What’s the most toxic chemical? Experts weigh in.
We write here weekly, sometimes daily, about dangerous toxins. What’s the most dangerous toxin though? Well it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that some experts disagree. This week over at Gizmodo.com, four experts weighed in on which toxin is truly the most dangerous. We’re not going to cover them all below, so you should definitely head on over to Gizmodo to check out the rest.
Diana Ceballos, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at Boston University believes that lead is the most dangerous toxin. Lead as you know has been written about time and again on our website. Lead is especially dangerous because of the way it’s infiltrated our everyday lives. While the use of lead has lessened over the years, for the longest time it was used in everything from gasoline and paint, to our water pipes. As Professor Ceballos explains, it’s prevalence led (pun intended) to it “contaminating our soil, our duelings, and our water infrastructure. It is also still found in many everyday items like electronics, jewelry, toys, and cosmetics.”
While Philippe Grandjean agrees that lead is dangerous, he believes that since most of us are aware of just how dangerous it is, we’re able to avoid it for the most part. An Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health at Harvard University, Mr. Grandjean is of the belief that Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is actually the most dangerous toxin. PFOA is often referred to as a “secret chemical”. It’s considered a “secret” because for the longest time we just haven’t been told much about the possible health risks associated with its use. PFOA is often used to repel water, to make carpet stain resistant, and even to fight fire.
Lead and PFOA are extremely dangerous, but there’s one that takes only a “nanogram quantity” to kill someone. It’s called Botulinum toxin, you may know it as Botox. We’ll let Gizmodo give you the rundown on just what makes Botox so dangerous, and why Ricin runs a close second in its toxicity.
For Gizmodo.com’s full blog post on the most dangerous toxins, click here: https://bit.ly/32LrIqf