Heavy water's only about $1000 a litre in bulk. Certainly cheap enough to run experiments on rats and small plants. Such experiments have been done. That's h

Heavy water's only about $1000 a litre in bulk. Certainly cheap enough to run experiments on rats and small plants. Such experiments have been done. That's how we know it'll kill you. Its toxicity profile is kind of interesting. In almost all eukaryotes (plants, animals, fungi) low concentrations (1 - 10%) seem to have no obvious effect at all, while around 25% it seems to cause temporary sterility - the gametes seem particularly sensitive. As it approaches 50%, cell reproduction stops and death is rapid. Very few eukaryotes can survive >50% heavy water in their cells. Though a few types of yeast and single-celled plants seem to be able to survive in conditions like many bacteria can - up to 95% or more heavy water. But all kinds of life die at 100% heavy water, as far as I know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_water#Effect_on_biological_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_water#Effect_on_biologic...