Beware DHMO

Since the invention of the internet, learning new things about the world has become easier than ever. All the knowledge in the world is at our fingertips, only a single google search away.

And yet the dangers of DHMO are swept under the rug. DHMO, also known as hydronium hydroxide, is a colorless and odorless compound that is found in many lethal compounds. You might be asking yourself why you’ve never heard of DHMO. This is because the general public has little to no awareness of DHMO and why it is so harmful. As a result of this lack of

awareness, many politicians do not consider fighting against the heavy use of DHMO in many places around the world, including both developed and developing countries, as they feel it is “not a politically beneficial cause to get behind”. Many award-winning scientists have conducted research concerning DHMO. One such scientist, named Nathan Zohner, concluded that of the participants who were aware of DHMO and its effects, 86 percent supported a ban on the use of DHMO and Nathan had also stated that he believes that more people should educate themselves about DHMO. Other studies have also come to similar conclusions, with one such study reporting that 90 percent of its aware participants supported a ban, with a similar percentage( 79 percent) of other participants sharing the same stance after they were shown a few of DHMO’s effects.

The effects of DHMO are very widespread. The basis of DHMO is the extremely reactive

hydroxyl radical, which is known to cause mutations in certain DNA strands, denature proteins, disrupt cell membranes and cause irreparable changes to essential neurotransmitters. In recent years, as a result of campaigns in the past that endeavored to get people to further expose themselves to DHMO, an alarming rate of people suffered from hyponatremia. Symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea and vomiting, headache, short-term memory loss, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, loss of appetite, irritability, muscle weakness, spasms or cramps, seizures, and decreased consciousness or coma.

In some incidents, it has directly lead to many deaths and even more indirectly. In 2015, there was an estimated 4.5 million cases of potentially lethal accidents caused by excessive exposure to DHMO, with approximately 324000 deaths caused as a result. It accounts for an estimated 0.7 percent of all deaths that occurred in that year.

Realistically the reach of DHMO is too large to get rid of completely, which is unfortunate.

Even so, we must still try and combat it. The next time you go grocery shopping, look out for any traces of DHMO in anything you buy. You should also look for any of its alternative names like Dihydrogen Monoxide and Hydrogen Hydroxide.

S A T I R E

If you haven’t realized it yet, DHMO is just a fancy name for water.

P.S: Don’t trust everything you read on the internet.