“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 292

Science Sunday!

Whatever happened to chloroform? Well, turns out as an anesthetic it occasionally caused complications like death. And it may be a carcinogen.

It is classified as an extremely hazardous substance in the United States as defined in Section 302 of the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11002), and is subject to strict reporting requirements by facilities that produce, store, or use it in significant quantities.

But why should we let that stop us?

Oh, yeah: it also decomposes into phosgene unless you stabilize it first. Which is a bit concerning…

Next: “I somehow convinced myself to order a full kilo instead.”

That’s a full kilo of…sodium cyanide.

“Does cyanide actually smell like almonds?”

This is right on the annoying border for me, so I won’t hold it against you if you skip the video and read the notes instead.

This one might be a little more interesting: the chemistry of arsenic, from the Periodic Videos folks.

As a side note to this, and because Lawrence and I have been talking about it, I went looking for videos on Shadows From the Walls of Death. I did find a few about the book (not death metal) but…they were all in foreign languages without subtitles.

Okay, just one more: “The Science Behind Shaped Charges”.

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