Dihydrogen monoxide

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A sample of the substance is filled for a laboratory test

Dihydrogen monoxide (abbreviation DHMO ) is a chemically correct name for water (H 2 O) , but it is only used ironically as a scientific joke . The technical-abstract term for an everyday, vital substance suggests a dangerous substance and was coined with the intention to caricature the widespread fear of the chemical industry and to illustrate how easily people can be manipulated by one-sided information.

Original form

For the first time in 1989, leaflets circulated on the campus of the University of California in Santa Cruz warning about a chemical called "dihydrogen monoxide" and presenting the dangers of this substance in a drastic way. On several occasions it has been possible to convince a number of people that this substance must be banned (see under “Known campaigns”).

In 1994 the joke was converted into a website in the beginning World Wide Web , which quickly gained notoriety and was also noticed by the press in the following years.

The statements made in DHMO campaigns about the dangers of water are in themselves correct, the joke consists in the one-sided and bold presentation:

Original form from 1994 German translation

The dangers of dihydrogen monoxide include:

  • Also called 'hydroxyl acid', the substance is a major component of acid rain
  • Contributes to soil erosion
  • Contributes to the greenhouse effect
  • Accelerates corrosion and breakdown of electrical equipment
  • Excessive ingestion may cause various unpleasant effects
  • Prolonged contact with its solid form results in severe tissue damage
  • Inhalation, even in small quantities, may cause death
  • Its gaseous form may cause severe burns
  • It has been found in the tumors of terminal cancer patients
  • Withdrawal by those addicted to the substance causes certain death within 168 hours

Nevertheless, governments and corporations continue using it widely, heedless of its grave dangers.

Dihydrogen monoxide poses the following dangers, among others:

Despite these grave dangers, governments and corporations still persist in widespread use.

This original shape was later often expanded to include other properties of water that are known to everyone, but are also presented in a provocative or shocking way:

  • DHMO is used in industry as an unrivaled cheap universal solvent.
  • Several hundred - undisputed - deaths caused by DHMO are recorded worldwide every year.
  • DHMO has not yet appeared on the official lists of dangerous substances.
  • The discharge of DHMO into wastewater has not yet been prohibited by law.
  • The authorities are not prepared to systematically measure the concentration of DHMO in wastewater.
  • It is not possible to remove DHMO from wastewater in sewage treatment plants.
  • DHMO is often used as a “carrier substance” for an unknown number of other toxins.
  • DHMO is used as a coolant in nuclear plants.
  • When pregnant women took DHMO, the dependency was carried over to the child in all cases examined.
  • Under the influence of electrical voltage, DHMO develops highly explosive oxyhydrogen.

The statements are actually correct: every year hundreds of people drown in water, heating water produces hot steam that can cause burns, water can be discharged into sewage and acid rain consists mainly of water. Nevertheless, the one-sided presentation of the dangers of a substance with an unfamiliar name repeatedly tempts people to support the demand for a ban or at least stricter legal regulations such as classification as dangerous goods or setting limit values.

Scientific terminology

The chemical formula for water is H 2 O, consisting of two hydrogen atoms connected by an oxygen atom. The chemical-scientific prefix “Di” means “two”, “Mono” means “one”. In chemical substances with hydrogen, this is listed with its Greco-Latin name as Hydrogenium (“Hydro” = Greek for “water”, “-genium” = Latin for “-bildner”; water-forming agent), while oxides are the connection with oxygen as a result of oxidation , usually corrosion or combustion of the oxygen in the air (with hydrogen: oxyhydrogen reaction ). The scientifically correct creation of the word Di-Hydrogen-Mono-Oxide literally means two-hydrogen-one-oxygen compound.

This designation is scientifically unambiguous, but according to chemical systematics it would not be used at all, since the double bond to hydrogen is the normal case here, which means that the systematic designation hydrogen oxide or hydrogen oxide is sufficient, similar to H 2 S simply means hydrogen sulfide , without pointing out the double occurrence of hydrogen. Likewise, the designation as hydroxylic acid like that of a connection of a hydrogen atom with a hydroxyl group would never be scientifically common. Nevertheless, water molecules have a special scientific status, as they are usually not listed with a systematic name, but with the trivial name "water" in the literature, which, however, differs worldwide in the various languages.

Often the name is deliberately spelled out as "dihydrogen monoxide" with a hyphen to allude to the well-known poisonous carbon monoxide . In addition, the name is reminiscent of the well known also in harmful exhaust gases contained nitrogen oxides , especially nitric oxide .

Well-known campaigns "against" DHMO

Warning sign in Louisville

Over the years there have been some very serious campaigns against DHMO, some of which the public only recognized late as a joke.

  • In 1989, three American students distributed leaflets warning of the dihydrogen monoxide contamination on the UC Santa Cruz campus . The three reported that the idea was based on an article in a local newspaper, the Durand Express, where the term "hydrogen hydroxide" was used. They developed the name "-monoxide" from this, because in their opinion it sounded more dangerous.
  • In 1994, Craig Jackson set up a website for the Coalition to Ban DHMO ("Initiative to Ban DHMO"). The website spread across the Internet and beyond, for example it was published in 1995 as a bogus advertisement in Analog Magazine .
  • In 1997, Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student from Idaho Falls , managed to get 43 of 50 fellow students surveyed to vote for a chemical ban. For the analysis of this survey, Zohner received first prize in the district's scientific student competition.
  • In 1997, Tom Way set up the DHMO.org site of the alleged Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division ("DHMO Research Institute"), inspired by Jackson's website and Zohner's research. He deliberately takes the page seriously in order to use it as a teaching tool for critical thinking and dealing with information in the information society.
  • In March 2004, in Aliso Viejo , Orange County, a ban on the use of foam packaging at municipal events was put on the council's agenda after a municipal justiciary read that DHMO was used in foam production without realizing it was a joke acted. The agenda item could be withdrawn before a vote, but it had already damaged the city council's public reputation.

Similar actions

  • In 2006, the managing director of the municipal institute for bank and water protection in Louisville had the idea of ​​preventing bathing in the publicly accessible fountains in the bank park by putting a sign on the city's account that read DANGER - WATER CONTAINS HIGH LEVELS OF HYDROGEN - Have KEEP OUT attached (German: "Warning - water contains high doses of Hydrogenium - do not enter"). According to his own statement, he counted "on the lack of dissemination of knowledge about the chemical composition of water".

More unusual names for water

The IUPAC's nomenclature recommendations allow not only “water” but also the designation Oxidan . Other alternative names for water are dihydrogen oxide or mon (o) oxane . Due to the amphoteric properties (as Brønsted base or acid ), the terms hydrogen hydroxide and hydroxyl acid are also possible. If you consider the two hydrogen atoms of the water molecule as organyl residues , one can also speak of dihydrogen ether . Another possibility is the association with dangerous radioactive substances - um such as plutonium ; this then becomes "diprotium monoxide". Protium is the term used in nuclear physics for "normal" hydrogen.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Dihydrogen monoxide  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Karl S. Kruszelnicki: Mysterious Killer Chemical . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
  2. ↑ Erich Lechner: Warning! Dangerous contamination! (original usenet posting) . Usenet rec.humor.funny archive. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
  3. ↑ Craig Jackson: Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide! . Coalition to ban DHMO. 1994. Archived from the original on October 31, 1996. Retrieved on December 21, 2010. Note: The source does not exactly correspond to the original version, which is no longer available, which is why there are minor differences.
  4. ↑ dhmo.org
  5. ↑ Penn And Teller Get Hippies To Sign Water Banning Petition. Excerpt from the TV show Bullshit! (Season 1, episode 13: Environmental Hysteria , first broadcast: April 18, 2003) as an example of a fun petition with the aim of abolishing DHMO (YouTube video).
  6. ↑ cf. Bernhard Knight: Lawyers Guide to Forensic Medicine. 2nd Edition. Cavendish Publishers, London 1998, ISBN 978-1-8594-1159-9 , p. 63
  7. ↑ Contamination Warning! (PDF; 8 kB) - Original of the poster that was distributed at UC Santa Cruz
  8. ↑ a b Dihydrogen Monoxide in the Urban Legends Reference Pages, accessed September 25, 2006.
  9. ↑ Local officials nearly fall for H 2 O hoax , at MSNBC March 15, 2004, accessed September 25, 2006.
  10. ^ Water without hydrogen would warrant warning, Louisville Courier-Journal, July 17, 2006
  11. ^ GJ Leigh, HA Favre, WV Metanomski: Principles of Chemical Nomenclature - A Guide to IUPAC Recommendations. Blackwell Science, 1998 ( PDF ), p. 34