Chemist here: all the reds are correct but it would take so much time to explain why so many of the greens are super concerning. Every time I see this reposted it’s so concerning…I should just spend the 17 minutes and save a copy pasta response of everything horribly wrong with this.
Edit: page 1 on the SDS for pure sulfur.
I’m pretty sure that licking pure magnesium would make your tongue explode too.
I have elemental magnesium (4 ~50g ingots, I keep it in my library in a barely-sealed ziplock). it’s shelf stable and doesn’t react violently with water. Want me to try licking it and let you know? (hint: at worst it’ll make a minuscule amount of milk of magnesia)
ETA: Would I stick my tongue in pyrophoric magnesium powder? No, and you wouldn’t do that with pyrophoric aluminum or zinc powders, either, but that doesn’t stop me from using (or licking) alumnum foil. Proof: https://invidious.darkness.services/watch?v=Q_4I30Nz_b0
The LD 50 for sulfur is 2000 MG per kilogram body weight. So you’d probably be fine licking it. You can’t just go off the msds.
You are absolutely fine licking sulfur, it is not going to do anything. In case of a solid block you are not even going to taste anything. Also what the fuck, sulfur is not poisonous, that MSDS is bullshit.
My degree is in bio but if I’m remembering my coursework correctly, this is the legend that’s supposed to be on it.
If someone’s licking any of the transuranic elements I’m not sticking around to watch.
Some stuff should simply not exist in a lickable quantity.
I see we’re continuing the trend of scaring literally everyone when a scientist gets excited.
Needs a “how fast can you move your tongue?” label for the unstable elements.
Is it really that bad to lick something that disappears after nanoseconds?
It doesn’t disappear, it becomes a different element.
Well, yeah. I guess it depends on into what they transform.
Lol. I meant to accomplish the lick, in the first place.
I have no real sense of the likely consequences, other than “probably not great”.
“Please, tell me how!”
Oh yeah just lick the carbon. It’s probably fine.
It is. Activated carbon is used to treat diarrhoea, you basically swallow a chunk of carbon that absorbs any moisture it comes across
Don’t lick carbon nano tubes or buckyball. Also in general carbon powder can be a particulate inhalation issue.
The table is about licking specifically. It’s not a breathability table. Just so that is clear.
I assume if it’s getting anywhere near your mouth you’d also be breathing it but aside from that, ingestion is also a nogo.
The ingestion/breathability table might be more restrictive. Like, elemental Sulfur is
perfectly fineno actually it’s not fine— but probably unpleasant to lick. Contact dermatitis likely but not life threatening—just one lick, ok; promise no more? ;)Breathing elemental Sulfur is also going to result in contact dermatitis -inside the lungs. Which is going make a really bad day.
Activated carbon is also used in water treatment to remove taste/odours and many organic pollutants.
“organic pollutants” are made of carbon too
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Diarrhea is also mostly carbon.
Have you never licked a diamond before? You’re missing out.
Tastes like a campfire.
Elemental mercury isn’t very bioavailable so licking the surface of a pool of mercury isn’t going to hurt you much if at all. (Assuming you just do it once). Plus the density of mercury is going make it hard for you to slurp up a significant quantity the stuff anyway.
If you want to know about the horrible potential for mercury to mess you up look for stories about dimethyl mercury exposure. Its the fat soluble varieties that give mercury it’s reputation.
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Beryllium is mostly only toxic when you breathe it in (there’s even a special disease you get from it), but as a solid, it’s pretty safe afaik.
Not that I recommend it.
Mid at best. There’s a lot of stuff you don’t want anywhere near your mouth on there.
Too distracted by the misspelling in the title
Licking bismuth would be very very very very very bad
Listen to this guy. He’s serious bismuth
Mfer I’ll go lick my rainbow Lovecraftian City looking rocks right now to spite you
Bismuth bangers 4 lyfe
Since the green isn’t labelled “yes you can” I stopped reading…
I mean, technically you can lick any of them…
lol You don’t need a table to tell you whether or not you should like an element. Like ‘em all! Also, whoever made the pic misspelled “like” as “lick”. jsyk.
What’s wrong with licking osmium? I know if heated in oxygen it will form osmium tetraoxide which is toxic, but a solid chunk of elemental osmium I thought was inert and I could keep it in my mouth all day if I wanted ( I do).
Metallic Mercury is absolutely no problem. They used it to treat congestion back in the day.
