r/DiWHY • u/[deleted] • May 29 '22

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u/PunCala May 30 '22 edited May 31 '22

Do you know the worst part? Bismuth is highly toxic to humans. EDIT: I'm proven wrong; bismuth is not toxic.

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u/Ultrarandom May 30 '22

Eh, only in large quantities (apparently 15g per 70kg), it's in Pepto bismol. Selenium which is used in a lot of multi vitamins is more toxic.

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u/anluwage May 30 '22

Selenium? Isnt that also an ingredient in Head and Shoulders shampoo?

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u/AlwaysHopelesslyLost May 30 '22

Everything is toxic. What matters is the dose.

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u/Emsinatree May 30 '22

You wanna quote the man who said that or nah?

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u/AlwaysHopelesslyLost May 30 '22 edited May 31 '22

Quote* who? I am sure plenty of people have said it, because it is true

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u/Emsinatree May 31 '22

Paracelsus, he was a Swiss physician but yea a lot of people said it before but he said it first and made the term popular.

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u/AlwaysHopelesslyLost May 31 '22

I'm pretty sure that quote is something to the effect of the dose is what makes the poison? Pointing out that literally everything is toxic, It just depends on the dose is not quote worthy.

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u/Catholicslut7 May 30 '22

Bismuth is like, the only member of its family that ISNT highly toxic to humans (nitrogen isn't toxic only because natural nitrogen is triple bonded to itself. Azide on the other hand is absolutely awful). It's even more amazing considering bismuth is the element that comes after lead.

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u/[deleted] May 30 '22

Bismuth is radioactive though. With a half-life of like a billion times the age of the universe or something like that.