Which one of the following should you take to relieve nasal and sinus congestion?
One of the deadliest radioactive isotopes is 210 Po (Polonium-210). It is a strong alpha emitter with a half-life of 128 days. Polonium metal is also rather volatile, with a melting point of 255 degrees C, making it a particularly deadly component of tobacco smoke (inhaling alpha emitters is not a very good idea). Fortunately, polonium is found only in minute amounts in Nature.
Polonium is so radioactive that a 0.50 gram sample will reach temperatures greater than 500 degrees all by itself. The radiation energy is so great that an amount too small to see would be a lethal dose!
Let's compare polonium to hydrogen cyanide (which can kill you in a few minutes at 300 ppm in air). How many times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide is polonium?
Match these names to the molecules shown below:
AZT ? A B C D E F G H I J
Caffeine ? A B C D E F G H I J
Cholesterol ? A B C D E F G H I J
Cocaine ? A B C D E F G H I J
DDT ? A B C D E F G H I J
Estrogen ? A B C D E F G H I J
Nitroglycerine ? A B C D E F G H I J
Novocaine ? A B C D E F G H I J
Penicillin ? A B C D E F G H I J
Testosterone ? A B C D E F G H I J
For each item in the table, select the estimated number of Americans (apologies to our foreign visitors) that die each year from each of the following:
Lightning Strikes none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Silicone Breast Implants none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Firearms none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Dioxin none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Smoking none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Allergic reactions none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
AIDS none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Food poisoning none 1-50 50-200 200-1,000 1,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-400,000 400,000+
Most people have heard that if a rat eats a substance that makes it sick, the rat will avoid that substance in the future (something many of us learn about with alcohol ...). Therefore, one has to be clever in designing a rat poison .
Warfarin is a particularly effective rat poison even though it is not what one normally considers highly toxic . It doesn't work like traditional poisons, so rats will eat a bait containing a sub-lethal dose and then come back for more.
Curiously, warfarin is widely prescribed for medical use in humans ("the dose makes the poison")! Which one of these medical conditions can not be treated effectively with warfarin?
Rank these five items in order of lowest (1 ) to highest (6 ) toxicity:
Tetrodotoxin (Fugu) ? 6 (most toxic) 5 4 3 2 1 (least toxic)
Nicotine ? 6 (most toxic) 5 4 3 2 1 (least toxic)
Strychnine ? 6 (most toxic) 5 4 3 2 1 (least toxic)
Ibuprofen ? 6 (most toxic) 5 4 3 2 1 (least toxic)
Sarin ? 6 (most toxic) 5 4 3 2 1 (least toxic)
Ethyl alcohol ? 6 (most toxic) 5 4 3 2 1 (least toxic)
The active ingredient in the popular over-the-counter antihistamine, Benadryl(tm), is diphenhydramine, shown here on the right. Diphenhydramine is also the active ingredient in what other popular medication?
Phenolphthalein is an acid-base indicator. It turns pink above pH 8.5 and is colorless below that (more on the pH scale here ). Phenolphthalein had another use until recently, when it was discovered to cause cancer when used excessively over long periods of time. What was this use?
Phenylalanine is an amino acid (see the color coding, below) that is used by the body as a precursor to other amino acids, neurotransmitters etc. Phenylalanine is not produced by the body, so we must obtain it from dietary sources such as eggs, milk and nuts. Unfortunately, 1 out 16,000 of us has a hereditary disorder called phenylketonuria (PKU), an inability to properly metabolize phenylalanine. This is particularly dangerous in children as the excess buildup of phenylalanine can interfere with brain development. For this reason, all children are tested for PKU shortly after birth. With proper dietary modifications, people with PKU can lead normal lives.
Recently, a popular new consumer food ingredient was introduced. One of its main components is phenylalanine, posing a risk to people with PKU who might unwittingly consume it. For this reason, the FDA requires that any product containing this ingredient to include a PKU warning. For the rest of the population, this food ingredient appears to be perfectly safe.
What is this ingredient?
In the early 1800's a wonderful green pigment called Paris Green was invented. It was used for all sorts of consumer products, including wallpaper. Unfortunately, Europe has a cool damp climate that is conducive to molds. Some of these molds could biomethylate (react with) Paris Green to produce a toxic gas called trimethylarsine. Extended exposure to this gas in a closed room caused illness or death. Many of the people sickened by their exposure to trimethylarsine stayed in their bedrooms with the windows shut to recover...yep, those bedrooms with the green wallpaper, alas. In this case, getting a little bed rest was a very bad idea!!
Which of these is the chemical composition of Paris Green?