Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Big mistake when collecting Baltic amber

Morgan - 4-7-2023 at 04:28

Was watching book TV with the author of "The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance".

https://www.thelocal.de/20140115/man-mistakes-white-phosphor...

"He came downstairs pretty much naked to show me his leg which looked like tree bark."
https://www.c-span.org/video/?526451-1/the-devils-element-ph...


[Edited on 4-7-2023 by Morgan]

RustyShackleford - 4-7-2023 at 13:46

Thats pretty crazy, wonder how it ended up on the beach. Its denser than water so seems like it shouldnt wash up, especially if it originated from spent munitions presumably on the bottom of the ocean.

mayko - 5-7-2023 at 10:56

Another such case: https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=80...

Morgan - 5-7-2023 at 14:09

Yet another account.

Case presentation
"We report a case of a white phosphorus burn that has a unique mechanism of injury involving a 40-year-old woman with her 7-year-old daughter who were collecting rocks on a beach in Tel Aviv. Upon returning home, the daughter washed the rocks of sand with tap water and immediately wrapped them in a paper towel. According to her anamnesis, the daughter presented her mother an unusual appearing, yellow translucent colored rock covered by a wet paper towel. As she commenced unwrapping the paper towel, white smoke emanated from the rock that was followed by ignition of flames and accompanied by a severe burning sensation in her hands. Subsequently, she dropped the rock which made contact with her right calf and then landed on her right foot that was covered by a sock and ignited. The patient then proceeded to put out the flames in the bathroom shower. Upon return to the living room, the piece of white phosphorus had ignited the couch which took hold and the entire apartment was gutted with fire. Both mother and child were safely evacuated from the apartment with no further injuries sustained."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5577774/

pneumatician - 4-12-2023 at 15:19

phosphorus???

https://www.latimes.com/local/la-xpm-2012-may-18-la-me-0518-...