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Eating a silica packet would leave your mouth feeling as dry as a desert.
©iStockphoto.com/leviticusThe substance you would likely consume is silica gel or another type of desiccant – a compound designed to absorb and trap water vapor. These packets are commonly included in products to help preserve their quality.
Shipping can create various atmospheric conditions and temperature fluctuations. Excess moisture can damage or spoil many products. For instance, if a bottle of vitamins had moisture vapor inside and then cooled rapidly, the moisture would condense and ruin the pills. Silica gel packets are often found in items susceptible to damage from excess moisture or condensation.
Silica gel can absorb up to 40% of its weight in moisture, reducing the relative humidity in a sealed container to around 40%. Once the gel is fully saturated, you can refresh it by heating it above 300°F (150°C) to remove the moisture and use it again.
Silica gel is mostly harmless, which is why it’s included in food packaging. The gel is made of silicon dioxide (SiO2), the same substance found in quartz. Its gel form is filled with countless tiny pores that absorb moisture, essentially making it a form of porous sand.
Although the contents of a silica gel packet are essentially non-toxic, trying to swallow the silica crystals would not be a pleasant experience. These desiccants are designed to absorb moisture, and if you poured a packet into your mouth, it would quickly draw moisture from your mouth, gums, and tongue, leading to an extreme case of ‘dry mouth.’ If you managed to swallow it—though you’d likely spit it out immediately—you might experience some discomfort, such as:
- Dry eyes
- A scratchy, dry feeling in your throat
- Dry and irritated mucous membranes and nasal passages
- Stomach upset or discomfort
How much silica would it take to absorb all the water in a person’s body? Let’s consider a man weighing 210 pounds. Since about 70% of the human body is water, that means 147 pounds of his weight comes from water. Given that silica gel can absorb approximately 40% of its weight in moisture, it would take 10 pounds of silica gel to absorb 4 pounds of water.
To absorb 147 pounds of water, it would take around 367.5 pounds of silica gel. Since a single silica gel packet weighs only 0.1 ounces, that means a 210-pound man would need to consume about 58,800 packets of silica gel.
