# Monoatomic Gold...what's it supposed to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811 "2008-05-27T21:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/21 "2008-05-28T03:18:13Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Nothing. Zip. Nada. Jack squat. [/QUOTE] So it has no negative effects like the blue skin thingy? No risk? Well, that’s a relief…at least if my friend is going to take this stuff it won’t have the potential risks of some of the other junk he takes. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/22 "2008-05-28T03:26:18Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] So it has no negative effects like the blue skin thingy? No risk? [/QUOTE] Pretty much. There’s a reason gold is termed a noble metal–it’s pretty inert. The popular liqueur, Goldschlager, contains actual gold leaf as a gimmick. Entirely harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/23 "2008-05-28T03:32:46Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Pretty much. There’s a reason gold is termed a noble metal–it’s pretty inert. The popular liqueur, Goldschlager, contains actual gold leaf as a gimmick. Entirely harmless. [/QUOTE] Sure, then one day you wake up dead, face down in a bikini bottom, painted gold. Outlaw Gold now! Before others get hurt! Won’t someone think of the children?!? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/24 "2008-05-28T03:45:31Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Pretty much. There’s a reason gold is termed a noble metal–it’s pretty inert. [/quote] [Googling](http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/g/gold_poisoning/intro.htm) [around](http://www.valuemd.com/usmle-step-2-ck-forum/1362-what-antidote-gold-poisoning.html), it does seem that gold poisoning is possible; it’s just that the stuff doesn’t normally dissolve. It can’t poison you if it’s just a lump that sits in your stomach. My worry would be that this supposed “monatomic gold” has been processed in a way so that the body can assimilate it and be poisoned; or, that it’s not gold at all. After all, gold’s expensive and this is obviously a scam; why use such an expensive prop ? [QUOTE=Q.E.D.] The popular liqueur, Goldschlager, contains actual gold leaf as a gimmick. Entirely harmless. [/QUOTE] I recall back in the 80’s there was a restaurant that catered to the self consciously self indulgent with gold coated food. Personally, gold steak looked quite unappealing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/25 "2008-05-28T03:56:51Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] So it has no negative effects like the blue skin thingy? [/quOTE] I’m going to (slightly) disagree with the other posters and say that there are risks. Soluble gold salts can build up in the human body. It was in an episode of House, so it must be true. The drug used in that show was [gold sodium thiomalate](http://www.drugs.com/mtm/gold-sodium-thiomalate.html). > [@](#): > > In rare cases, exposure to sunlight may cause areas of the skin to turn a bluish-gray color. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/26 "2008-05-28T04:16:23Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Googling around, it does seem that gold poisoning is possible [/QUOTE] Like many heavy metals, gold will easily bind to cysteine. It is gold’s fondness for thiols that make [dimercaprol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimercaprol) the prefered treatment on both of the cites you mention. It doesn’t matter though. Whatever they are defining as monatomic gold is not what I would define as monatomic gold because what I would call monatomic gold doesn’t exist in bulk. The entire term “monatomic gold” is meaningless as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/27 "2008-05-28T06:26:42Z")
[QUOTE=Myglaren] Or some esoteric isotope of Selenium, seeing as they are all loonies. [/QUOTE] Ooh, I like that! From [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOON): “The Moon is occasionally referred to by its Latin name, Luna, in order to distinguish it from other natural satellites, with a related adjective lunar, and an adjectival prefix seleno- or suffix -selene” I do wonder where these gold nanoparticles are supposed to end up. Do they just pass through and out, or are they absorbed via the gut? Inert or not, I don’t particularly want gold accumulating in my kidneys… “Inert” is pretty relative anyway. noble gases as are inert as anything, but xenon can still be used as an anaesthetic: [The WorldWide Anaesthetist - Drugs, volatiles and anaesthesia](http://www.anaesthetist.com/anaes/drugs/Findex.htm#volatile.htm) (scroll to the bottom and work up.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/28 "2008-05-28T12:57:38Z")
Dang you, **Q.E.D.**! I was gonna mention that! > [@](#): > > The popular liqueur, Goldschlager, contains actual gold leaf as a gimmick. Entirely harmless. “Monatomic Gold” is the giveaway; it’s right up there with a gas station claiming that “Only Our Gas Has Universe-Saving THX 1138!! And it GETS YOU LAID!!!” “Monatomic” _might_ be an accepted spelling, but I’d never try to submit a paper with it. It’s just **barely** possible that there could be such a thing as “gold poisoning”, but it seems a stretch. (Brainstorming here.) The cyano group ligands with gold, so maybe a combination of a major overdose of…hell with this. 🙂 **WarmNPrickly** , I hadn’t heard of gold dodecohedrons. Ignorance fought, Sir! ---
**Author:** ![Sean281](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Sean281](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean281)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/29 "2013-12-04T01:27:52Z")
Well I would like to know what it ACTUALLY is. As a chemist who’s worked with pharmaceuticals it’s of serious interest to me. Clearly it’s not gold and never has been gold, so what is it that they’re actually selling? It would have to be cheap so not creatine etc. Most non dangerous salts will dissolve in water. Maybe it’s simple Silicon Dioxide (filter aid or… sand)? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/30 "2013-12-04T01:40:48Z")
> [@Sean281](#): > > Well I would like to know what it ACTUALLY is. As a chemist who’s worked with pharmaceuticals it’s of serious interest to me. > Clearly it’s not gold and never has been gold, so what is it that they’re actually selling? It would have to be cheap so not creatine etc. Most non dangerous salts will dissolve in water. > Maybe it’s simple Silicon Dioxide (filter aid or… sand)? Welcome to the Straight Dope. You should know that this thread is 5 1/2 years old. Some of the people who originally responded are likely no longer posting here. You will also get lots of jokes about brains (zombie being our pet term for old threads resurrected). ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/31 "2013-12-04T01:42:56Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > I’m going to (slightly) disagree with the other posters and say that there are risks. Soluble gold salts can build up in the human body. It was in an episode of House, so it must be true. The drug used in that show was [gold sodium thiomalate](http://www.drugs.com/mtm/gold-sodium-thiomalate.html). Yeah, but this is a gold salt, not monatomic gold, aka…gold. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/32 "2013-12-04T10:32:04Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Anyway, **I assumed monoatomic gold was the same kind of snake oil** …what I wanted to know is, like with colloidal silver, what’s it SUPPOSED to do…and like in the CS thread, what side effects does it have? I assume it doesn’t turn your skin yellow… > > -XT So people living in arid areas (in or near deserts) should have a readily available supply of this monoatomic gold. Just catch some snakes and squeeze them. Or follow the snakes and see where they are getting it from. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/33 "2013-12-05T02:01:14Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Welcome to the Straight Dope. You should know that this thread is 5 1/2 years old. Some of the people who originally responded are likely no longer posting here. You will also get lots of jokes about brains (zombie being our pet term for old threads resurrected). Those zombie jokes won’t be jokes if QED posts again. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/34 "2013-12-05T03:23:43Z")
Monoatomic gold? A single atom of gold ain’t gonna be worth much. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/35 "2013-12-05T03:32:35Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > The entire term “monatomic gold” is meaningless as far as I can tell. That’s what I was thinking. AFAIK, the only diatomic elements are hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, iodine, and bromine. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/36 "2013-12-05T15:33:51Z")
Well, “monoatomic” is normally used for gases, but gold would have to be pretty darn hot to be gaseous. I’d recommend against inhaling it. Other than that, monoatomic (or monatomic) might mean “elemental”, which gold generally is anyway. As opposed to say oxygen, which is normally found as O2 molecules. Or am I missing something? As I see it, the term isn’t even sensible. The best kind of woo! ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/37 "2013-12-05T15:42:48Z")
I like this little gem: > [@http://monatomicgoldus.com/](#): > > The current theory is that as monatomic gold is a superconductor and some unknown element in the human brain superconducts when it functions. By adding more superconducting matter to the human brain you are vastly speeding up its processing and functioning power and also consciousness level. Rather like taking a 386 computer and putting a 3.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor and 2 GB of ram inside. It’s almost like a “human brain and consciousness” upgrade. At least, that’s the theory. After that is a link to [this “research”](http://www.carrboroweb.com/hudsimp.shtml). Lol. But wait! It gets better! Evidently, > [@http://educate-yourself.org/cn/monoatomicgoldthinktwice15aug05.shtml](#): > > I continue to stumble upon more and more indications that the entire promotion of mono atomic gold is an Illuminati deception. Oboy! A conspiracy theory to boot! This is rich, even without the gold. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/38 "2013-12-05T15:46:00Z")
Oboy, it gets even better: > [@](#): > > The destruction of the ten virtual DNA strands (unseen with 3rd dimension microscopes, but nevertheless still there in the higher 4th dimensional vibratory plane) prevents a human from activating these higher dimensional DNA strands and prevents access to higher spiritual awareness and telepathic abilities, as humans and mother Earth gradually increase our base vibratory frequency and ascend into the fourth dimension (a process that began in 1987 and will likely reach completion somewhere between 2018 and 2025). The activation of more than two strands of DNA is apparently necessary to exist in physical form in the fourth dimension. So now, the hidden purpose behind the promotion of mono atomic gold is perhaps becoming more evident: the Illuminati, the militarists, the satanists, the corrupt politicians, etc., and all those who serve the Dark Master, Lucifer, will not be allowed to reincarnate on a fourth dimensional Earth. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/39 "2013-12-05T15:55:55Z")
So does the gold help or hinder this reincarnation? ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811/40 "2013-12-05T16:24:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > So does the gold help or hinder this reincarnation? I confess I was a bit confused on that point myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoatomic-gold-whats-it-supposed-to-do/450811.md?page=3)