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Comment by DennisP | Hacker News Reader

I used to have a friend with a masters in biochemistry. Once he tested a glowstick and determined that the components were completely nontoxic. (He couldn't vouch for all glowsticks, don't try this at home.)

He put each liquid component in a test tube and went out for beers. He poured one tube in a buddy's beer when he wasn't looking, and another in his next beer. Then he went in the restroom and unscrewed the lightbulb.

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I think that your friend was pulling your leg. The oxalate esters and hydrogen peroxide in a glow stick shouldn't be ingested, though the actual dye that gets excited to fluorescence would be relatively harmless. I also wouldn't expect the concentrations of active materials to remain high enough in urine for the glow reaction to be noticeable, even if all the chemicals were excreted unchanged.

Plus hydrogen peroxide is not that stable in acidic condition (i.e. your stomach) and your body is fully of peroxidases that catalytically breakdown peroxides quite quickly.

He was referring to the military version, would that be the same?

It would not be surprising if he was pulling my leg, we were a group of practical jokers. And this story made me swear off ever doing anything to him; in retrospect maybe that was the intent.

Yes, military glow sticks use the same basic chemistry: hydrogen peroxide, diphenyl oxalate or analogs, various excitable dyes that actually produce the different colors.

Yep, glow sticks are glow sticks. Ours come in fancy camo packaging though so you know they're suitable for lighting the portaloo.

Check out NileRed's video [0] for some great info. He is a young chemist who produces chemistry videos on youtube and goes into detail of things while still being understandable for someone who did well in high school chemistry

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_CYwd6cHUA

Exposing your friends to risk of rare or unknown side-effects for humor value alone. Awesome! /s

I'm more concerned that they were drinking such *&%$ beer that a glowstick didn't foul the taste.

Putting an unknown substance into another person's beverage at a bar is a good way to get yourself arrested.

I always thought a cool substance to invent would be something that makes methane visible i.e. non-colourless. Sneak it into people's food and see who is trying to break wind discreetly until a large green cloud appears behind them.

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