What everyday objects can pose a danger to our health and safety?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around everyday objects that may pose health and safety risks, despite appearing harmless. Participants explore various categories, including food items, household objects, and personal experiences related to hazards encountered in daily life.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention specific food items, such as Tootsie Roll Pops and Jolly Ranchers, highlighting risks of injury to the tongue from candy shards.
  • Paper is noted for causing cuts, with multiple participants sharing experiences of paper cuts.
  • One participant humorously suggests that even air can be hazardous, while another mentions the dangers of everyday items like paper shredders and Legos.
  • Concerns are raised about the risks associated with handling hot peppers, with one participant sharing a personal anecdote about a painful experience with pepper pollen.
  • Participants discuss the potential dangers of household appliances, such as coffee makers and espresso machines, particularly regarding their heating elements.
  • There are humorous exchanges about cats and their unexpected encounters with household items, including a story about a cat found in a freezer.
  • Some participants reflect on the complexities of food preparation and the potential hazards involved, particularly when handling spicy ingredients.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a variety of views on what constitutes a hazard in everyday life, with no clear consensus on specific items or the extent of their dangers. The discussion remains open-ended with multiple competing perspectives.

Contextual Notes

Some claims are based on personal anecdotes and subjective experiences, which may not apply universally. The discussion includes humor and light-hearted exchanges, which may affect the seriousness of the claims made.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in health and safety, everyday hazards, or humorous takes on common objects may find this discussion engaging.

~christina~
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I find that many objects are hazardous. (they seem quite harmless until..)

For example:

Food category

Tootsie Roll Pops => I find that, after licking the lollipop a few times, I always get shards of the candy in my tongue.
Jolly Rancher Hard candy => A swallowing risk is involved when you melt the candy until it's small and thin. Shards of the candy can become embedded in tongue as well, I find.

Everyday items

Paper=> Paper cuts anyone?

Can anyone think of anymore hazardous items in our everyday lives that seem harmless enough?
 
Biology news on Phys.org
air ... LOL!

and everything that you can touch :)
 
- You'll kill us... with a soup cup?
- Tea, actually.
- What's that?
- I'll kill you with my teacup.
 
Ones own teeth, i am all ways bite ing my tongue.
 
Paper cuts will be the death of me

Twice today! *ouch*

:)
 
~christina~ said:
Can anyone think of anymore hazardous items in our everyday lives that seem harmless enough?

Paper shredders. Never wear a tie around those things. A person's head will never fit down the little slot, but most people panic anyway. The panic attack can result in serious neck strain.

Legos, especially on the stairs ... especially if walking barefoot down the stairs with a cup of coffee.

Complex math problems. They're always fun until someone loses an i.
 
Crisps/potato chips are another, get a sliver of one wedged between your teeth and it is most annoying.

Stop eating candy christina, it will ruin your complexion.
 
Atoms. One decayed once, and my cat died.
 
I have a healthy respect for the pretty little peppers. My kitchen is a haz-mat zone whenever I make habanero relish. The simplest little things, like absent-mindedly scratching an itch can result in surprises.

rinsedhabaneros.jpg
 
  • #10
turbo-1 said:
habanero relish. The simplest little things, like absent-mindedly scratching an itch can result in surprises.
You're lucky it's just an itch.
How do you tell an organic chemist?
They are the ones that wash their hands BEFORE they go to the bathroom.
 
  • #11
BobG said:
Paper shredders. Never wear a tie around those things. A person's head will never fit down the little slot, but most people panic anyway.
Uh, I'm not sure that people actually fear having their head chopped into confetti (though I'll bet a shredded lip or nose might not be so much fun, even if unlikely).

However, I do think they quite reasonably fear being choked by their own tie.
 
  • #12
jimmysnyder said:
Atoms. One decayed once, and my cat died.

:biggrin:


:rolleyes:
How do you know it wasn't already dead? :smile:
 
  • #13
mgb_phys said:
You're lucky it's just an itch.
How do you tell an organic chemist?
They are the ones that wash their hands BEFORE they go to the bathroom.
When I was a process chemist in a Kraft pulp mill, I was VERY religious about the before-and-after hand-washing. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that when you are handling extracts from the system (black liquor from the digester, for instance) you are dealing with some extremely complex stuff, the health effects of which have never been studied in depth.
 
  • #14
~christina~ said:
Can anyone think of anymore hazardous items in our everyday lives that seem harmless enough?

Kittens. They are ankle-biting demons from hell.
 
  • #15
DaveC426913 said:
:biggrin:


:rolleyes:
How do you know it wasn't already dead? :smile:

Had to look ... Ya just had to look. :smile:


You cat killer you :biggrin:
 
  • #16
turbo-1 said:
I have a healthy respect for the pretty little peppers. My kitchen is a haz-mat zone whenever I make habanero relish. The simplest little things, like absent-mindedly scratching an itch can result in surprises.

When I was young, my grandfather was a pepper enthusiast and had quite a few different types in his back yard. One day I decided to check out a few of the peppers, so I proceeded hold a few of them and spin them around while still on their stems to get an up close look. Well, I was pretty allergic to pollen at the time, so at one point I gave both of my eyes a pretty good rub. WHAM! I don't think I've ever experienced a pain like that before. I remember laying on a couch for hours with a wet rag on my eyes, crying out because they stung so bad.

I literally hated peppers up until my early 20's where I, out of nowhere, seemed to develop a taste for them. Now I just about can't eat anything without straight peppers or at least pepper seasoning on it. The hotter the better!
 
  • #17
Alfi said:
Had to look ... Ya just had to look. :smile:


You cat killer you :biggrin:
Had to look and collapse kitty's wave-form...bad.
 
  • #18
B. Elliott said:
I literally hated peppers up until my early 20's where I, out of nowhere, seemed to develop a taste for them. Now I just about can't eat anything without straight peppers or at least pepper seasoning on it. The hotter the better!
Visit the "turbo-1's hot stuff" thread and get the recipe for making habanero relish. I'm about the only person who'll eat it apart from my brother and a neighbor - both chili-heads. Math Jeans swears by it and Astronuc likes it, too. You can make it in small batches and refrigerate it, or make larger batches like I do and process the canning jars in a boiling-water bath.
 
Last edited:
  • #19
My son once accidentally shut his wifes cat in their bottom freezer refrigerator.

They found the frosted cat after hearing a strange muffled sound coming from the fridge.
 
  • #20
The little heating element on coffee makers stays hot for quite some time after it is shut off.
 
  • #21
The stainless steel basket on my espresso maker is heavy and after a mug's worth of boiling water and saturated steam has passed through it - it's a good idea to put it in the sink to cool off before scooping out the espresso grounds.
 
  • #22
edward said:
My son once accidentally shut his wifes cat in their bottom freezer refrigerator.

They found the frosted cat after hearing a strange muffled sound coming from the fridge.

This shouldn't be funny...

:smile: :smile: :smile:
 
  • #23
turbo-1 said:
Visit the "turbo-1's hot stuff" thread and get the recipe for making habanero relish. I'm about the only person who'll eat it apart from my brother and a neighbor - both chili-heads. Math Jeans swears by it and Astronuc likes it, too. You can make it in small batches and refrigerate it, or make larger batches like I do and process the canning jars in a boiling-water bath.

I'm going to have to make some and try it out. Just yesterday I picked a batch of plums and figs of our trees out back, so I've been on a bit of a home produce kick since then.:smile: The apples on our five-in-one apple tree are starting look nice, but not as big as expected. A friend suggested going ahead and pulling half of them to help the remainders grow better... that and something about it helping the overall tree grow larger next year.
 
  • #24
B. Elliott said:
I'm going to have to make some and try it out. Just yesterday I picked a batch of plums and figs of our trees out back, so I've been on a bit of a home produce kick since then.:smile: The apples on our five-in-one apple tree are starting look nice, but not as big as expected. A friend suggested going ahead and pulling half of them to help the remainders grow better... that and something about it helping the overall tree grow larger next year.
Another thing you should do is prune off all the sun-suckers - new growth that is vegetative, but did not blossom this year. They generally shoot up vertically, and they can shade other more productive branches that are not sapping the tree's energy with rapid growth-spurts. Good productive apple trees are usually quite "open" and are not overly leafy with new growth.

When I thin apples, I pick the apples that are the smallest, or that seem to have any damage or deformity first. Don't discard them near your trees because they can be a source of insect damage/disease. If they're not ripe enough to be usable, I like to run them through a food processor and dump them in the compost bins.
 
  • #25
DaveC426913 said:
Uh, I'm not sure that people actually fear having their head chopped into confetti (though I'll bet a shredded lip or nose might not be so much fun, even if unlikely).

However, I do think they quite reasonably fear being choked by their own tie.

Then ties should definitely be in the list. The only thing they're useful as are bibs for the sloppy men who would otherwise spill food on their shirts. :biggrin:

Ivan Seeking said:
Kittens. They are ankle-biting demons from hell.
:smile: Does she do the sneak attack from behind the sofa trick? I STILL get that one every once in a while.

I'll include cat TOYS on the list too. Similar to the dangers of Legos.
 
  • #26
Moonbear said:
I'll include cat TOYS on the list too. Similar to the dangers of Legos.
No need to include ferret toys. Ferrets put away their toys after playing with them, stashed in "secret" locations. They LOVE hiding stuff.
 
  • #27
Moonbear said:
:smile: Does she do the sneak attack from behind the sofa trick? I STILL get that one every once in a while.

At this point, if I don't have shoes on, it is virtually impossible to walk without snagging a very sharp foot attachment. And what absolutely cracks me up is the aggression. You would think that my foot is the most terrible thing on the planet, and that it MUST die.
 
  • #28
Ivan Seeking said:
You would think that my foot is the most terrible thing on the planet, and that it MUST die.

Does she hold it with her front paws, bite your ankle, and kick with her back legs...? That's what my Sweet Miss Phoebe does...I love her so much :!) !
 
  • #29
At first I though it is Evo related thread...

Open door can be a killer thing. In the dark, when you think you are just moving parallel to the wall and you hit door edge with your head. I broke my teeth last year this way.

Well, I broke this teeth over 20 years ago, so this time it was more pricey than painful.
 
  • #30
Dangerous items: shoes, pillows, furniture, wall corners, doors...
 

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