Can You Really Dissolve a Human Body in Acid Like in Breaking Bad?

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[jeffaulik]

I used to work in a factory that used highly concentrated hydrofluoric acid on a regular basis. The chemist in charge of storing, handling and mixing the acid told me that if I ever saw him running out of the plant I should follow him.

[crux]

As a Belgian this brings back very bad memories. We had Andras pandi. he used sodium hydroxide to dissolve hes children and wife one by one after abusing them for years. Because the barrels where put into the sewer. The belgian government had a problem as they had to proof that what he used was able to dissolve it.

For the first time ever in the world, Belgium closed a deal with the Fbi in America. And a one time only law was written. A real dead person that was given to science was agreed to use to test how fast the body would completely dissolve into the same mix... Fbi experts came to Belgium to help with the test. Just like with pandi the body was cut up in the same way like he confessed and where placed in the same exact type barrel and Within 24 hours only bones where left. And within 48 hours everything was gone.

Till now it's still the first and only time a real dead body was used to perform this test to use as proof in court.

[maksphoto]

Video about dissolving people in acid - sponsored by Hello Fresh. If you want to try something that is fresh and adventurous ^_^

[kjaubrey]

Two guys walk into a bar. The first says, "I'll have H2O". The second guys says, "I'll have H2O too". The second guy dies.

[commanderz]

Short version:
1) Can hydrofluoric acid reduce a body to mush like in Breaking Bad? No, it’s considered a weak acid and won’t break down bodies or the tubs they’re in. However, it is poisonous and the fluorine can be absorbed into a living body and cause serious injuries.
2) Sulfuric acid is far more effective at breaking down bodies, and has been frequently used by murderers to do exactly that. It takes about two days to break down the body to be liquid enough to dispose of down a drain. Note that it will not always break down extremely tough materials in bodies like gallstones or dentures, and bones will often still require additional manual destruction.
3) Lye solution heated to boiling can dissolve a body in a few hours. It’s also much easier to buy, as it is not as regulated as strong acids.
4) Hydrogen peroxide mixed with sulfuric acid, aka “Piranha solution”, will very expeditiously eliminate a body entirely.

Logical conclusion: lye solution is safest bet with lowest risk, yet piranha solution is by far the fastest if you have access to untraceable sulfuric acid.

You’re welcome, and good luck.

[thestraydog]

In high school, my dad and I made homemade soap, and when it came to the lye, my dad explained how effective it is at destroying bodies. Needless to say, it's a hard fact to forget

[jeremyschwab]

I love Simon's final comment: "If you ever find yourself looking for the best way to dispose of a body, take a moment to reflect on how you got to this place because chances are you've got much bigger problems to deal with." :)

[ptrgreeny]

I can't tell you how helpful this video was. Talk about a coincidence!
Thanks!

[limalicious]

Johnny was a chemist's son, now Johnny is no more. What he thought was H2O was H2SO4.

[jonnyfromfar]

The standard body-dissolving chemical is lye aka sodium hydroxide. The main source is drain clog remover because most drain clogs are formed by hair and other bio-gunk that accumulates naturally when humans shower, exfoliate etc. It works, even though the body's overall chemistry is slightly to the basic side of neutral (about 7.35-7.4) because the hydroxide anion is a strong proton acceptor. That means that it strips hydrogen atoms off of organic molecules to form water (alkaline hydrolysis, aka saponification), and as a result, those organic molecules are turned into simpler molecules with lower melting points (triglycerides are turned into fatty acids, saturated fats are dehydrogenated to form unsaturated fats, alkanes become alcohols, etc). Sodium hydroxide is also a ready source of the sodium ion; sodium salts are always water-soluble (at least I can't think of a single one that isn't). The resulting compounds are thus either liquids or water-soluble alcohols and salts, which flush down the drain. What's left is the brittle, insoluble calcium "shell" of the skeleton; if hydrolyzed by sodium hydroxide, the resulting calcium hydroxide ("slaked lime") won't dissolve completely but is relatively easy to clean up.

[kjaubrey]

I was going to make a sodium joke but then I was like, Na. Nobody will get it.

[GIJOE]

My grandfather worked at an acid plant and after unloading a barge of hydrofluoric acid the pan used to contain the drips from the inlet failed while he was standing under it, he immediately jumped off the dock into the water and when he climbed out of the water his clothes were almost eaten through by the acid. He went on to live for many years after this.

[rogueviking]

Simon should do a sit down with Adam Savage about their biggest busted myths.

[Willoism]

Simon, you need to do a casual criminalist on Snowtown: Bodies in Barrels, where several bodies were found in barrels of hydrochloric acid, hidden in an old bank vault.

[erikmontville]

Simon, well done on product placement for Hello Fresh while talking about dissolving bodies in a tub. Tip o' the hat to you, sir.

[danmagoo]

I saw an unfortunate man die from sulphuric acid burns in the waiting room at Penn Station in NYC, many years ago. He had been drinking at a bar there (I could see him from my table across the concourse) for at least an hour, with a giant glass bottle on the bar in front of him, filled with a clear liquid. (In hindsight I assume he worked for a jeweler, since they use H2SO4.) Finally he staggered away, juggling the big, water-cooler size bottle until he fell down, smashing the bottle and releasing waves of rotten-egg smell. He didn't scream -- I last saw him sitting on the hard floor there, his clothes melted away except for the tattered remains of his underwear, looking sad and confused, like "Oh man, I've really done it this time." This being New York, I don't think the story even made the newspapers. The stain was still on the station floor when I moved away from NY years later.

[bobbiecapewell]

I was going to make a joke about what I look forward to doing with this information, but as Simon says... don't write down your crimes

[AvoidTheCadaver]

Back in my uni, there was this idiot lab assistant in one of the research groups who had to work on some optical materials for an experiment. He had to use some HF, which he poured out of the container... Into a glass beaker... And left inside a fume hood.. Uncovered... And unlabeled. Both of which are required as standard practice for highly dangerous chemicals.
Then he left the lab for some reason.
So it was left there for someone to come by and encounter.
Needless to say another research assistant did come by and find it, report it and got that guy formally written up. They also had to get the fume hood and extraction system inspected for possible damage from any acid fumes that may have been drawn up into it.
That idiot did some other dangerous stuff and eventually got fired. Total loose cannon

[daniellewis]

3:19 Simon misspoke slightly here - HF attacks glass (silicon-dioxide) but *not* silicon. This is precisely what we use it to do in microelectronics fabrication.
Other than that, marvelous treatment of HF. We teach our students to treat it with the utmost care and respect.
Also, piranha etch is precisely as scary as he describes it, if not more so, and looks like some straight up Bond villain sh*t in real life.
Source: getting my PhD in electrical engineering.

[jrider]

The man who got dissolved in Yellowstone attempting to "hot pot" could be worth its own episode.. a very morbid mash up of this and the "zone of death" episodes