Inadvertent chemists

I just finished another Thesis column for Nature Chemistry (about chemistry sets). While writing I wondered how many accidents there are in home labs (not counting home meth labs). It turns out that in the US, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) keeps track of hazardous substance events. The data, nicely collected in a spreadsheet, suggests there are around 1000 chemical incidents in private homes each year, and the vast majority involve carbon monoxide (nearly all the fatalities are caused by CO, if you don't have a detector, get one!) or people who inadvertently do chemistry by mixing what they likely think are two innocuous common household solutions. Bleach and ammonia. Bleach and pool acid. Bleach and pesticides. There's a pattern here. Do not mix bleach with anything. It will not make it stronger, and it may kill you, or cause your apartment building to be evacuated. Really.

There are no narratives included with the spreadsheet, but as a chemist I enjoyed reading between the lines. The accident where the primary chemical was table sugar? Someone with dreams of space? or darker desires? a dedicated Star Trek fan¹? You can make rocket fuel or smoke bombs from sugar and saltpeter². The video posted here shows a gummi bear being rapidly oxidized by a chemical relative of saltpeter, potassium chlorate. Watch closely and you can see the charcoaled bear being popped out of the tube!

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1. In an episode of the original Star Trek (Arena), Kirk grabs various rocks to make an explosive mixture and an improvised bazooka. Watch it here.
2. sal petrae, "salt of rock, " otherwise known to chemists as potassium nitrate, KNO₃

_{A version of this post appeared on The Culture of Chemistry}