Silica Gel - How poisonous?

[Mike Gayner]

I recently bought a new pair of shoes and inside was a packet of that silica gel stuff that always says "DO NOT EAT". My shoes were lying around, and the kitty has been playing with the packaging, and ripped open the sachet. I don't know if he ate any of the beads - how poisonous is this stuff?

 

[F1N3ST]

I thought it absorbed moisture.

 

[F1N3ST]

From wikipedia-

Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage. It will react with hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, oxygen difluoride, chlorine trifluoride, strong acids, strong bases, and oxidizers[5]. Silica gel is irritating to the respiratory tract, may cause irritation of the digestive tract, and dust from the beads may cause irritation to the skin and eyes, so precautions should be taken [6]. Some of the beads may be doped with a moisture indicator, such as cobalt(II) chloride, which is toxic and may be carcinogenic. Cobalt (II) chloride is deep blue when dry (anhydrous) and pink when moist (hydrated).
Crystalline silica dust can cause silicosis but synthetic amorphous silica gel is non-friable, and so does not cause silicosis.

 

[SunSamurai]

Eat them and tell us.

 

[pontifex]

Eat them and tell us.

Eat each one and post afterwards telling us how many you have eaten. when you stop posting, we'll know.

 

[Tsavo]

I at three packs ten minutes ago and so far I feel gre

 

[Rubycon]

It's inert so no real issues.

It's a good way to find out who's got a cavity! Sprinkle a few on a soft pretzel. When they bite down on one of those - BAM! Ok you really should not do this, it's actually pretty mean! 😱

 

[SunSamurai]

I at three packs ten minutes ago and so far I feel gre

Lucky for us he landed on the mouse and clicked Submit Reply

 

[SlitheryDee]

Probably slightly less poisonous than fish and red meat. But then again, fish and red meat are de debbil according to ATOT.

 

[Modelworks]

Swallowing would be a bad idea, swallowing a lot of it would be a very bad idea. It absorbs moisture , I wonder how much a person would have to swallow to die of dehydration ?

Mythbusters !

 

[Tsavo]

Lucky for us he landed on the mouse and clicked Submit Reply

No, I had to run and rehydrate my tongue...that stuff works FAST.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Probably slightly less poisonous than fish and red meat. But then again, fish and red meat and masturbation are de debbil according to ATOT.

Fixed

 

[rockyct]

I think it's pretty much only dangerous if your toy dog ate the whole package.

 

[arrfep]

Just don't get it in the salsa.