Avoiding Environmental Poisons

Part 43,695

Pressure-treated lumber is made by forcing a bunch of chemicals into ordinary lumber with high pressure. This helps it resist rot, termites, etc, so it's frequently done for wood that's going to be structural or exposed to the elements

Prior to 2003, ~80% of the pressure-treated lumber used in the United States was made with chromated copper arsenate, which contains arsenic

So if you have a deck made of this stuff, and then you demolish it and use it as fuel for a huge bonfire with all your friends where you cook 50lbs of meat, it is very possible that you will give everyone arsenic poisoning

If you suspect this has happened, you should call the poison control hotline. They will set you up with a 24-hour speciated urine test, which can determine the difference between inorganic arsenic from toxic lumber fumes and the slightly-less-toxic arsenic from seafood. This is apparently relevant to medical practicioners

If it's determined that you have arsenic poisoning, the hospital has 2 options

1) Do nothing, and just kind of sit there cheerleading you. (They actually do this in response to a shocking amount of conditions, and it's kind of wild we let them get away with charging people 25k a day for this)

2) Chelate the arsenic out of your bloodstream. This is basically taking a binder that will attach to the arsenic and make it easier for your body to excrete

Unfortunately, the commonly-used chelating agents bind to more things than just arsenic, so you'll wind up forcing your body to extrete a bunch of electrolytes or other useful minerals too, which feels pretty awful and can technically kill you if were to go full-retard on dosing

"Lukas, but why would I ever need or care about any of this information"

That's a fair point. I would have said the same thing 2 days ago