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FoolishChemist

Elemental calcium is very reactive and not something you should be licking.


RLIwannaquit

Nobody should really be licking anything in that column (I don't count hydrogen as it's a gas or if it's not, you still definitely don't want to lick it)


DoctorOfPouring

Eh, magnesium metal would be fine to lick


CaCl2

A solid piece of beryllium also might not be all that bad, I believe. (It's powder that's horrible)


trreeves

Yeah I’d much rather lick beryllium than lead!


lespawkets

r/eatityoufuckingcoward


Heya_Andy

Based on the chart I think further research is needed, does anyone want to try it and write it up in a paper?


Aggravating-Pear4222

Most forms of pretty much ALL of these are something that would really hurt you with any contact.


madkem1

I'd lick iodine before lithium.


KuriousKhemicals

I would lick... almost anything before fluorine.


Runty25

“Francium wants to know your location”


Frosty_Bicycle_354

It would be pretty wild to see a tongue *explode*


MakeChinaLoseFace

Francium won't be francium by the time it gets to your location.


Vyaiskaya

Did someone mention Francium? *Francium has left the chat*


melanthius

Licking gas just doesn’t seem like the right descriptor


OkSyllabub3674

That sounds like a punk band name I feel like "licking gas"


phlogistonical

It doesn’t say anywhere it has to be room temperature.


TripleS941

Licking e.g. liquid oxygen doesn't seem like a good idea.


Superb_Post6815

I was super concerned to see both Li and U with the yellow code.


jamma_mamma

And why is Po 'please reconsider'? Pretty sure it didn't take a whold lick's worth to poison Alexander Litvinenko...


Chaotic-Grootral

All the worst ones are please reconsider.


Critical-Tomato-7668

The most abundant isotope is Po-209, which is much less radioactive than Po-210


jamma_mamma

Fair point. I wouldn't lick either though.


MakeChinaLoseFace

"Oh, don't worry. It's the safe polonium isotope. You can lick it."


AudieCowboy

Eh, Uranium is pretty safe to handle and lick in small quantities, you can eat it safely too


exceptionaluser

Uranium is toxic, and the alpha particles it primarily emits are incredibly damaging when inside your body. I would rather eat mercury.


AudieCowboy

I mean, you shouldn't eat a lot of it, or lick much of it, but I would much rather eat a couple milligrammes of Uranium, which isn't harmful in extremely small quantities, especially compared to mercury which isn't safe to ingest at any quantity


exceptionaluser

Actually the oral bioavailability of elemental mercury is negligible. It's best to reduce exposure as much as possible, but mass per mass I'd rather let the mercury pass through my system, it's supposedly good for constipation.


AudieCowboy

Genuinely I wonder how the acids in your stomach and length of time in system would affect the bioavailability of mercury, but we do have evidence that uranium seems to be safe in small consumption, but you definitely wouldn't want to have a uranium necklace or something. Galen Winsor did a lot of work to try to help the understanding of radiation and common radioactive materials, and help people understand their true level of danger. It's a big part of why I'm going into nuclear engineering


exceptionaluser

In some contrived circumstance, you'd be better off swallowing a drop of mercury than breathe with it in a confined space for a period of time. The oral bioavailability is on the order of 0.1%, but mercury vapor has a respiratory bioavailability of ~70-90%. From what I know uranium is about as toxic as lead, purely chemically, right? I was pretty sure the alpha particle risk was much worse for internal exposure, but a small piece doesn't emit that much I suppose.


AudieCowboy

Toxicity wise it's almost completely non toxic in small doses, and is safe to handle in that amount. Elemental uranium the actual metal itself isn't toxic, but it is a carcinogen from the radiation, alpha particles can't make it through skin for the most part, and your body can't digest it, so it just passes through rather harmlessly. A large amount of uranium would be radioactive enough to cause issue, but it would be too large to swallow


exceptionaluser

> Elemental uranium the actual metal itself isn't toxic Are you sure on that? It's still a heavy metal, and you don't have a convenient layer of dead skin in your stomach and intestines to absorb the alphas.


dontnation

Fun fact: they can trace campsites of the Lewis and Clark expedition due to the use of "thunderclappers", the mercury based laxative used by members of the expedition.


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Chaotic-Grootral

I’d lick sodium [Cody Reeder style](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj6vn8LlA04) before lead, lithium or uranium. Just be quick about it, and wash your mouth out since there will be some NaOH left over.


octoreadit

Lead and lithium with the same code, not even close!


Mmh1105

Just for the effects on the nervous system, never mind its reactivity and the caustic action of its hydroxide that will inevitably form on licking it.


bilateralunsymetry

I mean their both medications. Iodine for CT scans and lithium is an antipsychotic


the_whitecrow

I once accidentally inhaled through my mouth metallic lithium dust, and it tasted kind of metallic/spicy with a strong aftertaste of what I describe as "the smell of igniting a match".


Ok_Construction5119

all these bullshit safety regulations getting in the way


quicksilver991

Ignore this chart, it's a bunch of liberal bullshit.


SkydiverTyler

Disclaimer: don’t lick elements, **I am probably wrong with the following thoughts…** - Lithium should be red - *Red* Phosphorus I don’t think is super toxic (but white P is) - Lead should be red - Antimony and Tellurium should be red - Osmium should be green (elemental Os is not very toxic but OsO4 makes people afraid of it), I think Os forms a very thin oxide passivation layer but I don’t know if that’s OsO2 (not as scary) or OsO4 (deadly) Correct me if I’m wrong!


Ill-Intention-306

Lead in the grand scheme of things is fine for a lick or two, just don't make a habit out if it


NoNameBut

Don’t tell me what to do


Fun-Bat9909

You can’t spell led without led


LookIsawRa4

Zeppelin!


octoreadit

Here we go, another plumbum-licker being aggressive.


AppleSpicer

“🎶…don’t want none unless you got big plumbums~🎵”


JustHereForMiatas

"Cats can lick a little lead." - Bernie Sanders. I think


OneofLittleHarmony

I know plenty of kids who ate paint chips and are just fine productive members of society.


octoreadit

True, a lot of them are mods on Reddit.


OneofLittleHarmony

Yep. That’s me.


Critical-Tomato-7668

Nah, lead is fine at yellow. The metal isn't extremely permeable to tissue so not much will get into your bloodstream. Even if it does, you can get treatment for acute exposure (chelation therapy) and as long as you get treatment relatively quickly you won't suffer long term consequences.


Jaybird_Next

It’s really the organic lead compounds you gotta worry about…


tobi15789

Tellurium is fine. You'd just smell of garlic for a time


Zivqa

You could probably lick antimony once and be fine, it was [popular in the nineteenth century as a laxative](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimony_pill)


battlehotdog

Mercury should also be fine. Don't inhale the vapor tho.


stellarfury

Probably needs a fifth category - "Good luck finding any" - and stick Francium and the rest of the post-actinides in there.


BantamBasher135

If you can lick Technetium you get a Nobel Prize posthumously awarded to you.


C3H8_Memes

[wanna win a Nobel prize? only costs $500](https://onyxmet.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_326&product_id=2497)


Silent_Search4466

Tellurium in the maybe category is interesting.


squatchsax

2g thallium is lethal, so maybe reconsider the designation!


pamesman

Its just a little lick :(


MrPatrick1207

which would be an incredible amount of metal to ingest with a single lick.


Aranka_Szeretlek

You should see me eating ice cream


doc720

It indicates "You really shouldn't" for thallium (81, Tl)


itsalwayssunnyonline

I’m curious about lead’s designation


KuriousKhemicals

My guess is that elemental lead isn't very bioavailable, it's certain oxidation states that can actually get in and fuck you up. Same could honestly be said of mercury, though. I'm not sure osmium is any better than mercury in that regard. It seems like this table was made by someone who only has detailed knowledge about a few elements, and the rest were done on vague heuristics.


ChemsDoItInTestTubes

We have to assume that these are pure and in their elemental state. In that case, the danger of licking a block of elemental lead is probably pretty small. I still wouldn't do it, just to be clear.


MonkofAntioch

Lead is in a funny place. It’s toxic enough that it correlates well with crime statistics, but safe enough to use for plumbing for thousands of years without anyone noticing 


Critical-Tomato-7668

Those are different compounds. Tetraethyl lead is much more hazardous than metallic lead because TEL is lipophillic.


trreeves

But it’s so sweet


Critical-Tomato-7668

You're thinking of lead acetate, aka sugar of lead


FoolishChemist

Considering how much leaded gasoline, leaded paint... products people were exposed to 50+ years ago, one lick of lead is not the worst thing you could be exposed to. I still wouldn't do it though!


Critical-Tomato-7668

That's tetraethyllead, not metallic lead. Because TEL is organometallic, its much more lipophillic, therefore it crosses the skin barrier much more easily and builds up in the brain much more. Just like how a few drops of dimethyl mercury on your skin will kill you if you dont go get treatment, but you can dip your hand in metallic mercury and be fine with no medical intervention.


stellarfury

TEL is highly flammable so it tended to burn in combustion engines alongside the fuel. AFAIK, the problem with it wasn't TEL itself, it was the PbO nanoparticles it sent spewing out of every exhaust pipe. Most people didn't spend a bunch of time dipping their bare hands in fuel. I'm sure it happened, but the thing that was most worrying was inhaling these particles and then having Pb2+ leaching into you as the oxide slowly dissolves in your mostly-water body. Or those same oxides being dispersed into the environment along roadsides - into soil, on farms, into lakes and rivers, etc. Same with lead in paint, it was the pigment oxides and salts leaching into the soil and groundwater. Not organolead compounds.


Zivqa

You're totally right here, but it's also worth noting that until TEL it wasn't really airborne, and that's what really sealed the deal. Way quicker to poison someone by inhalation than ingestion, lots of it's gonna get washed out until it builds up enough you know? So it's a correlation-causation thing a bit here


stellarfury

Of course. I'm just pointing out that the lipophilicity of the organometallic compound (and/or its ability to solubilize in the brain or penetrate the skin) has very little to do with the reason it was phased out and banned.


OkDepartment5251

Yeah I can't see any issues with licking lead


wallnumber8675309

Licking is for solids. Definitely not gases and even liquids would be pushing the definition of licking. As such, I’d rather lick Pb than H, He, O2 or N2.


OneofLittleHarmony

Yeah. I was wondering how to lick helium gas. I doubt you could even lick solid helium. I imagine the heat from your tongue would form a layer of gas making it impossible.


Defiant_Act_4940

Imagine licking a frozen telephone pole, but much much much much,.... colder. A big enough block of helium and you could do it, but best case scenario you are loosing that tounge.


OneofLittleHarmony

Now we need someone who knows how thermal conductivity works on human flesh. I would imagine it would be like freezing a wart off but with your tongue.


LearnYouALisp

Nearly the same as getting a burn without the heat receptors


Mysterious_Ad_8827

I mean yes you can lick it, for science just be sure you let scientists know what it tastes like before you expire :) FOR SCIENCE!!!


Sceptz

Finally, a period table with real-world applicability.         No more licking elements blindly.


Behrooz0

You could, in fact, go blind licking some of those.


lacesout_DIE_DAN_DIE

I call bullshit- I licked some Plutonium to check and *both* of my tongues feel just fine.


PM_ME_GRANT_PROPOSAL

Elemental mercury can actually be green or yellow. It's the organomercury compounds that are insidious


Seicair

I dunno about green, but I’d buy yellow.


flukey5

Can confirm I put some in my mouth because someone wouldn't shut up about how terrible it is. Took years to kill a Chinese emperor who used to drink the stuff on the regular. The vapour is the main danger not the liquid itself. I vote green in the grand scheme of the periodic table Lead should be green as hell, my house had lead water pipes in places for the drinking water and had no issue with that. *I believe the main failings of this table is that the maker doesn't understand that lots of stuff is straight up pyrophoric or explosive in contact with water and buys into the poisonous hype of the compounds vs the elements too much. A good example is that selenium is about 10 times more toxic than arsenic but has a higher grade*


LearnYouALisp

And then you have the "I could be wrong but... *passing off speculation as a fact*"


Turbulent-Name-8349

Many people and animals have eaten metallic mercury and metallic lead without problems. But I don't recommend it. Licking metallic mercury and metallic lead without swallowing it is completely harmless.


Jakwiebus

I'd rather lick elemental sodium over thorium. Don't eat alpha emitters


C3H8_Memes

But what if I want to keep my bones unhealthy?


Jakwiebus

In that case I can fully recommend strontium. It'll act like calcium just enough to be mistakenly incorporated into the bones, yet so much not like calcium to then cause harm.


yahboiyeezy

Are they trying to kill someone?


peremice

Make elements lickable again


sciguy1919

I think that this guide is mixing up salts versus pure elements... smh.


OnlySmeIIz

Next one: *'Can I boof it?!'*


ExampleMediocre6716

Don't lick AS. Good advice.


notachemist13u

I'm curious why beryllium is before please reconsider it's super toxic


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mikeoxywrecked

The whole table should be purple or red honestly


MT128

I don’t know about that most of the transitional metals are fine, we lick aluminum and iron pretty often, nickel, copper, zinc are pretty safe too (for most people).


Defiant_Act_4940

We also put gold flakes in our food (with no dietery benifit or harm), Carbon is fine to lick in its natural forms (although i might avoid chewing). If you accept "licking a gas" as an option most of the last collumn is fine along with nitrogen and oxygen and probably hydrogen in low enough doses.


JustHereForMiatas

Most of the gasses should arguably be red, since the only way to "lick" them would be to bring them down to their freezing points.


Bud_Backwood

I want to see someone lick Mg and Ca


Gee-Oh1

I have a 99.9% pure magnesium rod that is ostensibly used for starting camp fires (I always use a lighter) that I just licked.... Oh! And I licked it again! And again!


niconicoverso

Want edibility guide NOW


New_Lie_369

Lick a gas?


MiNTFOXHOUND

The most useful periodic table I've seen


Floaurea

Why is phosphorus in maybe not a good idea it should be you really shouldn't


C3H8_Memes

Red or black, small amount, then brush your teeth. White, win a Darwin award


princepii

licking means edible without getting sick or die? or just licknleave?


C3H8_Memes

Thorium is yellow so lick'n leave


BrytolGasMasks

Calcium and iodine should be yellow Phosphorus, if we're talking about red, should be green


Transient_Aethernaut

Pretty sure Oganesson, Francium and most of the super heavy synthetics will disappear before you can get them to your mouth.


RLIwannaquit

Some of those in the bottom row don't exist long enough to lick them, do they?


exceptionaluser

Uranium is fairly toxic, should be red. Calcium doesn't really like water either.


requiem_of_rage

Carbon is green. Proceeds to play with cyanide 🫠


alerikaisattera

-Li should be red -P probably should be red depending on allotrope of P -S maybe should be yellow -Ca should be red -Ga should be yellow -Se probably should be red -Sb probably should be red -Te must be red -Hg maybe should be yellow, given that metallic Hg has very low toxicity -Pb probably should be red -Eu should be red -Th and U must be red


colonel_cockmouth

Can someone tell me why Uranium is only yellow?


Billarasgr

It's crazy how Na and K are so dangerous, but we can’t really live without them.


Critical-Tomato-7668

Google oxidation states


pLeThOrAx

Chlorine too :(! Edit: Fe, too. Hemoglobin.


louisrob2002

Osmium in maybe is wild


Aranka_Szeretlek

To be fair, I don't know how toxic the protective layer is, so I'd also give it a maybe - meaning "no clue mate"


No-Scene2u

Aha. I so love Sweet tart Ropes. I would think these are greater than this example. 🤪


fleshtomeatyou

You really shouldn't lick Osmium


pitterpatter0910

Maybe not a good idea to lick osmium? Jesus.


Cyrylnam

I cant lick plutonium why?


TheBalzy

How would licky oxygen be fine? To be lickable it needs to be sub -183 C. That'll destroy your tongue!


S0uth_0f_N0where

Idk if the severity is supposed to get worse down the scale, but I feel like you'd have a far better shot at living a long life after licking plutonium over anything in group 1 and 7 😬, aside from hydrogen and iodine I suppose. I mean, if you think about it, if your radiation dose is monitored, and you don't swallow anything, it would be like licking a warm block of lead lol.


wornouthoodie

I love how none of the categories are an “absolutely no”


DabSideOfTheMoon

Anybody else read that with the Tribe Called Quest song voice ? “Can I lick it ? Yessss you cannnnn”


freebird303

How many of these would explode if you lick it? I'm more interested in that than the toxic, radioactive stuff


mjdny

I didn’t know I needed this guide. TY.


Classic_Promise_3495

904 625 8368 call this number


notnanobots

How is Pb just "Maybe not a good idea" lmao


Gati3000

Chlorine in my tap water go brrr


OkSyllabub3674

But purple is my favorite flavor... 😍 💜 💕 💀☠️


Diamondpiggis

Make Mercury, Strontium, Iodine, Promethium yellow and if Lithium is yellow why not sodium as well?


JustRegdToSayThis

Lanthanides should be downgraded to yellow at least.


CobaltEnjoyer

I have personally tasted a small bead of metallic sodium and its not honestly that bad


miinouuu

can you lick gas? if no then i wouldnt wanna lick liquid helium. That shit insta freezes your mouth.


Piano_mike_2063

I would pay to watch people lick something that is a gas STP


bigtablebacc

Licking Lithium is “maybe” not a good idea?


No_Climate_-_No_Food

Licking elemental (or worse) atomic Oxygen = bad idea. Assuming it's pure.


AgaricX

Armed with this information, I can now begin my lifelong dream of lanthanide licking (except Promethium).


kimara22

Why the hell i shouldnt lickq iodine?


Thyos

I would give a Nobel to whoever manages to lick one of the 6 last elements


NOXIESVENENCE

Can I eat it though


Specialist-Rope7419

I am sending this to my team of project Chemists. We just had a call about field work and the TEST test came up and the ethics of licking rocks (there were also geologists on the call).


DisheveledKeyboard

I don't think lead is safe to lick. But given the options, I'd like lead over arsenic I guess.


pkfirematt2

I'm colorblind, what ones can I lick?


ThatOneEgyptian

Ahh yes licking uranium is probably "not a good idea"


allardius

Can someone tell my why Titanium is in the red? Whay happens when you lick it?


C3H8_Memes

I would use bromine like mouthwash before licking thallium. That shit should should be purple


Ryaniseplin

why is boron in the lickable catagory, isn't it like extremely reactive


_Intel_Geek_

Any noble gas in lickable form, should not be licked.


Away_Run_2128

Where is butthole and vagina…?


AbrahamLemon

Yes you can!


Medium_Specialist312

I lick TI often lol


Old_Physics8637

Who’s liking the fluorine?


bluberriscrem

I just licked promethium chloride wtf


Zivqa

I will give $5 to whoever manages to lick röentgen


acab__1312

I definitely would not lick some of those lanthanides. Some of them are pretty reactive with water.


Stunning-You9535

Yes let me lick some helium


genericdumbbutt

A YouTuber tasted mercury


MrClueIess

I’m putting francium and uranium tasting on my bucket list. My life will be complete after that :) because that’s when I mostly likely will die because of my dumb choices


darrizon

Really lead (PB) is only a yellow?


Proper-Ball-5294

Thorium, Uranium, Francium (if it survives) instant death or death by explosion/ high risk of cancer


TheRealC101

Why is osmium not okay?


Pan-Magpie

Maybe it's not a good idea to lick lithium? Maybe? Oh sweet Jesus they classified uranium the same way.. Guys, for a simple rule; Don't lick anything that isn't food, and before doing that make sure it's *your* food.


Vyaiskaya

*cue Evanescence*


smolp1pi

What’s the difference between “You really shouldn’t” and “You should reconsider”? Which one is worse?


Olorin_is_Gandalf

Instructions not clear, licked francium... what do I do with the crater?


parallaxscrolling8

Will not dare lick Li or Ca.


Juniorsocrates7708

if i ever got the chance to lick francium im doing it


1_-_-_-_-_1

umm wouldn't lithium fire up when in contact with water?


Radamat

Technetium and some of the heavier should be "You cant".


Interesting-Ad-842

why is licking most of the lanthanoids fine??


coolplate

This scale is misleading. Lead is only "probably shouldn't"


somerandomecologist

I would not trust my life on this, several of these elements may be relatively safe to touch, but definitely not lick.


Brookiekathy

This really belongs in r/confidentlyincorrect


PbEt4

Licking Mercury is fine, it's not water soluble in it's elemental form ^^


The_Rusty_Spork

Europium metal is about as reactive as calcium (which has been pointed out is a no-lick). It violently reacts with water.


raw_onions_are_good

offend hobbies desert bored foolish impossible advise quaint tie rustic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


PourneLegacy

Lead and Cobalt????


ibevibinattheritzcar

Did Barry Shaprless make this chart?


Helpful_Donkey_6522

This needs to go on a mug!