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Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is the somewhat obscure chemical name for water, used in hoaxes to illustrate how the ignorance of science and one-sided analysis can lead to misplaced fears.
The hoax involves listing strictly negative effects of water, such as erosion or death by drowning, attributing them to "dihydrogen monoxide", and then asking individuals to help control the seemingly dangerous substance. It was apparently created by Eric Lechner and Lars Norpchen in 1990, revised by Craig Jackson in 1994, and was brought to widespread public attention in 1997, when Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student, gathered petitions to ban "DHMO" as the basis of his science project, titled "How Gullible Are We?".
Original Web appearance
The first Web posting by Craig Jackson read as follows:
The dangers of dihydrogen monoxide include:
- Also called "hydroxyl acid", the substance is a major component of acid rain;
- Contributes to soil erosion;
- Contributes to the greenhouse effect;
- Accelerates corrosion and breakdown of electrical equipment;
- Excessive ingestion may cause various unpleasant effects;
- Prolonged contact with its solid form results in severe tissue damage;
- Inhalation, even in small quantities, may cause death;
- Its gaseous form may cause severe burns;
- It has been found in the tumors of terminal cancer patients;
- Withdrawal by those addicted to the substance causes certain death within 168 hours;
Nevertheless, governments and corporations continue using it widely, heedless of its grave dangers.
Terminology
The water molecule has the chemical formula H2O, meaning each molecule of water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
The prefix "di" means two and "mono" in "monoxide" means one. Oxide is often used to refer to oxygen in compounds. Literally, the term dihydrogen monoxide means "two hydrogen, one oxygen", consistent with its molecular formula. The term "monoxide", despite its systematic origin, may also have negative connotations due to its association with highly toxic carbon monoxide.
Water can also be seen as an aqueous solution of hydroxide (OH−), H2O, and hydronium (H3O+), due to the hydrogen atoms constantly changing their bonds. This makes water both an acid and a base and thus an excellent solvent.
Water has a regular scientific or systematic name of hydrogen oxide, as well as an alkali name of hydrogen hydroxide and several acid names such as hydroxic acid, hydroxylic acid, and hydroxilic acid. Incidentally, the term "hydroxyl acid" used in the original hoax is slightly incorrect, as it does not follow convention.
Under IUPAC nomenclature rules, the only acceptable chemical name for water is "water". Terms such as "dihydrogen oxide", "hydrogen oxide", "hydrogen hydroxide" etc. are not recognised under IUPAC rules and cannot be used in any scientific context. The only distinctions are for specific types of water, such as distilled water, deionized water, or heavy water.
Public efforts 'against' DHMO
- In 1990, Eric Lechner and Lars Norpchen circulated a DHMO contamination warning on the UC Santa Cruz Campus.
- In 1994, Craig Jackson created a web page for the Coalition to Ban DHMO. The page spread widely on the net and off, including publication as an "ad" in a 1995 issue of Analog Magazine.
- In 1997, Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old, junior high student at Idaho Falls, Idaho, gathered 43 votes to ban the chemical, out of 50 people surveyed among his classmates. Zohner received the first prize at Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair for analysis of the results of his survey.
- In 1997, drawing inspiration from Jackon's web page and Zohner's research, Tom Way created the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division web site as a fun and educational resource for teaching about critical thinking and information literacy.
- The Friends of Hydrogen Hydroxide was created partly as a foil on DHMO.org, to provide evidence of 'misguided' supporters of dihydrogen monoxide. This form of collaborative connivance is a classic tool of internet spoofers.
- Kate Dalgleish and Mikael Sydor, high school students from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, circulated a petition in April 2004 to ban the chemical as part of the Western Canada High School film festival. Several high school chemistry teachers and university science students signed the petition, which asked the municipal government to ban the 'dangerous chemical' under a fictitious Hazardous Chemical Act.
- The idea was used for an episode of the Penn & Teller show Bullshit!, in which they had self-proclaimed environmentalists sign a petition to ban DHMO.
- In March 2004, Aliso Viejo, California almost considered banning the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events because dihydrogen monoxide is part of their production. The issue was put on the agenda of the City Council after a paralegal found mention of DHMO online and did not realize it was a joke. The item was pulled from the agenda before it could come to a vote, but not before the city received a raft of bad publicity.
- Teams in a 2005 version of The Game circulated a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California—while dressed in superhero costumes.
- In 2005 at "Tent State University", a weeklong anti-war event at Rutgers University, members of the conservative publication The Rutgers Centurion gathered signatures from the protestors on a petition calling for a ban on Dihydrogen Monoxide. The petition's purpose was to prove not so much how gullible people are, as much as to condemn the notion that, "It's for the environment, so it must be good".
See also
External links
- Original Usenet posting
- Mirror of first web publication
- DHMO.org - Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division
- Snopes' DHMO report
- About.com article
- How gullible are we? (George Mason University)
- Dihydrogen Monoxide Kate Dalgleish and Mikael Sydor's DHMO movie
- Aliso Viejo DHMO incident
Hoaxes in science | Humor | Water and politics
Dihydrogenmonoxid | Canular du monoxyde de dihydrogène | DHMO | Dihydrogenmonoksid | Diväteoxid | 一氧化二氢恶作剧
"Dihydrogen monoxide hoax"