Friday, December 15, 2006

the arsenic lake

Did you know that arsenic comes from lakes?

Well not strictly speaking, I mean it doesn't all come from lakes, but there's a pretty large fuck-off arsenic lake in Peru, at any rate.

I learnt this information last night - my mates have just come back from South America and showed me pictures of the poisonous mass of water, over some toots.

Like, do Iraqis know about this lake? This is rather hectic information to be blogging about even, especially if an Iraqi operative picks this up and has an infatuation with weapons of mass destruction.

Another question: if one swims in the lake, like if one didn't know it was an arsenic lake, and if one spent and undue amount of time in the lake would one die quickly or would one only die like, six months later?
Nobody could tell me last night.

And like, when you die, is it of asphyxiation, like with strychnine, or would your like, legs or totty fall off, or would you have organ failure, wet yourself and then die, like, after breaking out in an arsenic rash?

All these questions. I am obsessed with the arsenic lake. The one in Peru. It shines green, and is filled with the arsenic due to the volcano that erupted near there. Imagine if their tour guide forgot to tell them and they, just, like, dived in?

I am so tired this morning.

16 comments:

Crusoe said...

What if you were water skiing on the lake and like water only splashed onto your shins but you managed to ski to shore without completely falling in?

So to begin to solve this problem, we need to find out more about the lake.

1. Are there ANY living creatures in the lake? (fish, frogs, crocs, piranha)
2. Are you sure the word "Arsenic" doesn't mean "amazingly beautiful" in Peruvian? Cos that could change things.
3. How long has the lake been there? (To work out the rate of degredation of the arsenic deposits)
4. Did they see any native children doing swing jumps and summi's into the lake?
5. Was there a warning sign with a pic of someone running around screaming as the skin melted off their body?

We'll figure it out for sure!

Anonymous said...

Tired? Oh no! That's a sure sign of arsenic poisoning!

Peas on Toast said...

Crusoe -
1) No.
2) Yes. Apparently 'arsenico' means 'arsenic.'
3) For millions of years.
4) No. It was completely deserted. Even the flamingoes opted for another lake.
5) No. Not even. Scary huh?

Kyk - Cigarettes contain arsenic right?

Anonymous said...

Is the water in the lake warm? Cos if you heat arsenic rapidly, it smells like garlic... Does the lake smell like garlic?

Did you know that arsenic was a treatment for syphillus?
Great cure, just kill the patient...

Peas on Toast said...

tBerry - yeah...which is better, syphillis or death? ;)

No it's a cold lake, high in the mountains and half frozen if I remember correctly.

Anonymous said...

Oh shit, I just read that symptoms start with a mild headache and progress to lightheadedness...

I think there may have been arsenic in the jeager bombs I had last night...

Peas on Toast said...

tBerry - or it could be the cyanide found in Jaegerbombs. Yo'll start to lose feeling in your right arm, but don't stress, it soon passes. ;)

Antoine said...

Observable symptoms of arsenic poisoning are: thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, numbness in hands and feet, partial paralysis, and blindness.

Arsenic is also a carcogenic. (what is not). Ciggy's do have levels of Arsenic which accounts partially for the fact that Smokers have red mucous membranes in the throat.

The fun thing that I found out about Arsenic a year or so ago is that it is a by-product of mining. Problem is there is a glut of Arsenic on the market and the mines cannot give the stuff away.

Result. Most Mines have a HUGE arsenic store at their mines - normally hidden away from view - and the stockpile grows with every ounce of mineral produced.

And they claim ISO 14000? The mind boggles....

Peas on Toast said...

Hectic Antoine, you little arsenic guru! You should put this up on Wikipedia!

Anonymous said...

The only arsenic i'm familiar with is the Cary Grant flick, Arsenic and Old Lace. If I had to go by the movie deaths, you basicly just stop living. I'm going to go with suffocation as cause of death due to arsenic.

Mines also produce a shite load of cyanide, but it gets destroyed when it is pumped into the slimes dams (mine dumps) and is exposed to the UV rays of the sun.

Peas on Toast said...

Interesting Insane. Basically mines sound like poison-riddled no-go areas. (Given that cyanide and arsenic lurk within the bowels of the earth).

Dodgy.

Triggermap said...

See saw such a lake in Bolivia - it was possibly the beautiful shade of turquoise I have ever encountered.

Earlier we had seen a similarly coloured lake that didn't contain arsenic - we couldn't tell the differenc except the non-arsenic lake had flamingos drinking from it.

Triggermap said...

We saw such a lake in Bolivia - it was possibly the beautiful shade of turquoise I have ever encountered.

Earlier we had seen a similarly coloured lake that didn't contain arsenic - we couldn't tell the differenc except the non-arsenic lake had flamingos drinking from it.

Triggermap said...

We saw such a lake in Bolivia - it was possibly the beautiful shade of turquoise I have ever encountered.

Earlier we had seen a similarly coloured lake that didn't contain arsenic - we couldn't tell the difference except the non-arsenic lake had flamingos drinking from it.

Peas on Toast said...

Triggermap - it sounds exactly like the one my mates hiked to. One had flamingoes the other nothing, except that almost tangible feeling of Death.

Triggermap said...

Sounds spot on.

P.S. Sorry for the triple post, Blogger hates me today.