Drano

Abstract: To the Editor.— During the past several years, we have been asked frequently to do the "Drano test" to determine the sex of an unborn baby. It has been published in the lay press that this is a reliable means of sex determination. A Medline search failed to reveal anything in the medical literature concerning the Drano test. As a result, we performed the test in 100 consecutive pregnant women, checking monthly during the last trimester. The test was done by adding a small amount of crystal Drano to approximately 2 mL of urine, agitating, and interpreting results in one minute's time. Reportedly, the color green indicates a male baby, and yellow to amber indicates a female. Of the 100 patients, 21 failed to have the same color change consistently. Of the babies born to these 21, eleven were girls and ten were boys. Of the remaining 79, we were

Abstract: Identification of an unknown substance is a problem frequently encountered by chemists The purpose of this laboratory experiment is to determine the identity of the shiny, metallic shavings present in crystal DranoThe laboratory activity begins making the students feel as though they are chemists with a problem to be solved They are told that when E B Curious poured bacon grease down the kitchen sink drain,the drain became clogged While unplugging the drain, E B noticed some shiny stuff in the crystal Drano Being Curious, E B has come to the chemistry lab with the Drano can and has asked the students to identify the shiny, little piecesThis experiment is conducted so students can discover that the shiny stuff in Drano is amphoteric, that is, it reacts under both acidic and basic conditions The property of amphoterism allows the unknown metal in Drano to be identified as aluminum Identification is easily accomplished when the unknown metal's reactivity in acid and base is compared to the reac

Abstract: To the Editor.—Companies not infrequently place a new product on the market using a name well known to the public. These new products, though related to the older products, may have a very different chemical composition from them. Liquid Drano, a product of the Drackett Company, Cincinnati, presents just such a situation which is of marked importance to the otolaryngologist and the pediatrician. "Drano ingestion" has been synonymous with the ingestion of NaOH. This is, of course, a caustic and presents many problems for the otolaryngologist. During the past year, a new product, "Liquid Drano" has been introduced and marketed. This product is meant to be used in similar circumstances as the older dry product, but is of completely different composition; only the name is the same. Liquid Drano is 1,1,1, trichloroethane. Synonyms for this chemical are alpha-trichloroethane, methyl chloroform, and chlorothene. The substance is a halogenated hydrocarbon which