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1 teaspoon caffeine = fatal


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Over the weekend, the Herald ran an interesting article about the death of a US kid from caffeine overdose:
Teen's death puts focus on caffeine powder dangers

Now I knew that too much caffeine could be fatal, but I didn't realise that as little as a teaspoon of pure caffeine powder could be deadly.

A mere 1/16th of a teaspoon can contain about 200 milligrams of caffeine, roughly the equivalent of two large cups of coffee. That means a heaping teaspoon could kill, said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

The powder is almost impossible to measure with common kitchen tools, the FDA said.

It's a bit scary if raw powder is readily available off the shelf from retailers - it would be very easy to imagine that this is a supplement a bit like instant coffee, so you scoop out a teaspoon and away you go...

Other than No-Doz tablets, I've never bought caffeine as a dietary supplement. I presumed if it's that dangerous in such small quantities, the powder would have to be sold in capsules or tablets. Is that not the case?

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the LD50 for caffeine is 12g. he must have been an outlier. dunno why they say its impossible to measure with kitchen tools either, FDA must be comprised of retards if they cant manage reasonable weight estimates at sub gram accuracy using 1g increment kitchen scales

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the LD50 for caffeine is 12g. he must have been an outlier. dunno why they say its impossible to measure with kitchen tools either, FDA must be comprised of retards if they cant manage reasonable weight estimates at sub gram accuracy using 1g increment kitchen scales

Remember, they are American, all they are fit for is starting wars with third world countries, they don't ever seem to be able to win...

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the LD50 for caffeine is 12g. he must have been an outlier. dunno why they say its impossible to measure with kitchen tools either, FDA must be comprised of retards if they cant manage reasonable weight estimates at sub gram accuracy using 1g increment kitchen scales

Im pretty sure the LD50 only applies to death via actuall blood toxicity of the substance, and not possible death before from the side effects of that substance itself.

For example, If I consume 12 g of caffiene, I can die from liver failure and organ shutdown, but that dosent mean I cant die from 3g before that from a heart attack.

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the LD50 for caffeine is 12g. he must have been an outlier. dunno why they say its impossible to measure with kitchen tools either, FDA must be comprised of retards if they cant manage reasonable weight estimates at sub gram accuracy using 1g increment kitchen scales

Im pretty sure the LD50 only applies to death via actuall blood toxicity of the substance, and not possible death before from the side effects of that substance itself.

For example, If I consume 12 g of caffiene, I can die from liver failure and organ shutdown, but that dosent mean I cant die from 3g before that from a heart attack.

im pretty sure thats not what it means. where did you get that ridiculous definition from?

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im pretty sure thats not what it means. where did you get that ridiculous definition from?

I don't fking know, it was just a question / idea, not my answer. I just assumed that the ammount required to kill someone through toxic ammounts of blood concentration were not the same as the ammount required to kill you through other means. For example, if the LD50 for caffiene was 12 grams, it does not mean you cant get cardiac arrest before you reach toxic concentrations of the said substance. Hence people die from preworkouts doing cardio etc, without actually taking a lethal dose of it. Again, just my assumption, I could be totally wrong. Im 16 ffs, It's perfectly normal to make vivid assumptions about things and form a strong opinion for no reason, part of having a developing and growing brain. Totally different if I was an adult.

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im pretty sure thats not what it means. where did you get that ridiculous definition from?

I don't fking know, it was just a question / idea, not my answer. I just assumed that the ammount required to kill someone through toxic ammounts of blood concentration were not the same as the ammount required to kill you through other means. For example, if the LD50 for caffiene was 12 grams, it does not mean you cant get cardiac arrest before you reach toxic concentrations of the said substance. Hence people die from preworkouts doing cardio etc, without actually taking a lethal dose of it. Again, just my assumption, I could be totally wrong. Im 16 ffs, It's perfectly normal to make vivid assumptions about things and form a strong opinion for no reason, part of having a developing and growing brain. Totally different if I was an adult.

ok sorry bro. didnt realise it was your period

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The LD50 is the dose that will kill 50% of the people it's given to. So essentially at 12g you have a 50% chanc of dying. For some people the lethal dose will be much lower than 12g for some it will be higher. The LD50 is not the dose upto which you will be fine and then as soon as you hit it, BAM you're dead. Ofcourse it depends on the substance and individual.

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