Scientia Potentia Est

The world first heard about the dangers of DHMO on April 1st, 1983. However, it went almost completely under the radar until 1997, when a high schooler brought the matter to national attention in a science fair project.

DHMO, abbreviated chemical term for dihydrogen monoxide, has had an incredible impact on our world, and in fact life in general. Rather than state the dangers myself, I’ve included some of the original and newer efforts to educate the population on this issue below:

It has been recognised by some and implemented into awareness and danger campaigns and some safety hazard signs have attempted to warn innocent people:

It’s probably made more of an impact on social media and has had it’s various impact incorporated into memes and other media forms to try and spread public awareness.

The Real Danger of DHMO

Of course it’s a joke. Dihydrogen monoxide is just the fancy chemical name for water, and these awareness campaigns are intended to promote awareness of chemophobia and scientific misinformation by using entirely true facts as a means to reach quite a different end.

The danger here is this misuse of science that relies on scientific ignorance in its intended audience. In the science fair project mentioned at the beginning of this article, the high schooler in question received nearly unanimous agreement to his petition to ban DHMO. Most people did not realise he was talking about water, regardless of the absurdity of having such a dangerous “contaminant” so widely used.

So please remember that the way you say or read something can completely change its meaning even though ALL THE FACTS ARE TRUE. Take so many scientific issues that are blown way out of proportion and apply the “DHMO test” to them!

And if you appreciate this article, maybe you’d like this satire about six other chemicals that should be banned!