mycotheologist
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How toxic is potassium permanganate
Every now and again I get these outbursts of eczema on my hand(s) and at the moment, its become worse than ever for some reason. Aloe vera gel did
nothing. I decided to give KMnO4 a shot and almost instantly, the pain went away and the skin changed from red to white. Some of the skin had cracked
though so I'm sure a small amount of the permanganate got into my blood stream. I know its oxidative properties are harmful but what about the
manganese atom itself. I know most transition metals (i.e. chromium, cobalt) are highly toxic due to their ability to coordinate biomolecules but
elements like iron are exceptions to this since they are required by the body in relatively large quantities (and thus ingesting a few micrograms
isn't going to cause any toxicity). Does the same go for manganese?
[Edited on 15-5-2012 by mycotheologist]
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weiming1998
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Manganese generally is practically non toxic, at least far less toxic than the assorted heavy metals like nickel, chromium or lead, and the danger
only goes if you inhale manganese-containing dust, which are toxic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese
Permanganates are the most toxic manganese ion, because of its oxidizing properties, just like chromium VI compounds are more toxic than any other
oxidation state. Still, it's not that toxic. The lowest published human lethal oral dose is 100mg/kg, which is still about 5 grams of it if you weigh
50kgs. http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927406
So, just a little bit getting into your blood shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Edit: Next time though, try immersing your hands in a very dilute KMnO4 solution.
[Edited on 15-5-2012 by weiming1998]
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barley81
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http://members.tripod.com/~Prof_Anil_Aggrawal/poiso024.html
This may be helpful.
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Neil
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http://www.ajol.info/index.php/njps/article/viewFile/54917/4...
"Introduction
Potassium permanganate is a salt of potassium
used for disinfecting and cleaning wounds and as a
general skin antiseptic. It irritates mucous membrane
and is poisonous if taken into the body (Martin,
2002). It consists of dark, odourless, purple crystals
with a metallic luster which are soluble in water
giving pink to deep purple solutions depending on
concentrations (Brander and Bywater, 1992a).
Solutions of 1:1000 are used as wound and mouth
lotions for antiseptic and deodorant purposes whereas
5% solutions are astringent (Pugh, 1992). The
solution becomes inactive when turn to brown (Pugh,
1992). It has staining property which can be removed
by oxalic and sulphuric acid (Brander and Bywater,
1992b). Ratios of 1:4000 to 1:10,000 solutions
(Condy’s lotion) are used as douche, irrigating
cavities and urethra. Higher concentration caused
burns and blistering. It is a water disinfectant (wells,
ponds) and used as gastric lavage in alkaloidal
poisoning but promotes rusting (Tipathi, 2003). It is
an effective algicide (0.01%) and virucide (1%) but
concentrations > 1:10,000 tends to irritate tissues
(Khan, 2005)."
weiming1998 - look at the msds you posted, specifically the fire/reactivity ratings at the top. Compare them to a MSDS from a decent organisation -
see the diffrences?
Vet your sources.
[Edited on 15-5-2012 by Neil]
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weiming1998
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Another MSDS, on this site, gave the lowest published lethal dose in humans as 143mg/kg. http://www.anachemia.com/msds/english/r4650v.pdf
But the LD50 on rats and mice are much higher, 1000-2000mg/kg, on all the MSDSs that I looked at.
The flammability/reactivity rating isn't an issue here, as the original poster is asking about the toxicity of KMnO4. The other MSDS, which I linked,
had a similar lowest published lethal dose. So the accuracy and the reliability should be up a bit higher.
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Neil
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Sciencelab MSDS sheets are full of errors. If they screw up something like saying KMnO4 is not a reactive hazard…
It is certainly the only MSDS sheet that I have seen that lists KMnO4 as being soluble in Sulphuric acid rather then listing Sulphuric as an
incompatibility.
Oddly their MSDS for Sulphuric does list KMnO4 as an incompatible material…
In ether case; if you are posting health related information about chemicals you should ether quote something worth quoting or say nothing at all.
Good sources are only a little bit harder to find then bad sources.
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Adas
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It is almost impossible for KMnO4 to get into your bloodstream, as it rapidly oxidizes the skin and changes to K2MnO4 and then to Mn2O3 or whatever.
Rest In Pieces!
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barley81
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Never put corrosive substances on your eczema. It will only make it far worse. You may have an allergy to some chemical (maybe gloves). Get a
prescription for vaseline-based triamcinolone acetonide ointment 0.01%. I have eczema on my hand and this ointment has worked far better than
hydrocortisone or aloe vera. Put the ointment on every day, or else it'll start itching. Also, use Aquaphor. It also helps to heal the skin. In fact,
before you get a prescription, put some Aquaphor on your hand.
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unionised
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It's not like manganses toxicity is obscure or something new.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganism
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