There are all kinds of rumors about ways you can beat a drug test. Obviously the easiest way to pass the test is to avoid taking drugs in the first place, but that's not going to be much help if you've already taken something and are facing a test. According to Snopes, some people drink bleach believing it will somehow clear their system of drugs. While it is unclear where this idea originated, the rumor is out there. Will it work? Will drinking bleach hurt you or kill you? Here's the lowdown:

Drinking Bleach to Pass a Drug Test

Household bleach consists of about 5.25% sodium hypochlorite in water. Specifically, Clorox says their bleach contains water, sodium hypochlorite, sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide and sodium polyacrylate. They also make scented products that include fragrances. Bleach also contains small amounts of impurities, which aren't a big deal when you're using the product for disinfection or cleaning, but could prove toxic if ingested. None of these ingredients binds to drugs or their metabolites or inactivates them such that you would test negative on a drug test.

What Happens If You Drink Bleach?

So, of course you are wondering what happens if you drink bleach. People have done this and lived to tell the tale. Drinking a small amount of bleach won't kill you, particularly if you dilute it in water, but it is corrosive and can irritate or damage your mucous membranes and esophagus. Ingesting a few milliliters of bleach most likely will irritate your eyes, nose and throat and may cause nausea and vomiting and possibly diarrhea. Vomiting a small amount of bleach is not recommended, since this re-exposes your esophagus to the chemicals and may worsen the damage. Drinking a larger volume of bleach can hurt or kill you. The toxicity results from the chlorine gas that is produced, the corrosivity of bleach and ingestion of sodium (hypernatremia). Chest pain, low blood pressure, shock and possibly coma or death may result from either inhaling too much bleach or drinking it.

The Bottom Line

Drinking bleach won't help you pass a drug test and may make you sick or dead.

If you live in Central America or along the Gulf Coast of the United States, you've likely encountered lovebugs. These insects remain coupled for several days after mating, even when flying. While they don't bite or ruin crops, they are considered pests, at least by motorists, because they are so numerous that driving through them coats your windshield, grill and hood with dead bugs. This is gross, but isn't the worst of it. The pH of the bug bodies decreases from 6.5 down to an acidic 4.25 after about a day on your car, potentially eating into the finish. At best, lovebugs are hard to remove. At their worst, they can ruin a paint job. Fortunately protective coatings or wax over paint will protect the beauty of the car. Lovebugs present less-chemical hazards too, since their dead bodies and smeared egg masses can obscure visibility and their carcasses can obstruct air flow to the radiator, potentially causing your engine to overheat.

Some people believed the world would end on May 19, 1910. The most famous comet, Halley's Comet, had returned to the night sky and would pass so close to the Earth that we would pass through its tail on May 19^th. What would the comet leave in our atmosphere? Astronomers hoped to answer that question with the relatively new technique of spectroscopy. Among the many chemicals found in the spectra, they found evidence associated with the poisonous gas, cyanogen.

Most scientists figured that the tails of comets were basically dust clouds and any particles of cyanogen would be few and far between so we wouldn't even notice. Others latched on to that 'what if?' and foretold the end of every living thing. As the day got closer, more people worried about 'what if?' and sales of "Comet Pills" to counteract cyanogen poisoning skyrocketed.

On the morning of May 20^th, no one had died from cyanogen poisoning, even the ones that did not take any Comet Pills.

Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.

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Sparklers are small handheld fireworks that give off fiery sparks rather than explode. Sparklers consist of a thin metal or wooden stick coated with a simple pyrotechnic mixture. Colored sparklers really are as easy to make as regular sparklers. The difference lies in the oxidizer that is used. You're basically replicating a flame test, except in reverse since you know the colors to expect from various metal ions. Potassium nitrate or saltpeter will impart a violet color. Barium nitrate burns green. Strontium nitrate burns red. Aside from ordering from a chemical supply store, you can find strontium nitrate in emergency flares and potassium nitrate at some garden supply stores (or you can make it yourself). You can mix in other metal salts from the flame test or colored fire list, but only go for one color. If you try to mix colors, you'll likely wind up with a basic golden sparkler. There are several recipes for colored sparklers. Here are some examples. Ingredients are listed in terms of parts by weight, so you can use milligrams or grams or ounces... whatever works for you.

Red Sparklers

• 5 parts strontium nitrate
• 1 part shellac

Dip iron wires or wooden sticks in the mixture and allow it to dry completely before use. Be sure to leave enough room on the stick so that you can hold the sparkler safely.

Green Sparklers

• 300 parts potassium chlorate
• 60 parts barium nitrate
• 60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules
• 2 parts charcoal
• 10% dextrin in water solution

Dip the wires or sticks in a mixture made from the dry ingredients with just enough dextrin solution to make a thick slurry. Dry the sparklers before use.

Purple Sparklers

• 14 parts potassium nitrate
• 3 parts powdered sulfur
• 3 parts powdered charcoal
• 2 parts aluminum flitter (for sparks)
• 10% dextrin in water

Dip the sticks in a mixture made from the dry ingredients with enough dextrin solution to make a slurry.

How to Make a Sparkler | How Sparklers Work