Someone Asks: “What Is Generally Safe But Can Be Fatal If Not Used Correctly?”, Receives 25 Replies
In May 2002, Santiago Cañizares, one of the best soccer goalkeepers in the world at that time, and the undisputed number one of the Spanish national team, dropped a bottle of aftershave on the floor, and a rather large shard of glass penetrated his flesh, thus severing a tendon in his right foot and forcing the player to miss the upcoming World Cup.
Spain were knocked out in the quarter finals that year, and the incident with the unlucky goalkeeper only highlights that even the most seemingly simple and innocent things can become damn dangerous if handled carelessly. So here's a selection of similar items and things made by Bored Panda, based on this viral thread in the AskReddit community.
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One of my favorite phrases is that the only difference between being medicine and being poison is the dosage.
Water. Obviously, we need it to survive. But it will kill us if we drink too much, drink the wrong kind, or fall into a bunch of it.
Our dog loves playing at the lake, but we have to watch her to make sure she doesn't get so excited that she accidentally swallows too much water while swimming. She got sick off water once so we're extremely careful now!
Garage doors. Mess with the springs and they will f**k you up
same with hitch lines . I've seen a garage door spring go. It's as terrifying as suddenly being caught by a house sized falcon. . . But they make good instruments.
In fact, almost any thing that surrounds us can become dangerous. You can hammer nails, or you can hit someone with a hammer, stairs help us go up and down, but we also often fall from them, and water, although it is a vital element for us - have you even looked at the statistics on drownings around the world?
If not, voila - according to the World Health Organization data, back in 2019, an estimated 236,000 people died from drowning all over the world, making drowning a major public health problem worldwide. In other words, danger can lie in wait for us almost everywhere.
CLEANING SUPPLIES. so so so many people blindly mix cleaning chemicals. you can create so much deadly other chemicals its insane.
Some of them are toxic and dangerous on their own, even without mixing. Always read and follow label directions.
Your bathroom. Many people get hurt badly in slip in the bathroom. Oddly enough, we tend to use materials that are rather slick when wet when building them too
There was an interesting series of events at a glass factory. They kept having accidents but they weren't keeping the detail, so they were forced to start keeping accident records. After a month or so, a pattern emerged. The workers were not being hurt by the glass, as you'd expect in a glass factory. No, the majority of accidents were around using Stanley knives. They had proper equipment to handle the glass, but no hand protection when using the knives. Hence, more accidents.
1. Don't hold your hand behind the knife. 2. Hire more workers so they don't have to stress?
“If you’ve read any safety instructions, for example, for any household appliance, you’ve probably been surprised by the numerous truisms that are written there,” says Valery Bolgan, a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Intent news agency from Ukraine, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. “But this just means that the creators of these instructions tried to provide for all possible negative consequences of using this item.”
“In the old days it was said that every line of the military regulations was written in blood - because the cost of a mistake is incredibly high, and this is probably true. That is why, no matter how self-evident this or that point in the safety instructions may seem, it is still better to read everything and remember. So that later, based on our example, new paragraphs of these instructions will not be drawn up..." Valery summarizes.
Ink cap mushrooms are edible foragable mushrooms, but if consumed with alcohol they become toxic.
One example of why using foraging apps to identify a yes or no answer as to whether something is edible isn't a great idea.
Pressure cookers. I’ve always been scared of pressure cookers.
By and large, it is not the things and phenomena themselves that are dangerous - it is human stupidity and inattention that make them so. And disregard for the rules. It may work one time and look damn cool, a second time, a third time... but there will come another time when the luck runs out, and it’s good if the person gets away with just an injury.
Hairspray and any spray that can be used as an impromptu flamethrower in general.
Water and bathroom floors. More people are killed or injured in accidents in bathrooms than most people realize.
Any corner. The corner of a table or the corner of a cabinet door. Never leave those doors open. It takes one wrong step to lose an eye.
Bleach. It’s poisonous, it can blind you if it gets in your eyes, and it makes lots of smoke if mixed with brake fluid.
Bleach mixed with ammonia creates chloramine gas, which is poisonous if inhaled. Prolonged exposure can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs and result in pulmonary edema. Long term effects are irritation of the lungs and breathing problems. THAT’S why they say not to mix them.
Salt. Sprinkle it on your food and you're fine, but consume 10 teaspoons at once and you could die.
"Gotta need thouse Electrolytes" /jk, everything in 'lagom' amounts = just right amount
No, the entire list we have given here does not in any way mean that you need to lock yourself at home in horror and not go out anywhere in fear for your own life and health (after all, even in our home, there are many potentially dangerous things). But it was not for nothing that the ancient Romans said “forewarned is forearmed!” so please feel free to scroll this selection to the very end and perhaps add in the comments your own ideas on the phantom menaces surrounding us here, there and everywhere.
Vitamins. Vitamin A overdose is the reason why people stranded in the poles stay away from polar bears.
Edit: I meant by eating polar bears lol
eating a whole cherry. This is because cherry pits contain the glycoside amidalin, which, when it enters the stomach, under the influence of the previous juice, forms a strong poison, hydrocyanic acid. 50 cherry pits can kill a person, but 15 is enough for a child! 10 - will cause poisoning.
A car.
Not usually the car in itself, but most often the too qucik slowing down?
Visine.
A few drops in someone's drink will cause explosive diarrhea. A few drops a few days in a row will kill a person. *DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!!!* (edit for spelling)
Microwave ovens.
Place it on the counter and use it to heat food, perfectly safe.
Take the magnetron out of it to do fractal wood burning, high probability of death
Definitely, the humble toaster! It's all fun and games until you need a smoke detector concerto at breakfast
Apples. If you eat around 200 of them, including the core, you'll have consumed enough cyanide to be fatal.
Cinnamon
you would have to eat a shiatload. also, cinnamon is toxic to dogs as is chocolate, onions, grapes, garlic and onion.
I would like a bit more context on most of these posts, but it was still a pretty interesting read! I'm just glad it's not another AITA...
Pregnancy. You can be low to no risk, eat everything you're supposed to avoid what you should, go to all your appointments & still have a micro-preemie and both nearly die.
Well, one's missing. Flour. The most powerful explosive, it's combustible if kept improperly in a closed container. That's why it comes in paper bags. Anything powdered is combustible, I've seen cinnamon powder combust out of nowhere
Airtight containers and food. I think the food has to be sitting in those containers for a while. My grandma once opened an old Tupperware container containing chutney and it exploded and sent chutney everywhere
BP: "What kind of pictures should we post with it? Pictures of the things we're talking about? Nah... let's post a picture of completely different type of pan then is mentioned in the article, let's post a picture of a completely different kind of mushroom then talked about. Pictures are allowed to be random, right?"
Rhubarb! The stalks of a rhubarb plant are safe to eat. You can even eat them raw but they’re very tart! However, the large, smooth, heart-shaped leaves are toxic.Rhubarb leaves are considered poisonous to humans and animals due to high concentrations of oxalic acid. This oxalic acid can cause difficulty breathing, nausea and even kidney stones.
But are "50 cherry pits" and "200 apple cores" appropriate examples of "not used correctly"? Shouldn't it be more like, "Watch your fingers when you're using the table saw"?
Most of these posts seem to be about inanimate objects or things that have no power on their own. There I suggest the real danger in many of these examples is the one you didn't see. A human being with the aptitude of a toilet brush.
Hospitals. Go in with a minor problem, come out with an antibiotic resistant hospital-acquired disease. Or two. Or three. Be dead a fortnight later.
I’m not sure if it fits the exact description in the title, but speaking from experience; I would say URINE INFECTION … because I had a UTI that triggered sepsis exactly 10 years ago, which then ruptured my large bowel. I had to be put in a coma, required an emergency tracheotomy, was put on life support/dialysis for multiple organ failure & had to have an emergency ileostomy. Despite that, they told my family that I wouldn’t survive, because there was way too much trauma for my body to handle it … I guess they misjudged my endurance, because I did survive & woke after 5 weeks in the coma. All this because of a damn UTI that was ignored by local A&E staff, despite cola-coloured pee (& they said my abdominal pain was “just constipation” so, a barely-conscious me & my mum were sent home with a suppository) … pretty sure they crapped themselves when I came back in a lit-up ambulance 12 hours later with sepsis symptoms now clear as a bell. Seriously, people; do NOT ignore a urine infection!! 😨
Marshmallows. Back when they were doing that stupid challenge of who can fit the most in their mouth. The marshmallows the person puts in their mouth at the beginning start to melt. In the time it takes to stuff your mouth full of them the melted sticky ones in the back can block your airway from the back of your throat. You’re gonna die. Do CPR? You can’t give them breaths. The paramedics get there, the only answer is an emergency tracheotomy. Chances are pretty high that’s not going to help. You’re already quite dead.
A submarine, a falling satellite, an erupting volcano, a meteor, etc. Follow me for more obvious and tedious BP posts.
Magnificently vague. The take away is that ANYTHING used incorrectly is fatal because we are fragile meat sacks filled with liquid.
I would like a bit more context on most of these posts, but it was still a pretty interesting read! I'm just glad it's not another AITA...
Pregnancy. You can be low to no risk, eat everything you're supposed to avoid what you should, go to all your appointments & still have a micro-preemie and both nearly die.
Well, one's missing. Flour. The most powerful explosive, it's combustible if kept improperly in a closed container. That's why it comes in paper bags. Anything powdered is combustible, I've seen cinnamon powder combust out of nowhere
Airtight containers and food. I think the food has to be sitting in those containers for a while. My grandma once opened an old Tupperware container containing chutney and it exploded and sent chutney everywhere
BP: "What kind of pictures should we post with it? Pictures of the things we're talking about? Nah... let's post a picture of completely different type of pan then is mentioned in the article, let's post a picture of a completely different kind of mushroom then talked about. Pictures are allowed to be random, right?"
Rhubarb! The stalks of a rhubarb plant are safe to eat. You can even eat them raw but they’re very tart! However, the large, smooth, heart-shaped leaves are toxic.Rhubarb leaves are considered poisonous to humans and animals due to high concentrations of oxalic acid. This oxalic acid can cause difficulty breathing, nausea and even kidney stones.
But are "50 cherry pits" and "200 apple cores" appropriate examples of "not used correctly"? Shouldn't it be more like, "Watch your fingers when you're using the table saw"?
Most of these posts seem to be about inanimate objects or things that have no power on their own. There I suggest the real danger in many of these examples is the one you didn't see. A human being with the aptitude of a toilet brush.
Hospitals. Go in with a minor problem, come out with an antibiotic resistant hospital-acquired disease. Or two. Or three. Be dead a fortnight later.
I’m not sure if it fits the exact description in the title, but speaking from experience; I would say URINE INFECTION … because I had a UTI that triggered sepsis exactly 10 years ago, which then ruptured my large bowel. I had to be put in a coma, required an emergency tracheotomy, was put on life support/dialysis for multiple organ failure & had to have an emergency ileostomy. Despite that, they told my family that I wouldn’t survive, because there was way too much trauma for my body to handle it … I guess they misjudged my endurance, because I did survive & woke after 5 weeks in the coma. All this because of a damn UTI that was ignored by local A&E staff, despite cola-coloured pee (& they said my abdominal pain was “just constipation” so, a barely-conscious me & my mum were sent home with a suppository) … pretty sure they crapped themselves when I came back in a lit-up ambulance 12 hours later with sepsis symptoms now clear as a bell. Seriously, people; do NOT ignore a urine infection!! 😨
Marshmallows. Back when they were doing that stupid challenge of who can fit the most in their mouth. The marshmallows the person puts in their mouth at the beginning start to melt. In the time it takes to stuff your mouth full of them the melted sticky ones in the back can block your airway from the back of your throat. You’re gonna die. Do CPR? You can’t give them breaths. The paramedics get there, the only answer is an emergency tracheotomy. Chances are pretty high that’s not going to help. You’re already quite dead.
A submarine, a falling satellite, an erupting volcano, a meteor, etc. Follow me for more obvious and tedious BP posts.
Magnificently vague. The take away is that ANYTHING used incorrectly is fatal because we are fragile meat sacks filled with liquid.
