• Question: What is one of the most toxic gas ?

    Asked by anon-321490 on 28 Mar 2022.
    • Photo: James Blackshaw

      James Blackshaw answered on 28 Mar 2022: last edited 28 Mar 2022 8:55 am

      In terms of elemental gases, fluorine is probably the worst, because of how reactive it is. But then there’s also radon, which can kill you because it’s radioactive.

      In terms of compounds, there are a lot of poisonous gases, ranging from pesticides to ones made as poisons. I’m not bothered how much more hydrogen cyanide can kill me than carbon monoxide, I’m not going near either.

      In terms of just how many ways it can kill you, ranging from lung damage to acid burns to cell damage to just *setting everything on fire, including the fire extinguisher*, no I’m not joking about this, chlorine trifluoride is a strong contender for the “not within a mile of my lab, buddy” prize.

      https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/sand-won-t-save-you-time

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