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Comment by arbitrage | Hacker News Reader

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Silica can cause cancer, in the form of asbestos fibres or silica dust. Yet, it’s safe to drink from a glass, have windows at home, and walk on sand. A lot of factors matter besides chemical composition.

Are you suggesting that aspartame in food has a different physical form that prevents it from entering the body?

For example. I cannot provide any insight because I don’t with in that field, but it would not be necessarily surprising that e.g. inhaled powders could have different effects than ingested compounds diluted in something else. Quantity would matter a lot as well.

Its OK to drink kool aide but not snort it.

It’s not only if it enters the body but also how, for example inhaling aspartame can be very different to ingesting it.

It’s the dose that makes the poison maybe?

Sand is not a different physical form than that which causes cancer. (See: toxic silicosis) Often it's dosage that leads to concern. A typical walk on the beach will not result in cancer from sand exposure.

> Sand is not a different physical form than that which causes cancer.

This is incorrect. Sand is larger, rounded, particles. Toxic silicosis is caused by small (like 10um) particles. The physical form is what makes it possible to inhale one and walk on the other.

The chemical form is identical.

That's not the only option there. It also could be the amount of exposure.

It should.

There are plenty of chemicals that you regularly consume which, in high dosages, are fatal but are required at low dosages.

Too much calcium will causes osteopetrosis (too little does as well).

Too much vitamin K causes liver damage

Too much vitamin B1 causes hypertension

Plenty of stuff is dangerous at high levels and safe at low levels. Our kidneys and liver exist to filter and eliminate excess.

Too little or too much of many foods will be bad

Where Aspartame is unhealthy in soda could use more detailed light shed on it.

There may be some issue with how it’s used for food and soda in second and third world countries compared to First world.

> Where Aspartame is unhealthy in soda could use more detailed light shed on it.

I imagine it's complex, with indirect affects, with its ability to modulate the gut: https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/artificial-sweete...

Interesting, thanks.

I have also heard carbonated beverages during eating may affect stomach acid. Need to find some research clarifying it one way or the other.

Plug for ChubbyEmu on YouTube for more examples!

Pretty fun watch. Thanks for sharing.

As is often noted, being exposed to too much or improperly stored (heated, cooled, contaminated) water can also be hazardous to your health and that shit's in everything.

Water in the stomach isn't harmful, but water in the lungs absolutely is.

If the human digestive system can trivially break down the amounts of aspartame found in a diet coke, it's fairly pointless for just about anyone to entertain the scenario of inhaling a bucket of pure aspartame crystals.

You make a perfectly valid point, if something is used in food production that is only safe in trace quantities then a simple mistake on the assembly line could easily lead to larger quantities ending up in your food and suddenly you have cancer. I prefer having food that doesn't have any in itself cancer causing ingredients.

I don't think it's possible to do that or the food would obviously not be the product anymore. It's like saying you bought a red car but then found out it was secretly blue due to a production mistake.

Water isn't dangerous but if you were dropped into the middle of the ocean you would probably drown. Does that mean you must swear off water because it's proven to be dangerous since people drown in it?

Not a fair analogy since in one case the water is acting chemically and in the other it is physically obstructing. Potatoes are good for you but if someone shot one out of a cannon at your face it might not be.

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