Most dangerous chemicals?

[Vanadium 50]

I hold little hope for this thread as it was apparently just a drive-by stink bomb by the OP. But if people are trying to take it seriously, "dangerous" is ill-defined. Both risk and prevalence enter into it.

Xenon platinum hexafluoride is, or at least should be, highly toxic. And corrosive. But its not like you will find a 55 gallon drum of it lying around.

Edit: I think it is technically xenon hexafluoroplatinate.

 

[Tom.G]

I'm still wondering where people get Fentanyl from.

Precursor chemicals from China (they are reportedly quite cheap).
Shipped to Mexico where the drug cartels manufacture the Fentanyl.
Smuggled across the border to the USA (and probably other countries).
It started out as an cheap additive to enhance illegal street drugs.
Has since expanded to being a stand-alone street drug.

Extremely potent, extremely addictive, extremely lethal. The "extremely addictive", along with cheap, was/is the reason it was added to street drugs.
The drug dealers didn't seem to care about the "lethal", it is potent enough to easily and rapidly turn the occassional drug user into another addict (repeat customer).

At least here in Southern California, all of this was reported a bit at a time in the public news/press,

 

[docnet]

Precursor chemicals from China (they are reportedly quite cheap).
Shipped to Mexico where the drug cartels manufacture the Fentanyl.
Smuggled across the border to the USA (and probably other countries).
It started out as an cheap additive to enhance illegal street drugs.
Has since expanded to being a stand-alone street drug.

Extremely potent, extremely addictive, extremely lethal. The "extremely addictive", along with cheap, was/is the reason it was added to street drugs.
The drug dealers didn't seem to care about the "lethal", it is potent enough to easily and rapidly turn the occassional drug user into another addict (repeat customer).

At least here in Southern California, all of this was reported a bit at a time in the public news/press,

I wonder if the fentanyl used by anesthesiologists has the same origin

 

[Mayhem]

I wonder if the fentanyl used by anesthesiologists has the same origin

Hopefully any drugs used in a medical context have been quality checked to shreds.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I wonder if the fentanyl used by anesthesiologists has the same origin

My medical care team gets all of its drugs from the cartels. Cheaper and less paperwork.

 

[sbrothy]

Things I wont work with

 

[sbrothy]

I'm so sorry for you and your friend's loss, JR. I've started carrying Narcan in my medical kit now on my EMS shifts. I wish I was there to respond.

I carry that around too. As a nasal spray. But I frequent weird places as you might imagine.

Oh and unfortunately I’ve had reason to use it more than once.

 

[Klystron]

Useful but dangerous chemicals include nitrogen based rocket propellants such as

• Dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4)
• hydrazine (N2H4)

Most explosives constitute 'dangerous chemicals' but rocket fuels are stored and used in quite large quantities and, in the case of manned rockets, in close proximity to humans.

 

[docnet]

Useful but dangerous chemicals include nitrogen based rocket propellants such as

• Dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4)
• hydrazine (N2H4)

Most explosives constitute 'dangerous chemicals' but rocket fuels are stored and used in quite large quantities and, in the case of manned rockets, in close proximity to humans.

In that sense, the most dangerous chemical is the one that stores the most energy right? something radioactive?

 

[hutchphd]

Scott Manley on the subject of propellants....good stuff .

 

[sbrothy]

I have read about a British girl who died (liver failure) from an overdose of paracetamol. I don't remember the exact dose, but it wasn't much. And if you do not like liver failure, then there is still ibuprofen (kidney failure). And you surely do not want to survive, but probably will, an ASA overdose.

One doesn't need opioids to cause damage. This entire thread only exists because nobody ever said what "dangerous" in the OP actually means.

Not many people remember as it transpired close to 9/11 but ironically the guy the FBI think was responsible for the Amerithrax letters comitted suicide using OTC painkillers.

As I understand that’s a really nasty and painful way to go. Especially if you’re in the US and presumably have access to a handgun, not to mention definitely access to anthrax. I wonder why he chose that particular exit. He must’ve had access to god knows what.

EDIT: Corrected spelling error.

 

[phyzguy]

I have read about a British girl who died (liver failure) from an overdose of paracetamol. I don't remember the exact dose, but it wasn't much. And if you do not like liver failure, then there is still ibuprofen (kidney failure). And you surely do not want to survive, but probably will, an ASA overdose.

In Europe they were able to reduce the number of deaths from paracetamol overdose by selling the pills in smaller packages:

https://www.bmj.com/press-releases/...umber of deaths and,today on bmj.com suggests.

 

[fresh_42]

In Europe they were able to reduce the number of deaths from paracetamol overdose by selling the pills in smaller packages:

https://www.bmj.com/press-releases/2013/02/06/43-reduction-deaths-paracetamol-due-smaller-pack-sizes#:~:text=43% reduction in deaths from paracetamol due to smaller pack sizes,-(Published 6 February&text=The number of deaths and,today on bmj.com suggests.

Doesn't work. a) You could simply go to many different drug stores, and b) get it in the first one by referring to a). So it only affects overdoses by accident.

 

[phyzguy]

Doesn't work. a) You could simply go to many different drug stores, and b) get it in the first one by referring to a). So it only affects overdoses by accident.

Well, it did work. If you read the article, it reduced the deaths by 47%. I don't know how much was suicide and how much was accidental overdose, but probably both. It's well known that reducing access to guns reduces the suicide rate. Sometimes people are despondent and suicidal, but the feeling doesn't last forever. If you make it harder to commit suicide, later they feel better and are glad they didn't go through with it.

 

[hutchphd]

I don't know how much was suicide and how much was accidental overdose, but probably both

I once worked on an external "artificial liver" for acute liver crises caused mostly from ongoing OD from Tylenol The problem with Acetominophen (paracetamol) is the tight long term dose window and its seemingly ubiquitous analgesic use. Folks taking several different meds could get into a cumulative dose sufficient to cause acute crises. There was clearly sufficient demand to warrant a pretty good R&D budget from some fat cats. I don't think this was driven by suicide attempts using acetominophen volitionally

 

[sbrothy]

“Botulinum toxins are among the most potent toxins known to science.”

Sausage poiaon

“The estimated human median lethal dose of type A toxin is 1.3–2.1 ng/kg intravenously or intramuscularly, 10–13 ng/kg when inhaled, or 1000 ng/kg when taken by mouth.”

Mentor edit: automatic Wikipedia links removed.

 

[fresh_42]

I think it is time to close this thread before we drift any further into suicide instructions. The question cannot be answered as long as the term 'dangerous' remains unspecified. My grandma used to say that anything with a 'too' in front of it is dangerous, be it too much or too many as in our cases of matter or too few in some other cases.

This thread is locked now.