This Is The Most Dangerous Element On Earth

Exactly which element is the most dangerous on Earth depends a lot on context. Firstly, the Fifth Element is Boron, not a bioengineered doomsday weapon, and it's actually good for you. And that's the case for a lot of elements, but not all of them.

There are currently 118 known chemical elements, which can be roughly divided into three kinds of danger: radioactivity, toxicity, and reactivity. Each has their own brand of doom, though reactivity is perhaps the most spectacular, as some elements can ignite spontaneously, explode, or even burn under water.

And, of course, it's possible some even deadlier elements haven't yet been discovered. There are some elements that are believed to exist, but so far haven't been found, with only 98 of the current 118 elements occurring naturally.

So there are a lot of variables. But given what we do know about the elements, which of them are considered to be the most dangerous?

Well, that depends not just on who you ask, but when you ask them. Over the centuries, as humanity has learned more about the elements, the way we use them has changed dramatically. For instance, we now know that mercury is very bad for people. Mercury exposure has ill effects on organs, but is especially harsh on neurological systems, damaging memory, muscle control, and coordination. Back in the day, mercury was widely used by hatmakers, hence Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter, and in personal thermometers, but that has almost stopped entirely due to a better understanding of mercury's dangers.

Of course, mercury is still used, and in places you may not expect, so you need to be careful. For instance, compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, are frequently touted as providing significant energy savings over run-of-the-mill incandescent bulbs. But they also contain mercury, as do other fluorescent lighting products, so you just need to be mindful when they burn out and dispose of them properly to avoid any potential exposure.

There are other ways to conserve energy, of course. For instance, if you don't want to use CFLs due to the mercury content, you could always try reducing your energy consumption by getting solar panels installed. But when it's time to repair or replace those panels, be warned: they may contain cadmium, a heavy metal that is carcinogenic and toxic. So that's bad!

And older homes come with their own concerns. Perhaps most people know that lead-based paint was common, and deadly, when ingested, say, as pretty flecks on the floor where a toddler can find and consume them.

But did you know that Victorian wallpaper often included arsenic? And as anyone who has ever watched an old movie knows, arsenic is a very potent and deadly poison.

And yet arsenic poisoning is an issue world-wide, because of contaminated water sources. Sufficiently diluted, the effects won't be immediate, but the cumulative damage is extreme, including kidney failure, nausea, vomiting, and bleeding. Large doses cause death, but it's a slow and agonizing way to go.

And arsenic is another example of how advancing scientific knowledge has changed how we think about the elements. Before antibiotics were developed, arsenic was actually used as a medical treatment for syphilis. If that sounds bad, it was! So why did they try it? Because they had to find a replacement for the previous therapy used for syphilis, mercury!

So what's the final answer? Well, lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium are all dangerous in different ways. But the most dangerous element is, luckily, one you won't find anywhere around your house. And that's a good thing, because if you did find some around your house, you'd probably die.

So what is it? It's polonium.

That's because polonium is roughly 250,000 times more toxic than cyanide. Luckily, though it does occur in nature, it's exceedingly rare, and gives off a tell-tale blue glow to warn you of its presence. Thanks to its rarity, there is only one known case of a person dying from acute polonium radiation poisoning, journalist Alexander Litvinenko, who was allegedly slipped a "trace" of polonium by Russian spies in 2006 and died 23 agonizing days later. So if you see that blue glow…go the other way.

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