Toxic Truth

I once proposed to some folks that we go join a protest against experimental genetic modifications, with demands to outlaw unsupervised experiments in genetic recombination (eg., sex).

I assume that the implied question is "should we ban it?"

These points are all true, but they just mean "it is involved in bad things" and not "the costs of DHMO exceed its benefits".

If you make sure to think about things in terms of a cost benefit analysis instead of using the "it's scary -> ban it" heuristic, then you don't have to have an additional rule to "look for counterarguments anyway"- you're still looking for arguments.

Buildup on the roads causes car accidents due to slipperiness. And let's not forget that it's highly addictive and incredibly difficult to stop using.

This reminds of a very old "war on drugs" parody that declared a "dangerous drug" that is"100% addictive after 1st dose", "withdrawal is 100% fatal", etc. The 'drug' turned out to be sleep.

I tried very hard to find it via google but had no luck. If anybody else knows the parody I'm talking about and has a link, please post it.

Minor chemistry question though... acid?

While there are indeed many terrible dangers to DHMO, would it not have, in pure form, an absolutely neutral pH?

This phrase tipped me off, since here no causal connection is implied (as opposed to what's suggested by other pieces of data); it's basically a "But Stalin believed that!" attack:

It's also used as a solvent during the synthesis of cocaine, in certain forms of particularly cruel and unnecessary animal research, and has been traced to the distribution process of several cases of pesticides causing genetic damage and birth defects.

I managed to fool a couple of my high school teachers with that one.

Maybe you should also look into doing something about a certain corrosive gas that's being released into the atmosphere by solar-powered chemical manufacturing facilities. ;)

Hmm... minus 2 karma. If my post's just cluttering the blog, I should kill it now to save reader time.

Did the post fail to illustrate the point in the first paragraph? Would you rather have your 2 minutes back? If so, out the window it goes, with my apologies!

You forgot to mention that DHMO is a major industrial solvent, a nuclear reactor coolant compound, a strong greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, and known to be corrosive to several metals. There's also a syndrome known as "DHMO Intoxication", caused by ingesting too much of the substance, symptoms of which include dizziness, vomitting, swelling of the brain, and eventual death.

Seriously, it's pretty dangerous stuff.