How Arsenic Kills Humans | The Element That You Should Never Try

Warning: Do not try to inhale or eat Arsenic ever. Just DO NOT. Today, we'll discuss why is it so. How the deadly element Arsenic, kills humans.

So, what is Arsenic exactly? So, basically, Arsenic is of course a chemical element present in the Periodic Table Of Elements with the symbol "As" and atomic number 33. Which means it is the 33rd element of the periodic table (has 33 protons in the nucleus of its atom). 

Elements of the periodic table: If you already do not have any idea on what elements are and what is the periodic table, then in short, elements are the simplest substance that we can have, they have the same atoms but not different atoms. Like water has 1 hydrogen and 2 oxygen atoms, thus water is not an element. For long time, it was thought that water was an element, but then with the help of atoms, scientists disproved it. And iron, has only iron atoms not any other atom, so iron is an element. When there are more than 1 different types of atoms, then the particular substance is called as an compound and not an element. And the periodic table is nothing but the list of all 118 elements we have in a tabular form according to their atomic number.

To know more about the elements and the periodic table, do visit this post:

The Atoms: Electrons, Protons And Neutrons

Arsenic: Okay, so enough about atoms. Let's focus on this arsenic thing. Arsenic occurs in many many minerals, but usually it occurs in combination with sulfur. A very good friend!

One thing you must know is that Arsenic is a metalloid, a semi metal and a semi conductor. Yes, these metals which aren't metals but aren't non-metals as well, which are at the border line of metals and non-metals, are known as Metalloids.

And arsenic's discovery was done by Ancient Arabic Alchemists. Now who are these alchemists? In short, Alchemists are people who try to convert any, like any substance into Gold. Yes, that's it. That is it. That's there job. And ancient people were masters at this job. These experiments though didn't got success but contributed a trillions of things to Chemistry as we see today.

Okay, so we now know what the heck arsenic is. So, why is it dangerous? How is it dangerous? Where is it dangerous? Let us reveal the answers to these 3 questions now!

Why is it dangerous?

So arsenic is dangerous because eating or even inhaling high levels of arsenic can cause a sore throat and irritated lungs along with a lot of cough. Swallowing it foolishly can result in vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, cramping, skin breaking, muscle weakness, skin rashes etc. etc. Uff! Be aware of arsenic as these diseases are really painful. If patient is not treated on time, he/she can even go to death as arsenic is fatal. Arsenic causes such diseases and results that it is way better to be away from it.

How is it dangerous?

The biological part is this, Arsenic's small molecules can easily get into human body's cells and cause injuries and death by many mechanisms. It interferes with the body's cellular respiration (process of oxygen supply which gives energy to human body). If human doesn't gets enough energy, the human will eventually die of illness. It exerts its toxicity by killing hundreds of enzymes in the human body and destroys the paths of DNA and other important structures in the human body.

Where is it dangerous?

Arsenic is really toxic in its inorganic form. Where is it dangerous? Arsenic can really be fatal if consumed through contaminated water used for drinking, contaminated food. Even plants can also be dead if in contact with arsenic through contaminated arsenic water for irrigation. That is the reason why it is told to you every time, drink germ-free clean water and eat fresh and healthy food. Because junk food may also contain arsenic which you all now know is really really bad for you.

So moral of the story is, always choose the healthy side. I know you see the junk food as really tempting. Not a problem, but what if your food contains arsenic? So, be safe and make everyone aware of arsenic.

And as always, keep smiling and be rational.

Thanks for reading.

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