# Are glowsticks dangerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808 "2009-11-08T16:20:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/21 "2009-11-09T01:02:11Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > played with the glowing goo inside. Just out of curiosity, what exactly did you have in mind?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/22 "2009-11-09T01:48:58Z")
> [@sweetie pea](#): > > Just out of curiosity, what exactly did you have in mind?:dubious: I thought that I would dump the contents into my hand and maybe they’ll glow for a while, and I can go around scaring unsuspecting family members like that. Or use the liquid to draw things on my face or wall, whichever is closer. I think glowing liquids, despite their intrinsic coolness, is best used to solicit the shocked reaction of others. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/23 "2009-11-09T01:54:25Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Or use the liquid to draw things on my face or wall, whichever is closer. Does your face ebb and flow like the tides or something? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/24 "2009-11-09T01:58:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Does your face ebb and flow like the tides or something? Yes, it does. He is the One In All and the All In One. He is the gate. He is the key in the gate. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/25 "2009-11-09T02:00:11Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > If you throw them in the freezer at night before you go to bed, you can easily get a second night out of them. I used to do this all the time to the glow sticks I bought at the roller rink when I was a kid. Then I’d hide them in my brother’s room and he’d wake up in the night seeing this weird glowing green thing in the corner… ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/26 "2009-11-09T05:21:44Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > That article covers just the reaction of 1,2-dioxetanedione. > The old Cyalume glowsticks used bis(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl-6-carbopentoxyphenyl)oxalate [CPPO](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bis%282,4,5-trichlorophenyl-6-carbopentoxyphenyl%29oxalate). It looks to me like that’ll break down into substituted trichlorophenols. > > I’m not certain which chemistry everyone is using these days, or if everyone is even using the same chemistry. That being the case, a little caution is called for, even if the label on my imported, from God knows where, glowstick says “safe and non-toxic.” Ink is cheap, actually proving safety is not. I think it is unlikely that they would use trichlorophenol in a product labeled as nontoxic. The chlorine does nothing specific for the chemiluminescence. Electron withdrawing groups will make the reaction faster, so you may get a brighter but shorter lasting stick. Newer dyes may have made the chlorine unnecessary. As for the decomposition of 1,2-dioxetanedione, I don’t really trust the biradical mechanism that wikipedia proposes. I’m certain that is what happens without the dye, but I have difficulty imagining how the triplet state would get transferred to the dye. I think it is much more likely that an eximer or some type of complex is involved. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/27 "2009-11-09T20:57:22Z")
My toddler son bit into one and cracked it open last year. It said non-toxic on the package but I didn’t know what was in them so I called poison control. They told me it was not likely to be a problem other than maybe giving him a little stomachache if he ingested enough, and to just rinse his mouth out with water. They said they get this call often around Halloween, and considering these things are marketed to kids, and the love for Halloween danger stories, I am sure if they were poison or really dangerous the e-mail forwards would have started by now! Actually, I am surprised they haven’t started either way considering how valid most Halloween kid danger stories are. But I have yet to hear a “child poisoned by glow stick meant to keep him safe…details at 11” headline. FTR, He complained of his tongue feeling funny (prob. burning) but nothing else happened. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/28 "2009-11-09T21:28:22Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > When I was a kid I was fascinatedly looking at one of these while twisting and bending it and the damn thing broke open and squirted in my eye. It burnt like crazy, but was fine after I washed it out. Can you now see into the souls of men? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/29 "2009-11-10T09:40:34Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I had a friend who chugged the contents of a glowstick - gave him a stomachache, but he was otherwise fine. (I know, I know, anecdotes aren’t data, but still.) What I want to know is - did his crap glow in the toilet the following day? :o Si ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/30 "2009-11-10T15:39:48Z")
Chlorinated phenols are used in TCP - you know, the antiseptic that you can use to rinse your mouth out with and gargle for sore throats. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/31 "2009-11-10T16:51:45Z")
If there’s broken glass in these things, I’d worry about someone swallowing that even if the liquid is completely nontoxic. Liquid with broken glass in it isn’t something I’d consider safe for kids to play with, either. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/32 "2009-11-10T19:11:29Z")
Funny story: [SATURDAY NIGHT] Heyhomie is at church, supervising some children’s event of some kind. Many of the kids have glow-sticks. One of the girls (about 11-12 at the time) strikes up a conversation with me while holding her glow-stick. ME: Do you know what happens if you crack open a glow-stick and swallow the goo inside? GIRL: No, what? ME: Your poop glows in the dark. GIRL: Ewww! :eek: Stop talking about poop! [stomps off] :mad: [SUNDAY MORNING] Heyhomie is at church, milling about before the service, greeting friends and such. Girl from the night before walks up to me. GIRL: :mad: I tried what you told me and it didn’t work! :mad: [stomps off] ME: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TheBori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@TheBori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBori)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/33 "2009-11-10T19:23:38Z")
My lovely wife worked for quite a while in a contracr toxicology lab. Thet got a job to test the stuff inside glow-sticks for vaginal irritation. The vendor said it was a customer request. Well, you’ll be happy to know…glow goo is not vaginally irritating (I can’t speak to the little bits of broken glass). As to the follow up question…they use female beagles ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808/34 "2009-11-10T20:02:36Z")
> [@TheBori](#): > > …glow goo is not vaginally irritating How about urethras? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-glowsticks-dangerous/516808.md?page=1)