• callyral [he/they]@pawb.social
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    3 months ago

    i’m not a chemist but is this licking the most common molecule form or the atomic variety

    O₂ is safe but i don’t think O is

    • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I think it’s framed in the context of: “How dangerous would a single molecule be to a human?”. In that context, I would say O is safe, only because our body naturally destroys the radical oxygen molecules every day that we create with our anti-oxidants.

      True, in a larger quantity than our body can handle, it’s extremely toxic; but a single molecule would probably not be too bad.

      But I do agree, it shouldn’t be Green. It should be Yellow at least.

      • Eheran@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        O would completely destroy you in lickable quantities. I think you underestimate how extremely reactive it is. Just remember that it is so reactive that it reacts with oxygen to form ozone. This is not a little byproduct in extremely small quantities all throughout the body, which is also not the O radical anyway.