# Can a person survive drinking (gas) oil?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 27, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397 "2006-05-27T01:16:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/1 "2006-05-27T01:16:45Z")
I was watching the film Three Kings, and there’s a scene in which Mark Walhberg’s character is tortured by being forced to drink delicious oil\*. I’m sitting there thinking, “Oooo-kay, he’s dead, then”. But then later he’s freed, and (while not in the best of shape) is able to stand and walk immediately. Is this realistic?
\*Not sure what kind of oil. It’s black, not that that helps much.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/2 "2006-05-27T01:59:29Z")
[Mineral oil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil), a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline, is [commonly used as a laxative.](http://www.google.com/search?q=mineral+oil+laxative&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official) It doesn’t usually kill, but it may make you _wish_ you were dead.
Unlike mineral oil, gasoline contains a lot of low molecular weight compounds that are bad for you. The LD50 (rat) for regular gas (ingested) is about [18.75 ml/kg.](http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:K6q2gSAUl4gJ:seweb1.phillips66.com/hes%255Cmsds.nsf/MSDSID/US724020/%24file/30017580.pdf+gasoline+toxicity+kidney+ld50&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=firefox-a)
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/3 "2006-05-27T02:12:32Z")
It is not totally related but, ethanol (drinking alcohol) has been sought out since time began by humans as a pretty good thing to drink for a variety of reasons. It doesn’t seem to cause that much problem in the short-term. I know that variations on even that idea (methanol) can cause problems in higher doses but my point is that the human system will not simply keel over at the sight of those types of compounds. You will usually need to see a high enough concentration to cause a certain organ failure. Gasoline may be bad to drink but drinking kerosene (aka diesel fuel, furnace fuel, jet fuel) probably wouldn’t hurt someone that much in the short-term in small doses (not recommended).
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/4 "2006-05-27T02:28:47Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> It is not totally related but, ethanol (drinking alcohol) has been sought out since time began by humans as a pretty good thing to drink for a variety of reasons. It doesn’t seem to cause that much problem in the short-term. I know that variations on even that idea (methanol) can cause problems in higher doses but my point is that the human system will not simply keel over at the sight of those types of compounds. You will usually need to see a high enough concentration to cause a certain organ failure. Gasoline may be bad to drink but drinking kerosene (aka diesel fuel, furnace fuel, jet fuel) probably wouldn’t hurt someone that much in the short-term in small doses (not recommended).
Well, I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie, but it looked to me like thet forced anywhere from a cup to a pint of oil down his throat.
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### Author:  [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/5 "2006-05-27T04:02:43Z")
> [@bouv](#):
>
> Well, I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie, but it looked to me like thet forced anywhere from a cup to a pint of oil down his throat.
Well, going by what **Squink** says and assuming that he weighs about 75 kg, that’s about 237 - 473 ml of gas, or 3.16 - 6.31 ml/kg. That’s less than 1/3 of the LD50!
(not that whether it’s a good idea to ingest something should EVER be determined by the LD50, of course)
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### Author:  [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/6 "2006-05-27T04:25:38Z")
My cousin Pat works in a petrol station in Middlesbrough, a pretty dire city in the north-east of England. They used to get this geezer who would walk up to one of the pumps, shove the nozzle in his mouth, take a swig and then run away. About the fourth or fifth time it happened, she called the police who just said, “Oh, that’s Fred: he does that all over town”. As far as I know it hasn’t killed him. Yet.
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### Author:  [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/7 "2006-05-27T13:00:45Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#):
>
> I was watching the film Three Kings, and there’s a scene in which Mark Walhberg’s character is tortured by being forced to drink delicious oil\*. I’m sitting there thinking, “Oooo-kay, he’s dead, then”. But then later he’s freed, and (while not in the best of shape) is able to stand and walk immediately. Is this realistic? \*Not sure what kind of oil. It’s black, not that that helps much.
As noted above the oil is pretty much inert and goes merrilly on its way to where ever it is going.
Gasoline will vaporize and the victim will inhale enough to eventully drown on the vapors filling his lungs.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/8 "2006-05-27T13:04:38Z")
> [@seosamh](#):
>
> My cousin Pat works in a petrol station in Middlesbrough, a pretty dire city in the north-east of England. They used to get this geezer who would walk up to one of the pumps, shove the nozzle in his mouth, take a swig and then run away. About the fourth or fifth time it happened, she called the police who just said, “Oh, that’s Fred: he does that all over town”. As far as I know it hasn’t killed him. Yet.
[http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005053026,00.html](http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005053026,00.html)
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### Author:  [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/9 "2006-05-27T20:19:07Z")
> [@seosamh](#):
>
> My cousin Pat works in a petrol station in Middlesbrough, a pretty dire city in the north-east of England. They used to get this geezer who would walk up to one of the pumps, shove the nozzle in his mouth, take a swig and then run away. About the fourth or fifth time it happened, she called the police who just said, “Oh, that’s Fred: he does that all over town”. As far as I know it hasn’t killed him. Yet.
In _Prevalence of Nonsense_ by Ashley Montagu and Edward Darling, they note that someone started drinking gassoline. He liked it, apparently. But it wasn’t good for hiom: A compound called orthocresyl phosphate started softening his bones and it took him six months in a hospital to recover. ☹
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### Author:  [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/10 "2006-05-28T11:17:21Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005053026,00.html](http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005053026,00.html)
Flippin’ 'eck, that’s the geezer!
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### Author:  [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-survive-drinking-gas-oil/358397/11 "2006-05-28T14:48:52Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#):
>
> I was watching the film Three Kings, and there’s a scene in which Mark Walhberg’s character is tortured by being forced to drink delicious oil\*. I’m sitting there thinking, “Oooo-kay, he’s dead, then”. But then later he’s freed, and (while not in the best of shape) is able to stand and walk immediately. Is this realistic?
>
> \*Not sure what kind of oil. It’s black, not that that helps much.
I remember thinking the same thing as I was watching this movie. I thought that they should have inserted a scene showing him throwing up. This would probably be more realistic. Your stomach does have a vomit reflex when nasty stuff gets into it.