Here's How Much You Can Have Of These Regular Things Before They Kill You

Once you start doing some research, one thing becomes almost shockingly clear: There are an uncomfortable number of ways to die. There are the big ones, of course, like cancer and heart disease. But there are plenty of dangers lurking around the house, too. Even things that might not seem deadly definitely can be. Take televisions. While some people are fond of saying that if you sit too close to the television you'll ruin your eyes, that's not actually the biggest danger. According to a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were 571 people killed by falling television (and/or furniture) between 2000 and 2019.

Given the number of people who have televisions (and furniture), that's both a surprising stat and slim odds. But it also goes to show that there are some perfectly ordinary things that can cause some devastating deaths — so, let's talk about them.

When it comes to toxicity and how much of a substance can be deadly, there's a big caveat, especially when referring to things that are typically found around the home, in everyday life, and exist in fairly inert forms ... most of the time. Factors such as a person's age and medical history can significantly impact their tolerance for certain substances. Then, there are things like allergies, an individual's genetic tolerances or susceptibilities, the potential for interactions with medications, and so on. So, while exact measurements are often impossible, let's get into it.

It's no secret that salt just makes a lot of things better. Imagine popcorn, pretzels, or potato chips without it — it's a depressing world. Humans need salt in order to survive, but is it possible to overdose on it? Specifically, in a way that would be very deadly, very quickly? Absolutely.

According to research published in the American Society for Nutrition's Advances in Nutrition journal, salt becomes deadly when a person ingests between one-half and one gram per kilogram of body weight. Let's go back to our average, middle-aged, 200-pound man. Since he weighs 90 kilograms, that means between 45.5 and 90 grams of salt could be lethal. One container of Morton Salt comes with 736 grams: a mere fraction of that could do some serious damage.

It's worth pointing out that this research doesn't just apply to salt in its purest form. In 2011, a report in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine looked into a case involving a woman who died after drinking a large amount of soy sauce: The official cause of death was pulmonary edema. Another case — detailed in The Journal of Emergency Medicine — documented the close call of a man who nearly died after downing a quart of soy sauce. The moral of the story? Please don't drink soy sauce.

For a long time, various corners of the internet have claimed that eating more than the usual number of bananas could be deadly. The cited reasoning is that too many bananas would cause a person to ingest a toxic amount of either potassium or radiation, and if that seems super unlikely, that's because it is.

Cosmos took a look at the science behind the claim and found that as far as potassium is concerned, it is possible to die from ingesting too much of it. But, since the human body is extremely good at processing extra potassium, overdosing on it to the point of death means that a person would need to eat an irrationally large number of bananas ridiculously fast. How many? About 42 — and they'd need to be consumed with a speed best achieved by competitive eaters. What about the long term? The BBC looked into the claim, too, talking to St. George's Hospital dietitian Catherine Collins. She says that while there are potential exceptions (like people who have been diagnosed with kidney disease), the average person would have to eat around 400 bananas, regularly and per day, to build up deadly potassium levels.

So what about radiation levels? It turns out that there are a lot of foods that contain higher levels of radiation and they're perfectly safe. That is, as long as you're not eating 35 million of them — which is what it would take to kill via radioactivity.

Every year when December rolls around, it becomes obvious there are two kinds of people: The ones who go on about holiday cheer and the ones who want to throat-punch the first group. According to a paper published in the Prague Medical Report, there might be a fascinating scientific reason behind the longtime tradition of Christmas cheer. Researchers from Charles University found that many of the spices used in traditional Christmas dishes — including cinnamon and nutmeg — contained chemical compounds that acted on the body in a way similar to amphetamines. 

It's not all fun and games, however. Healthline reports that the buzz from nutmeg people experience is because the spice contains compounds that interfere with the normal functioning of the central nervous system and neurotransmitters. (Fun fact: Stories of nutmeg's recreational drug-like properties go back as far as the 16th century.)

Unfortunately, anything that can be used can also be abused. While there haven't been too many studies done on fatal doses of nutmeg, research published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology has determined that 10 grams puts people into dangerous territory, and more than 50 grams can cause some serious problems. A 2001 report in Forensic Science International looked at the case of a woman whose autopsy suggested her death had come after a devastating interaction between nutmeg and the drug more popularly known as Rohypnol.

The active ingredient in Tylenol is called acetaminophen — it's in a lot of over-the-counter pain relievers, and most homes have a bottle in the medicine cabinet. It's great for all kinds of aches and pains, but it comes with a shocking footnote: A 2013 report from ProPublica discovered that every year, around 150 people are killed by taking too much acetaminophen. In 2022, research published in StatPearls found that the number had risen to 500 deaths per year, and that was just part of the story. Another part? Overdosing on acetaminophen resulted in around 56,000 emergency room visits per year.

The investigation into the safety of pain medication spans decades, but what's really shocking is that it doesn't take much for it to kill. Estimates suggest that anyone taking an acetaminophen-based product for several days in a row — to, say, relieve the ongoing pain of a toothache — can run the risk of taking a deadly dose by ingesting just two pills more per day than what's recommended. (That varies by product, as different types of medications contain different amounts of acetaminophen.) In other words, it doesn't take much to trigger a catastrophic series of events that starts with pain, escalates into liver and renal failure, and ends in death.

It's also worth noting that Tylenol isn't the only brand name that contains this potentially deadly compound. It's also found in other over-the-counter medications like Alka-Seltzer, Excedrin, both Dayquil and Nyquil, and many sleep aids.

According to an oft-repeated bit of internet wisdom, apple seeds contain cyanide and can kill. Is that true? Well, here's yet another case where there's a shocking amount of variables. Research done by the University of Leeds confirms that yes, there are compounds in apple seeds that can lead to cyanide poisoning and death if consumed. Just how much of the compound — specifically, amygdalin — is in apple seeds depends on the variety. Britannica breaks down the stats, saying that at the end of the day, and depending on the apple, the average person would need to eat between 150 and 1,000 seeds before ingesting enough cyanide to kill.

There's a footnote, though. The cyanide in apple seeds is, literally, inside them, so apple seeds that aren't physically chewed will pass harmlessly through.

Apples aren't alone in this, either. Other stone fruits, including peaches, plums, and mangoes, have pits that also contain potentially deadly levels of cyanide. While people aren't super likely to swallow enough peach pits to kill, the compounds are also present in the much easier-to-swallow cherry pits. Based on additional research from the University of Leeds, Healthline came to the conclusion that depending on the type of cherry, eating between three and nine cherry pits could lead to some serious problems. But again, the pit needs to be damaged to release toxins into the body, so if it's accidentally swallowed, there's no need to worry too much.