What Are Cool Facts About Arsenic?

What are the cool facts about arsenic you don't know? There are many things people need to learn about this element. Most people have used arsenic as a poison throughout history, with many individuals using it to bump off political rivals or simply to dispose of unwanted family members. But arsenic isn't just dangerous-it's also cool! Here are some fun facts about arsenic that might even make you want to get some from your local science lab; but don't!

Arsenic Was Once Used as a Beauty Aid
Unbeknownst to many, arsenic was once considered a key ingredient in many types of makeup and skin treatments. Marketed as The Invigorator or The Complexion Restorer, arsenic was typically added to cold creams and face powders that women would use on a daily basis.

Companies including Maybelline and Vaseline used arsenical compounds in their cosmetics well into the early 20th century, until it was eventually banned by both federal law and state legislatures across America.

Cool Facts About Arsenic: It Can Cause Cancer in Humans
Drinking water contaminated with arsenic can cause skin cancer and lung cancer. This is a cool fact about arsenic. Eating foods that have been cooked in an iron pot that's been lined with chromium containing products (like stainless steel) can also increase your risk of getting cancer from arsenic.

It is a colorless crystalline metalloid, typically found in nature combined with sulfur or oxygen as arsenide minerals. The element is most commonly found in its native form, as uncombined elemental arsenic.

Some Animals Eat It and Use It as an Antidote for Toxins
Like many other toxic substances, arsenic is poisonous if you get too much of it. However, certain kinds of snails and slugs have evolved to actually consume arsenic. They store those elements in their tissues as a defense against predators. It turns out that a chemical created by one of these creatures can also create an antidote for arsenic poisoning!

Some People Still Collect and Use It Today
While there are a handful of regulatory agencies that have outlawed arsenic-based treatments in skin care products, hair dyes, and other cosmetic items, a select few countries still allow its use. In December 2015, it got discovered that two arsenic-based topical lotions were for sale on Amazon.

This is just one more example of how important it is to know what you're putting on your body and why you're putting it there. It may be poisonous, but it does wonders for plant life! A team of researchers recently used an arsenical treatment on 32 tomato plants and found that not only did they grow faster than their non-arsenic peers-they grew significantly larger as well.

The same study also found that garlic planted with these compounds experienced similar results: faster growth rates coupled with larger yields. Other reports show flowers treated with arsenic grow up to 70% larger than those not treated at all!

Cool Facts About Arsenic: There Is Even Arsenic Ice Cream!
The FDA has approved seven arsenic-containing food additives, including inorganic arsenic. For example, there is even arsenic ice cream, which is a cool fact about arsenic! (Yum!) Now that's a cool fact about arsenic! It's also interesting to note that these FDA-approved forms of inorganic arsenic are up to a million times more poisonous than organic or other forms of inorganic arsenic, which are not allowed.

It Has Been Used for Centuries to Preserve Dead Bodies
One of arsenic's first applications was as a preservative. Humans used it to embalm dead bodies in ancient Egypt, and much later, infamous serial killer H. H. Holmes laced his poison with arsenic in order to keep his victims' bodies from decomposing for as long as possible after he had killed them. (He killed between 9 and 27 people, with three confirmed deaths.) Its status as a deadly poison limited its popularity in embalming fluid after that!

People have been aware of arsenic's toxicity since at least 2000 BC: In ancient times, Egyptian alchemists discovered certain minerals contained properties toxic to both humans and animals. Scientists figured out how to extract these toxic elements over 2,000 years ago-but we weren't able to synthesize any compounds with their poisonous powers until 1662!