# toxic lady

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [November 2, 2007, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990 "2007-11-02T08:46:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990/1 "2007-11-02T08:46:56Z")

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órganic chemist here:

Just commenting in the resurrected classic. I dont know any way to convert DMSO to dimethyl sulfate - the chemistry just doesnt exist,so the first explanation is almost certainly wrong

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990/2 "2007-11-02T14:44:27Z")

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[QUOTE=scm1001]  
órganic chemist here:

Just commenting in the resurrected classic. I dont know any way to convert DMSO to dimethyl sulfate - the chemistry just doesnt exist,so the first explanation is almost certainly wrong  
[/QUOTE]  
[ol]  
[li]Reference is to [What’s the story on the “toxic lady”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_107.html) [/li][li]The issue is not DMSO to dimethyl sulfate, but dimethyl solfone to dimethyl sulfate.[/li][/ol]

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990/3 "2007-11-02T14:54:01Z")

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[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy]  
[ol]  
[li]Reference is to [What’s the story on the “toxic lady”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_107.html) [/li][li]The issue is not DMSO to dimethyl sulfate, but dimethyl solfone to dimethyl sulfate.[/li][/ol]  
[/QUOTE]

Fascinating story. I wonder when they’ll make it a _House_ episode. 🙂 (They already ripped off at least one story from Olver Sacks’ _The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat_)

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**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990/4 "2007-11-02T18:12:52Z")

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[QUOTE=friedo]  
Fascinating story. I wonder when they’ll make it a _House_ episode. 🙂 (They already ripped off at least one story from Olver Sacks’ _The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat_)  
[/QUOTE]

I think they did a Gray’s Anatomy on it last year (or something similar).

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990/5 "2007-11-03T14:17:25Z")

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And some other show (I no longer remember which – it may have been a cop show) at about the time of the original event.

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**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toxic-lady/424990/6 "2007-11-03T17:29:36Z")

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I have a vague (and possibly incorrect) memory of a similar incident on an episode of ER.