List of Inventors Killed by Their Own Inventions
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
> Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889–1944) was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. He became accidentally entangled in the ropes and died of strangulation at the age of 55. However, he is better known for two of his other inventions: the tetraethyl lead (TEL) additive to gasoline, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).[24][25][26]
And from his own Wikipedia page:
> Midgley's legacy has been scarred by the negative environmental impact of leaded gasoline and Freon.[20] Environmental historian J. R. McNeill opined that Midgley "had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history",[21] and Bill Bryson remarked that Midgley possessed "an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny".[22] Use of leaded gasoline, which he invented, released large quantities of lead into the atmosphere all over the world.[20] High atmospheric lead levels have been linked with serious long-term health problems from childhood, including neurological impairment,[23][24][25] and with increased levels of violence and criminality in cities.[26][27][28] Time magazine included both leaded gasoline and CFCs on its list of "The 50 Worst Inventions".[29]
>In 1923, Midgley took a long vacation in Miami, Florida, to cure himself of lead poisoning. He found "that my lungs have been affected and that it is necessary to drop all work and get a large supply of fresh air".
>Kettering was elected as president, and Midgley was vice president. However, after two deaths and several cases of lead poisoning at the TEL prototype plant in Dayton, Ohio, the staff at Dayton was said in 1924 to be "depressed to the point of considering giving up the whole tetraethyl lead program". Over the course of the next year, eight more people died at DuPont's plant in Deepwater, New Jersey.
>Ethyl Corporation built a new chemical plant using a high-temperature ethyl chloride process at the Bayway Refinery in New Jersey. However, within the first two months of its operation, the new plant was plagued by more cases of lead poisoning, hallucinations, insanity, and five deaths.
>On October 30, 1924, Midgley participated in a press conference to demonstrate the apparent safety of TEL, in which he poured TEL over his hands, placed a bottle of the chemical under his nose, and inhaled its vapor for 60 seconds, declaring that he could do this every day without succumbing to any problems. However, the State of New Jersey ordered the Bayway plant to be closed a few days later, and Jersey Standard was forbidden to manufacture TEL again without state permission. Midgley would later have to take leave of absence from work after being diagnosed with lead poisoning.
At the very least, it should have been more carefully investigated if lead was harmful not just during manufacturing but also for regular consumer use.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/poisoners/
And to this day many argue that he kept his word.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reichelt
> A journalist in Le Gaulois suggested that only half the term "mad genius" applied to Reichelt
"In the game of life and evolution, there are three players at the table: human beings, nature, and machines. I am firmly on the side of nature. But nature, I suspect, is on the side of machines.”
If you are caught in the blast and go flying you are hoisted on your own petard, perhaps your petard fired out the back.