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They are only sometimes used. There are lots of current (last five years) papers where they aren't used

So, it's still nice to have more less toxic ways of creating nanoparticles around, isn't it? And having research papers about alternatives doesn't necessarily mean all the processes described will scale up (economically viable) for industrial production.

Phosphorus is only dangerous if you eat it on the multi-gram scale or if you heat it, and frankly, anyone who does that gets what they deserve.

Maybe I was just nitpicking. :)

If you're worried about waste, elemental phosphorus will oxidize pretty quickly with contact with air (and gold nanoparticles) and become biocompatible phosphates.

But R52/53 applies:

R52/53: Harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment

Although this is due to eutrophic effects of phosphate ... alas, I wonder whether the toxic hydric acid used to dissolve phosphate itself is not a more potent danger for the environment!?

All that said (and jokes aside), I still don't understand you bullshitting on the toxicity issue, because some reducing agents are still more toxic than others.

Don't mess around with that DiHydrogen Monooxide (DHMO) stuff. It is nasty stuff and if they are finding that in these schools water supply, then they need to be going after that instead of WiFi, because we know that stuff is nasty. I can't even believe these Canadians would let their kids go to school that has Dihydrogren Monoxide in it. Apparently, the WiFi is the red herring to draw attention away from the real problems. If any of you doubt, check this out:

http://www.dhmo.org/

Did you know that inhaling a small amount of this stuff can lead to death! If you are exposed to solid DHMO it can cause significant skin damage that can even cause you to loose the exposed part of your body! They even found that almost even crazy dog attack that resulted in harm to a human or death was followed shortly after these dogs ingested DMHO! All of these facts about the affect of DMHO are absolutely and completely 100% true and the government is doing nothing about it and now these schools are going after WiFi while continuing to ignore the risks of DMHO!!!

Unbelievable! ;)

Many people have been ignoring the negative effects of Dihydrogen Monoxide. It is a silent killer.

http://www.dhmo.org/

It's the dihydrogen monoxide that's killing us.

What does any of it matter when we're surrounded by potentially deadly chemicals like Dihydrogen Monoxide every day?

What about the solvent? I hear they're using dihydrogen monoxide! http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

Oh, I see your point now. It's a tool used by terrorists. Anyone causing wake turbulence would therefore be a terrorist. Just like all those evil people caught possessing DHMO.

I'm just sayin'. It has all the hallmarks of a IT grad student behavioral study experiment or perhaps a prank or a hoax. Are people really that stupid?

Ever heard of this site about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide?

"Dihydrogen monoxide can even be lethal if inhaled!" Dihydrogen monoxide is, of course, water. Their link that says it's "for the press" will explain the intent behind the site. It aims to do for critical thinking what this phishing education site does for phishing.

Yes - some of those tanks probably even contain dihydrogen monoxide! When will those evil corporations quit exposing us to such diabolic chemicals! Not to mention that some types of stainless steel even contain molybdenum - anything spelled that weirdly must be bad! :D

The banning of the use of dihydrogen monoxide (also known as hydric acid) in the preparation of food would be an excellent admentment to this bill. Yes, I know what dihydrogen monoxide is. In our lab at my previous place of employment we even had a material safety data sheet for it. Check it out here Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division.

You forgot about the real killer that is lurking in every home in the United States: dihydrogen monoxide. Dihydrogen monoxide is used in all sorts of industrial processes and is associated with thousands of deaths each year, it a is a major component of acid rain, has been linked to school shootings, and can be found in our rivers and streams.

In other news, consumption of sugar and/or protein has been conclusively shown to increase the likelihood of hyperactive and/or aggressive behaviour. Researchers are also concerned about the effects of Dihydrogen Monoxide, claiming that 100% of death-row inmates have confessed to using this substances in the 24 hours prior to committing their crimes. Worldwide use of dihydrogen monoxide has increased steadily throughout the 1900's.

Perhaps this might lead to finally finding a cure for http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

Mod Parent Up. This isn't "Funny".

My Grandfather, a Navy man of 23 years, died from overexposure of DHMO. They tried to remove it from his system; there was nothing that could be done.

I'll never forgive the government for making him work basically knee-deep in the stuff for the entire time he was in the service. It was almost inevitable.

Perhaps this might lead to finally finding a cure for http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

He probably means dihydrogen monoxide, which is known to be a dangerous chemical that causes thousands of deaths every year.

Nah, go look it up on Google, it's just another name for hydrogen peroxide.

Sure there's the risk of explosion when it's of sufficient concentration, but that's nowhere as dangerous as its sibling - hydrogen monoxide. You know, anything that's called "monoxide" in chemistry is always more dangerous than its dioxide sibling. Like, carbon dioxide vs. carbon monoxide. So, hydrogen monoxide must be more dangerous than hydrogen dioxide. Everyone knows it's true because is science.

Actually, even worse than nuclear and coal is DHMO (dihydrogen monoxide). Thousands of deaths per year and millions if not billions of damage per year (including in developed countries), used in major chemical processes, even by farmers (and not totally removed by rinsing fruits).

Taken from http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html#DANGERS :

What are some uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide?
Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide. Some of the well-known uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

as an industrial solvent and coolant,
in nuclear power plants,
by elite athletes to improve performance,
in biological and chemical weapons manufacture,
in the development of genetically engineering crops and animals,
as a major ingredient in many home-brewed bombs,
as a byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion in furnaces and air conditioning compressor operation,
historically, in Hitler's death camps in Nazi Germany, and in prisons in Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Libya, Iraq and Iran,
n animal research laboratories, and
in pesticide production and distribution.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

But...but...what about this? If the internet says it, it must be true!

Water vapor. The silent killer.

Everyone needs to be aware of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide

"Pink Slime"??? The sub-grade beef article you link to sounds very much like the known dangers of DHMO. It is important that the government start banning these terrible substances. Heck, I wouldn't doubt it if researchers even found DHMO IN the pink slime.

Dihydrogen Monoxide plays an instrumental role in the centers of the brain associated with feelings of emotional attachment and love. Married couples have found that regular ingestion of DHMO can improve their marriage-related activities, while couples that never ingest DHMO often find that their marriage suffers as well.

it goes on and on.. DHMO affects anything and everything, both harmful and beneficial, wtf?

Water? Ah, maybe not.

Then let's make the DVDs out of water! Oh wait...

I was going to suggest dihydrogen monoxide, but that stuff is probably too toxic for consumer use.

Also, deuterium and tritium can be found in Dihydrogen Monoxide.

"I vote we call it "Hydrogen Energy". After all, hydrogen is 2/3 of the ingredients in water!"

2/3 of water sounds mighty dangerous.

You mean dihydrogen monoxide--pretty dangerous stuff...

That is to say, substances often considered toxic can be benign or beneficial in small doses, and conversely an ordinarily benign substance can be deadly if over-consumed. Even water can be deadly if overconsumed.

Hence my vigilant crusade to educate everyone I encounter about the dangers of DHMO, and the carelessness given to its widespread use in virtually everything.

Oblig

they are very dangerous

Astronauts landing on Moon now have to be very careful.

Test to see if one is worthy to survive the Human Culling:

Take a large quantity of the very dangerous liquid, DHMO. Have a Liquid DHMO - (80%) Nitrogen Gas boundary in a chamber. The person taking the test must pass through the DHMO-Nitrogen boundary and travel between the two safe zones. If any (non major) body part makes contact with, or passes through the boundary layor then it is likely to require amputation. Breathing near the boundary layor is likely to kill. Breathing in the DHMO liquid is likely to kill.

Shit. I posted to much crap to make this modded funny :(

You do realize that GMO foods contain dihydrogen monoxide, a chemical compound found in cancer cells, and is used by the big oil companies and the big tobacco companies, don't you?

Not only that, his crops are exposed to dihyrogen monoxide, a chemical compound found in cancer cells, and used by large oil and nuclear companies.

Said chemical is especially dangerous in combination with Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO).

In other news, showers are full of Dihydrogen Monoxide. This must be stopped. Won't somebody please think of the CHILDREN!

Experts have called for the introduction of a mandatory license for ownership of Dihydrogen Monoxide, citing its common usage in the illegal manufacturing of most controlled substances.

Steam?!?! Isn't that VERY HOT DHMO!?!?! That can't be good, according to http://www.dhmo.org/ !!

Seriously, amateur radio operators are subject to FCC Part 97 rules, and specifically, http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/news/part97/e.html#407 (b). "In the event of an emergency which necessitates invoking the President's War Emergency Powers under the provisions of section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934..." amateur radio as a hobby would be put on hold. That rule applies only to frequencies that amateurs are licensed to use. Obama, and any other president since 1934, could invoke said Powers, but I don't see how they could apply to non-wireless or unlicensed wireless communications. The Gov can shut down it's interstate highways, international borders, airspace, licensed radio spectrum, etc at it's discretion. When governments shut down cell phone networks, well, see the recent events in Iran.

Would or could the government jam the unlicensed spectrum that wifi uses? If "no", wireless mesh networks FTW! Otherwise, maybe we'll be saying "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a backpack full of usb flash drives," as long as some state borders are left open.

Good thing we'll still be able to build steam-powered spark-gap generators, tho! ;)

Apparently this installation contained enormous quantities of DHMO as a coolant and working medium. We need to protest their excessive reliance on DHMO. This disaster is just one more proof that DHMO is a dangerous material that needs more regulation.

Right! Just yesterday I suffered from cellular damage because of radiation! Those damned gas ovens radiate enormous amounts of infrared. It's about time somebody acts and designs some mitts that block infrared, that stuff is just everywhere. And when they are on to that, could they please do something about DHMO usage too? My son spilled the stuff all over himself yesterday, and who knows what happens next?

"The "muppet" was right to do so. Information that is not independently verifiable does not belong in an encyclopedia."

There are two types of "independent verification":

1) citing a different, published source for the information
2) doing it oneself -- as in a scientific experiment that will independently test a claim

It's fine and dandy to cite another published source for information, but we all know that people can and do slap up a web page making whatever wacky claims they want, and then cite that page in Wikipedia as if it is useful. In the scientific realm, citation of other publications only goes so far: those publications could still be wrong. The ultimate independent verification is to do the experiment yourself.

If I make the claim that water is extraordinarily toxic and hazardous to people's health and cite the DHMO website as my source, does that make my claim automatically "independently verified"? Can I go ahead and change the Wikipedia entry on water? Or are people more likely to accept their own personal experience and their ability to test the claims directly?

You and Wikipedia are right to expect a strong level of independent *documentation* for a claim, but there is more than one way to independently verify something, and sometimes personal experience or experimentation should be accepted as a valid approach. Anyone can independently verify that water boils at 100 degrees C at STP. Do I really have to cite a written source in order to say that in Wikipedia? If you have been there or done something that qualifies as first-hand knowledge of the issue, or anyone could verify the claim for themselves (e.g., do X yourself and you will see result Y), why shouldn't you correct an obvious mistake? Slavishly expecting a citation is silly in some circumstances.

I did the same, but I used sodium chloride, and included some wood chips soaked in dihydrogen monoxide. Somewhat tastier, despite the use of the Earth's most deadly chemical.

That bottle of water is dangerous, I tell you! Have you not heard of the dangers of Dihydrogen monoxide? Besides, you could splash it in the pilot's eyes. Then, while he's temporarily blinded, he could push forward on the controls sending the plane into a death spiral. We must ban all water bottles on airplanes! Won't someone think of the pilots' eyes?!!!

This site is still up for your reading pleasure. http://www.dhmo.org/

I hope it stays up forever. I've sent this link to some skepticismically-impaired folk, listened to them get all excited, then pulled the rug out.

They tend towards a lot of anger, but they do remember. Whenever the latest monosodium glutamate/sodium lauryl sulfate/random-scary-chemical-name baloney comes down the pike they either skip over me or I gently remind -- "So is this stuff as dangerous as dihydrogen monoxide?"

I raise my glass to DHMO.org -- may they live forever!

The ban Dihydrogenmonoxide stunt also got the media messed up in a comical frenzy over bad science.

This site is still up for your reading pleasure.
http://www.dhmo.org/

The environmental impact of the stuff is huge. It's found most everywhere.
http://www.dhmo.org/environment.html

For those who don't get the joke the punchline is here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax
n 1989, Eric Lechner, Lars Norpchen and Matthew Kaufman circulated a Dihydrogen Monoxide contamination warning on the UC Santa Cruz Campus via photocopied fliers.[8] The concept originated one afternoon when Kaufman recalled a similar warning about "Hydrogen Hydroxide" that had been published in his mother's hometown paper, the Durand (Michigan) Express, and the three then worked to coin a term that "sounded more dangerous". Lechner typed up the original warning flier on Kaufman's computer, and a trip to the local photocopying center followed that night.

The ban Dihydrogenmonoxide stunt also got the media messed up in a comical frenzy over bad science.

This site is still up for your reading pleasure.
http://www.dhmo.org/

The environmental impact of the stuff is huge. It's found most everywhere.
http://www.dhmo.org/environment.html

For those who don't get the joke the punchline is here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax
n 1989, Eric Lechner, Lars Norpchen and Matthew Kaufman circulated a Dihydrogen Monoxide contamination warning on the UC Santa Cruz Campus via photocopied fliers.[8] The concept originated one afternoon when Kaufman recalled a similar warning about "Hydrogen Hydroxide" that had been published in his mother's hometown paper, the Durand (Michigan) Express, and the three then worked to coin a term that "sounded more dangerous". Lechner typed up the original warning flier on Kaufman's computer, and a trip to the local photocopying center followed that night.

...that we pipe our drinking water through it.

(Though, to be fair, the water that comes out of PVC pipes does tend to have a lot of DHMO in it.)

If they successfully put through this ban, how long until they ban acetaminophen outright? Like another responder said, it won't prevent the mixing of acetaminophen with codeine based medications to get the same effect.

As it is now, acetaminophen is one of the few OTC analgesics that are in the mainstream. You have aspirin, acetaminophen, ibupophin and naproxen. Doctors are shying away from naproxen as there are poswible detrimental side-effects, ibuprophin has had its share of kidney related complications, etc, etc.

Me, I can say there were times that between vicodin and extrastrength tylenol, I probably took as much as 6000mg a day of acetaminophen. I used to take 3 or 4 500mg caplets at a time. Last I checked, I am not dead. I have enough medical issues that I have had a lot of blood work done over the years and never once was there a concern over my liver. Granted, I no longer do that. I choose to live with my pain rather than live under a drug induced mask.

I am not saying there are not risks, but at some point we need to be allowed the opportunity to decide for ourselves. These law, bazns, regulations, etc, often do nothing more than inconvenience the intelligent and/or law abiding citizens of the planet.

Everything out there has the ability to bring harm to us. That is why we develop common sense. Those who don't may find themselves the brunt of a Darwin Award. Take, for example, Dihyderogen Monoxide, it can be very deadly if you do not use common sense when around it. But when use/handled correctly, there is nothing wrong with it.

Dihydrogen monoxide is also a major component of acid rain, can kill you if you breathe it, and oxidises/corrodes many metals. It is found in biopsies of pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions.

For a full rundown of the dangers (and - surprisingly - some benefits) of dihydrogen monoxide click here.

Dihydrogen monoxide is the correct answer.

It could react into dihydrogen monoxide!. That stuff is lethal.