You've all been lied to!!!
January-5th-2006, 09:27 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Eielson AFB, AK
Posts: 35
You've all been lied to!!!
Everyone will probably think i'm retarded but I just found out tonight that silica gel packets aren't really poisonus. You know what I'm talking about... the little packages you always find in your new shoes. It just says don't eat because the packaging can be a choking hazard. wow i'm 24 and still learning something new everyday!
January-5th-2006, 10:05 PM
#3
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 778
http://www.cafepress.com/disinfo.7895029
Really wow, what if you eat them. Have you tried!
learn something new everyday
UPDATE:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question206.htm
I always just accepted that they were poisonis
Really wow, what if you eat them. Have you tried!
learn something new everyday
UPDATE:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question206.htm
I always just accepted that they were poisonis
Last edited by zerocover; January-5th-2006 at 10:07 PM.
January-6th-2006, 11:15 AM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 150
Silica is one of those things that is harmless/harmful only depending on its physical form. We're more familiar with SiO2 in glass. Silicon that's passivated by an oxide layer is fairly inert. You wouldn't ingest glass (under any normal cirumstances, anyway!) but if ground into a fine enough powder, it's very easy to create a dust of silica and accidentally inhale some. That's the bigger danger here. Breathing in fine silica dust can cause severe damage to your lungs and respiratory tract (think of it as breathing in little microscopic shards of glass that have an affinty for absorbing water from mucous membranes). Silica is often used as a material to help separate mixtures of chemical compounds, and it's always a good idea to work under a fume hood and preferably, with a face mask. Check out the Material Safety Data Sheet:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s1610.htm
The silica gel or beads in those little packets have the useful property of absorbing and holding onto water molecules from moisture in the air, but are still large enough that they probably won't make a dust cloud form. So there you have it! Chemistry lesson of the day! When I was little, I used to think they were little packets of pretzel salt!
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s1610.htm
The silica gel or beads in those little packets have the useful property of absorbing and holding onto water molecules from moisture in the air, but are still large enough that they probably won't make a dust cloud form. So there you have it! Chemistry lesson of the day! When I was little, I used to think they were little packets of pretzel salt!
