John Hickenlooper: I drank fracking fluid

[muon2]

Fracking fluid is mostly water and sand with less than 1% other chemicals. CO has pretty good regulations on chemical disclosure, and most of what would be disclosed are additives that might be found in many consumer products.  So with that disclosure, I could see him taking a swig.

[muon2]

Wow, Hickenlooper is kind of stupid. For one thing, he probably had the glass specially prepared, because no politician would take the chance of actually dying from fracking fluid. For another, he's still probably going to have a health problem from that much chemicals, and for a third thing, fracking is still pretty dangerous.

Can you cite why he would need a specially prepared glass or why he would have a health problem? Here's what his state lists as the typical compositionand you can see that the chemicals are in small percentages, and are generally available in other consumer products.

[muon2]

...you can see that the chemicals are in small percentages, and are generally available in other consumer products.

Well yes, but very few of them are in products meant to be consumed orally!

But because of their uses, it is anticipated that consumers will ingest small amounts, so they are tested at those low concentrations. For example, people who swim in pools are expected to ingest small amounts of pool chemicals and not suffer adverse effects. Similarly, the chemicals in soaps, household cleaners and cosmetics will often be ingested from contact with one's hands. In those small amounts they should have little ill effect.

[muon2]

...you can see that the chemicals are in small percentages, and are generally available in other consumer products.

Well yes, but very few of them are in products meant to be consumed orally!

But because of their uses, it is anticipated that consumers will ingest small amounts, so they are tested at those low concentrations. For example, people who swim in pools are expected to ingest small amounts of pool chemicals and not suffer adverse effects. Similarly, the chemicals in soaps, household cleaners and cosmetics will often be ingested from contact with one's hands. In those small amounts they should have little ill effect.

Isn't it different when you're deliberately ingesting large amounts?

What do you mean by a large amount. Petroleum distillate makes up 0.088% of the fluid according to the link I provided. If I assume a 100 mL (4 oz) serving of fluid the amount of distillate is 88 microliters. That's about 1-2 drips from an hospital IV. That isn't going to cause a health impact, considering a few drops of a skin care product taken orally won't generally have an impact.

[muon2]

This is like freaking out that that mouth X-ray at the dentist's will give you cancer. Or that vaccines will give you autism.

Not really a good comparison.  You could argue that Xrays do have some benefit, and you might even be able to argue that vaccines have some benefit, and you may come to the conclusion that the benefits of those things outweigh any perceived risks.  Anyone freaking out about those things might be rebuttal-freaking, or they might simply be convinced that the advantages do not outweigh the risks, and you misinterpret that as freaking out.

But drinking fracking fluid?  Assuming you won't market it as porn or as a carnival freakshow, what benefit accompanies the drinking of fracking fluid?  I can't think of any.  It seems very unlike submitting to X-radiation or vaccinations.

I think marketing is in fact the correct assumption. In this case it's marketing the fluid as something less harmful than one might have thought. It would be like walking across a catwalk above a high radiation area. If the rate at the catwalk is low enough, and you don't tarry long there, you can show that no ill comes of it even though it has no direct benefit to your body.