The study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.
Questions tagged [toxicology]
60 questions
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Has any person ever died from a tarantula bite?
From Wikipedia:Tarantula:
[N]o fatalities have been attributed to tarantula bites...
From Nationalgeographic.com:
According to researchers, there's never been a single confirmed human death from a tarantula bite.
Neither backs up its claims with…
user5582
17
votes
2 answers
Are animal experiments unnecessary for toxicological studies?
I've heard from animal rights activists that experiments on animals are not necessary because we can get the same or better results from cell culture experiments.
An example of that claim is this excerpt from a comment on a blog:
2) According to…
Mad Scientist
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Is honey toxic when heated up in tea?
Last night, we ran out of sugar so I suggested to add honey in tea but my cousin said it would have very harmful effect on health and then he showed me these link1, link2 claiming:
While warm water is fine, according to Maharishi Ayurveda, above 42…
GorvGoyl
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Do onions become toxic or otherwise dangerous within a day of a being cut open?
I saw a new "health advice" meme on Facebook today:
Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse…
Flimzy
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Can someone die of poison given to him years before?
In answering-islam (an anti-Islam site), it is claimed the prophet of Islam, Muhammad died because of poison given to him 3 years ago by a Jewish woman.
Immediately following the conquest of Khaibar, a Jewish woman prepared
a dinner for Muhammad…
TheTechGuy
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Can you die by absorbing cyanide through the skin?
A friend of mine was talking about The Iceman, a killer that supposedly used cyanide absorbed through the skin as his murder weapon:
Kuklinski favored the use of cyanide as it was quick kill poison, quicker than either strychnine or arsenic and he…
Kit Sunde
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Does mixing watermelons with alcohol cause liver damage?
Recently there's been an influx of articles in Polish media warning against consuming alcohol and watermelons (titles via Google Translate):
Never combine with alcohol. You can damage your liver
Watermelon and alcohol are a bad combination. Here's…
gaazkam
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Can a wasp ingest and use a snake's venom?
Some people claim that if one comes across a dead venomous snake one should always cut of and bury the head as otherwise wasps could reach the venom and add it to their own stinger, for example this Answers.com answer:
You bury a venomous snake's…
Thijser
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Is the Japanese emperor forbidden from eating fugu (puffer fish)?
According to Wikipedia
Fugu is also the only food the Emperor of Japan is forbidden to eat, for his safety
This information comes from a Forbes article "Killer Foods":
The fish remains the only delicacy denied the emperor – too risky.
This seems…
Ken Y-N
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Can Tifton 85 grass produce cyanide gas?
Today I read something quite unexpected:
Preliminary tests revealed the Tifton 85 grass, which has been here for years, had suddenly started producing cyanide gas, poisoning the cattle.
[...]
What is more worrisome: Other farmers have tested…
Sklivvz
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Do vaccines cause "hypertoxicity"?
A friend recently posted this on their Facebook:
Vaccines don't cause autism. They cause hypertoxicity which leads to neurological impairment, and cell death. DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS! ~Dr. D.Mihalovic
In my personal opinion, it reeks of woo,…
David Perry
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Do dolphins intentionally intoxicate themselves with puffer-fish venom?
Since late 2013, outlets as serious as Smithsonian Magazine have circulated the claim that dolphins intentionally get "high" by harassing pufferfish. It is further claimed that this is a collective behavior in which dolphins pass around the fish to…
Brian Z
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Is the European NO₂ limit of 40 µg/m³ for outside air backed by strong evidence?
According to the Umwelt Bundesamt, the average annual limit for the NO₂ concentration is set to 40 µg/m³ with the intention to protect people with asthma, small children and older people, especially those with damaged airways. This is lower than the…
Christian
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Did Ralph Nader say that a pound of plutonium could cause 8 billion cancers?
According to "The Myth of Plutonium Toxicity" by Bernard L. Cohen:
Plutonium is constantly referred to by the news media as ``the most
toxic substance known to man.'' Ralph Nader has said that a pound of
plutonium could cause 8 billion…
gerrit
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Are laundry detergent and fabric softener fumes dangerous to human health?
One of my neighbors raised the topic of toxins in the dryer effluence from our buildings' laundry rooms. That's not particularly surprising, but she claimed there was evidence that the trace toxins in the air are dangerous. It sounded just…
dtanders
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