CuriousMinds #ToxicityExplained
Hey there! Have you ever wondered why poison is measured in terms of "can kill X of Y"? Let’s dive into this interesting topic and unravel the mystery behind it!
Understanding Toxicity Measurement
So, you might be scratching your head thinking, "What’s the deal with measuring poison this way?" Well, the reason behind it is quite fascinating. When we say a poison can kill "X of Y," it’s all about understanding the potency and deadliness of a particular toxin.
Importance of Animal Size
Now, you may be thinking, "Why mention the type of animal, like an elephant?" Well, that’s because different animals have different sizes and metabolic rates. Bigger animals, such as elephants, require larger quantities of or more potent poisons to be lethal.
Translating "A Herd of Elephants"
When you hear someone say that a poison can kill "a herd of elephants," it’s more of a metaphorical way to emphasize its extreme deadliness. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one drop can kill an entire group of elephants. Instead, it indicates the high toxicity level of that particular substance.
How Toxicity is Determined
You might be wondering how researchers determine the lethal dose of a poison. Scientists conduct meticulous experiments on animals to understand the effects and dosages of various toxins. These findings help us understand the toxicity levels and potential risks associated with different substances.
Takeaways
- Toxicity Measurement: Using "can kill X of Y" helps us grasp the potency of poisons.
- Animal Size Matters: Larger animals need stronger toxins to cause harm.
- Metaphorical Language: References like "a herd of elephants" illustrate extreme toxicity.
- Research & Experiments: Scientists use testing to determine lethal doses accurately.
So, next time you come across a poison measured in terms of "can kill X of Y," you’ll have a better understanding of what it means. Stay curious, keep exploring, and never stop questioning the world around you! 🌟🐘
Because if 0.5 drops can kill one elephant, we know one drop can kill two.
It’s simple mathematics.
Drug doses are calculated against the LD50 or “Lethal Dose 50%” meaning that dose has a 50% chance to kill the subject. The unit of measure is mg/kg.
So lets say something has an LD50 of 100mg/kg. That means a 5g dose has a 50% chance to kill a 50 kg person and a 10g dose to kill a 100 kg person.
“Enough poison to kill a herd of elephants” is just newspaper speak. Doctors and pharmacists and chemists don’t talk like that. You’re safe to mentally replace that garbage with “A shit-ton of poison.”
Edit: The trick is that some drugs like fentanyl have lethal doses at like… 0.025mg/kg so if someone is caught with a SINGLE GRAM of fentanyl, that’s enough fent to kill like… 500 people. Instead of reporting “man arrested with a gram of fent” you get to print “man arrested carrying enough fentanyl to kill 500 people.” It’s sensationalist garbage reporting.
Double Edit. I’m not a doctor. I’m making up fentanyl numbers using a quick google on lethal dosages.
Humans are really bad at understanding the scale of something when it’s at extremes so you give something relatable to base off of like a liquid drop, physical grain, gram, etc.
I think it is just a matter of people being absolutely terrible at understanding very large and very small numbers. Numbers in those categories have to be put into something that people can visualize, so you get things like how many elephants can a spoonful of poison kill or how many empire state buildings full of $100 bills is the US national debt. The understanding of those numbers tends to be massively incorrect otherwise.
This isn’t the way it’s expressed in any official context, it’s just an easy way to understand the magnitude. For example, you can say the average bite from a particular adult snake contains 10 mg of a toxin with an LD50 of 0.1mg for an adult human. But that’s wordy and hard to conceptualize. On the other hand if you say the bite of that snake could kill 2 elephant, it’s easy to understand that it’s extremely toxic.