3 ms·
a drop of something on your glove that you don't even notice and then later that week all your hair starts falling out Anyone who doubts this can happen should
by andyjohnson0 14y ago
a drop of something on your glove that you don't even notice and then later that week all your hair starts falling out
Anyone who doubts this can happen should read about Karen Wetterhahn [1], who was killed in 1996 by a couple of drops of dimethylmercury that went through her glove. Another nasty chemical to avoid.
[1]http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn
- ramidarigaz 14y agoThat's terrifying...
- Scaevolus 14y agoWhy do some dimethyl compounds penetrate the skin so easily? Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) will even carry various other compounds into the body as well.
- vondur 14y agoMy O-Chem teacher had told my about how people who would dissolve hash oil into DMSO to get it across the skin quickly. Usually on their heads.
- chm 14y agoDMSO ((CH3)2SO) is a polar aprotic molecule, which means it's neutral _and_ polar. It's easier for a small, neutral polar molecule like DMSO to pass through the phospholipid bilayer of your cells than it is for acetate (CH3COO-). The "dimethyl" is not what it's important.
- KaeseEs 14y agoOrganometallic reagents like dimethyl mercury have their own entry in the same series of blog posts as the OP, cf. http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2009/10/23/things_i_wont_work_with_straight_dimethyl_zinc.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2009/10/23/things_i_won...