Buzz
In the spring of 1997, a 14-year-old’s science fair project made a compelling case for banning a hazardous chemical compound: dihydrogen monoxide, also known as DHMO. Nathan Zohner, a junior high student from Idaho, presented a report titled "Dihydrogen Monoxide: The Unseen Killer" to 50 of his classmates. The report detailed the dangers of DHMO, persuading most of the students to advocate for its ban. The experiment gained so much attention that it was featured in The Washington Post.
The report explained that DHMO can corrode and rust metal, and cause serious burns. If ingested, it can lead to bloating and excessive urination and sweating. Thousands in the U.S. die annually from accidental ingestion. Withdrawal from it can be fatal. It is present in large amounts in acid rain, tumors, and more. Armed with these facts, 43 of Zohner’s classmates voted to ban the substance, believing it to be deadly. Thankfully, no lawmaker was convinced: DHMO is simply the chemical formula for water. Zohner’s project won the top prize at that year's regional science fair. He wasn’t the first to stir panic over the dangers of DHMO, which can indeed burn, drown, and harm people in various forms.
The hoax around DHMO first appeared in 1983, when a Michigan newspaper, The Durand Express, published a satirical article warning of the dangers of DHMO as an April Fool’s joke. Zohner’s project demonstrated how easily students—even those with chemistry knowledge—could be deceived by misleading, fear-based scientific claims. But scientific ignorance isn’t just a concern for children, and the availability of Google hasn’t prevented similar hoaxes and conspiracy theories from flourishing in public discourse today.
Some people still believe that the government is using fluoride in water as a means to poison the population (despite fluoridation being hailed as one of the greatest public health triumphs of the 20th century, significantly reducing dental cavities and tooth loss across populations), or that vaccines cause autism (a disproven claim based on a study with only 12 participants and falsified data), or that deodorant can lead to breast cancer (with no scientific evidence to support this, according to the National Cancer Institute).
Take the recent “detoxing” craze pushed by outlets like Goop. Most people aren’t even sure what “toxins” they’re trying to rid their bodies of with their costly juice cleanses, but doctors point out that our bodies are well-equipped to handle the harmful substances we expose ourselves to—such as alcohol. With no credible scientific proof to back it up, this trend is essentially the modern-day equivalent of leeching, experts note.
No doubt Gwyneth Paltrow would be just as concerned about DHMO as she is about underwire bras causing cancer (don’t worry, they don’t). The takeaway from Zohner’s project, two decades on? Chemicals aren’t inherently harmful. Everything is made of chemicals, and just because something has a name you can’t pronounce doesn’t mean it’s dangerous. It’s easy to fall for apocalyptic pseudoscience—because pollution is truly dangerous and most of us haven’t taken a science class in years. But with a healthy dose of skepticism and some basic research, we can all learn to sift through the misinformation. In moderation, a little DHMO is a great thing.
