518
Friends claim influencer injected himself with gold to gain “superhuman” powers before his death (townflex.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
158 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 13 points 4 months ago* (3 children)

That's what I'm wondering.
As far as I know gold is chemically inert. All its valence electrons are paired up. It shouldn't bind or chemically interact with anything. I know it's safe to put on food. (Expensive food)

The article says he was trying other things also, and the cause if death is unknown yet. I have doubts it was the gold.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    His body was found at the bottom of a lake, though. It could be something other than drowning or foul play, but that’s unlikely.

    Though I imagine his body would not have reacted well to it long term, either.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago

    Gold is not chemically inert. It a larger atom that slightly adheres to other metals with metallic bonds but tends to not form stable ionic bonds. Its also a common catalyst for a variety of reactions.

    Your digestive system takes in solids and processes them but it has a size limit on absorbed particles. Powdered gold, even if mixed into a liquid is going to be more dangerous in the blood stream because large clumps that wouldn't make it through the digestive might be present. That could result in blood clots or other problems.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent