.

    Uranium is alright if you lick it once. A guy ate uranium cake once on TV.

    The ‘Please reconsider’ lot seem to be a good way to die a horrible death by radiation.

    Tc I believe is technetium which is radioactive and emits gamma rays, perhaps not soluable so stays in your body and you become gamma-man.

    • Maalus@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It is. Activated carbon is used to treat diarrhoea, you basically swallow a chunk of carbon that absorbs any moisture it comes across

      • 5oap10116@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Don’t lick carbon nano tubes or buckyball. Also in general carbon powder can be a particulate inhalation issue.

        • model_tar_gz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          The table is about licking specifically. It’s not a breathability table. Just so that is clear.

          • 5oap10116@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            I assume if it’s getting anywhere near your mouth you’d also be breathing it but aside from that, ingestion is also a nogo.

            • model_tar_gz@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              The ingestion/breathability table might be more restrictive. Like, elemental Sulfur is perfectly fineno actually it’s not fine— but probably unpleasant to lick. Contact dermatitis likely but not life threatening—just one lick, ok; promise no more? ;)

              Breathing elemental Sulfur is also going to result in contact dermatitis -inside the lungs. Which is going make a really bad day.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Not moisture but reactive molecules. (I mean, many forms probably do still absorb a good bit but) I forgot the exact chemistry but “activated” means chemically reactive. It binds with all sorts of reactive molecules, like toxins and many other things.

  • IrregularChore@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Elemental mercury isn’t very bioavailable so licking the surface of a pool of mercury isn’t going to hurt you much if at all. (Assuming you just do it once). Plus the density of mercury is going make it hard for you to slurp up a significant quantity the stuff anyway.

    If you want to know about the horrible potential for mercury to mess you up look for stories about dimethyl mercury exposure. Its the fat soluble varieties that give mercury it’s reputation.

  • callyral [he/they]@pawb.social
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    3 months ago

    i’m not a chemist but is this licking the most common molecule form or the atomic variety

    O₂ is safe but i don’t think O is

    • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I think it’s framed in the context of: “How dangerous would a single molecule be to a human?”. In that context, I would say O is safe, only because our body naturally destroys the radical oxygen molecules every day that we create with our anti-oxidants.

      True, in a larger quantity than our body can handle, it’s extremely toxic; but a single molecule would probably not be too bad.

      But I do agree, it shouldn’t be Green. It should be Yellow at least.

      • Eheran@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        O would completely destroy you in lickable quantities. I think you underestimate how extremely reactive it is. Just remember that it is so reactive that it reacts with oxygen to form ozone. This is not a little byproduct in extremely small quantities all throughout the body, which is also not the O radical anyway.

            • Contravariant@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              You can stick your tongue in it. Wouldn’t recommend actually trying to get anything in your mouth.

              You’re protected by the thin layer of nitrogen that immediately sublimates, this lasts until the nitrogen heats up so the liquid can touch you directly, which you want to avoid.

              For mostly the same reason you can stick a finger into molten lead (without losing said finger), provided you do it fast enough and your finger is wet enough.

            • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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              3 months ago

              You’ve never seen the trick where you put a small amount of liquid nitrogen in your mouth to demonstrate… science, IDK something to do with lederhosen?

              Don’t swallow it though, then you’ll get a perforated stomach.

    • jerkface@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Same concern. It’s even arguable you can only lick solids (and lap liquids). This would make hydrogen a Must Not Lick, for example, if we could only consider solid forms.

  • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Mid at best. There’s a lot of stuff you don’t want anywhere near your mouth on there.

  • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Beryllium is mostly only toxic when you breathe it in (there’s even a special disease you get from it), but as a solid, it’s pretty safe afaik.

    Not that I recommend it.

  • rbesfe@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    Licking bismuth would be very very very very very bad

    • Johandea@feddit.nu
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      3 months ago

      Can you, though? Can you lick a gas? Am I licking the atmosphere when I stick my tongue out?

      Plenty of them are also so rare that there isn’t enough of them to form any lickable matter; solid, liquid or gaseous.

      Some have such an incredibly short half-life, you cannot lick it before it decays into something else.