tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post1147735385015764685..comments2024-03-28T19:45:08.560-05:00Comments on TYWKIWDBI ("Tai-Wiki-Widbee"): Death by caffeinated candyMinnesotastanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-24680217775868382192013-10-29T11:38:01.054-05:002013-10-29T11:38:01.054-05:00Let's see here. The caffeine content is 82 mg/...Let's see here. The caffeine content is <a href="http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-content/hero-energy-mints" rel="nofollow">82 mg/mint</a> (somewhat less than <a href="http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-content/coffee-brewed" rel="nofollow">a cup of coffee</a>. I use that example instead because <a href="http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-content/red-bull" rel="nofollow">red bull</a> is new and hip with the kids and people seem to have an unreasonable fear of it even though it contains about 20% less caffeine per oz than coffee.)<br /><br />The generally accepted LD50 for caffeine is about 192 mg/kg. The average British male masses in at about 84 kg. <br /><br />So to reach the LD50 he would need to consume about 16,128 mg or 197 mints.<br /><br />It could begin to get dangerous before that, so call it 100 mints (8200 mg) to be on the safe side.<br /><br /><a href="http://candyhero.com/hero-energy-mints" rel="nofollow">According to this</a> each tin contains 12 mints or 984 mg of caffeine. So to reach 100 mints you would need to consume more than 8 tins. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/caffeine/caffeine_dose.shtml" rel="nofollow">This site</a> proposes that as little as 3000 mg may be fatal in some individuals which would be 36 mints or 3 full tins.<br /><br />None of this takes into account the liver's ability to metabolize caffeine, just to reach a fatal dose in the first place. Although prolonged exposure (due to it not being cleared by the liver) may be more dangerous. <br /><br />I don't know of a good way to convert mg/kg doses to the "mg per liter of blood" doses mentioned in the article. But in either case simple conservation of mass indicates that he can't have had *more* caffeine in his system than he consumed, even if his liver didn't clear any of it. <br /><br />Ah, here is a nice <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com.au/opinions/20132410-24932-2.html" rel="nofollow">Science Alert article</a> that mentions that he would only be expected to have ~10-20 mg per liter of blood based on consuming a package of mints. It also tracks with the calculations above that concluded that no less than three tins would be needed to get him into the bottom range of the toxic dosage. nolanddahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708768497461983779noreply@blogger.com