The dihydrogen monoxide parody is the satirical phenomenon of referring to water (H2O) by its unfamiliar chemical systematic name "dihydrogen monoxide" (DHMO) and describing some of its properties using alarming language – such as its ability to accelerate corrosion (rust) and cause suffocation (drowning) – often calling for it to be banned, regulated strictly, or labeled as a hazardous chemical.
The parody satirizes the irrational anxieties around chemicals (chemophobia), demonstrating how exaggerated analysis, information overload, and a lack of scientific literacy can lead to misplaced fears.
Sometimes other unfamiliar technical names are used: "hydrogen hydroxide", "dihydrogen oxide" and "hydric acid".
Contents
History
In 1983, on April Fools' Day, an edition of the Durand Express, a weekly newspaper in Durand, Michigan, reported that "dihydrogen oxide" had been found in the city's water pipes, and warned that it was fatal if inhaled, and could produce blistering vapors.
The first appearance of the parody as "dihydrogen monoxide" on the Internet was attributed to the "Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide", a parody organization at the University of California, Santa Cruz following on-campus postings and newsgroup discussions in 1990. This new version of the parody was created by housemates while attending UC Santa Cruz, in 1990, revised by Craig Jackson in 1994, and was published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in March 1996. It received widespread public attention in 1997 when Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student, gathered petitions to ban "DHMO" as the basis of his science project, titled "How Gullible Are We?"
Jackson's original site included the following warning:
A mock material safety data sheet has also been created for DHMO.
Molecular terminology and naming conventions
The water molecule has the chemical formula H2O, meaning the molecule is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Literally, the term "dihydrogen monoxide" means "two hydrogen, one oxygen": the prefix di- in dihydrogen means "two", the prefix mono- in monoxide means "one", and "oxide" designates oxygen in a compound (the consecutive o's that would occur in "monooxide" are combined into one).
Using chemical nomenclature, other names for water include hydrogen oxide, hydrogen hydroxide, which characterises it as a base, and several designating it as an acid, such as hydric acid or hydroxyl acid. The term used in the original text, hydroxyl acid, is a non-standard name.
Under the 2005 revisions of IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, there is no single correct name for every compound. The primary function of chemical nomenclature is to ensure that each name refers, unambiguously, to a single substance. It is considered less important to ensure that each substance should have a single unambiguous name, although the number of acceptable names is limited. Water is one acceptable name for this compound, even though it is neither a systematic nor an international name and is specific to just one phase of the compound (its liquid form). The other IUPAC recommendation is oxidane.
Public use
In 1989–1990, several students circulated a dihydrogen monoxide contamination warning on the University of California, Santa Cruz, campus via photocopied fliers.
In 1994, Craig Jackson created a web page for the Coalition to Ban DHMO.
The Friends of Hydrogen Hydroxide website was created by Dan Curtis Johnson, partly as a foil on the Coalition page, claiming to oppose its "subversive agenda". The site points out that hydrogen hydroxide is "environmentally safe" and "enhances the functionality, growth, and health of many forms of life".
In 1997, Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student at Eagle Rock Junior High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho, gathered 43 votes to ban the chemical, out of 50 ninth-graders surveyed. Zohner received the first prize at Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair for analysis of the results of his survey. In recognition of his experiment, journalist James K. Glassman coined the term "Zohnerism" to refer to "the use of a true fact to lead a scientifically and mathematically ignorant public to a false conclusion".
In late 1997, drawing inspiration from Jackson's web page and Zohner's research, Tom Way created a website at DHMO.org, including links to some legitimate sites such as the Environmental Protection Agency and National Institutes of Health.
On April 1, 1998 (April Fools' Day), a member of the Australian Parliament announced a campaign to ban dihydrogen monoxide internationally.
In 2001, a staffer in New Zealand Green Party MP Sue Kedgley's office responded to a request for support for a campaign to ban dihydrogen monoxide by saying she was "absolutely supportive of the campaign to ban this toxic substance". This was criticized in a press release by the National Party, one of whose MPs fell for the very same joke six years later.
In 2002, radio talk show host Neal Boortz mentioned on the air that the Atlanta water system had been checked and found to be contaminated with dihydrogen monoxide, and set about relating the hazards associated with that "dangerous" chemical. A local TV station even covered the 'scandal'. A spokesperson for the city's water system told the reporter that there was no more dihydrogen monoxide in the system than what was allowed under the law.
Notable older uses
Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" references "hydrogen monoxide."