?Is drinking deuterium oxide harmful

You may have wondered whether you can you drink heavy water? Is it radioactive? Is it safe?

Deuterium oxide or heavy water is a form of water that contains a larger than normal amount of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope that makes up most of the hydrogen in normal water. Accordingly, some or most of the hydrogen atoms in deuterium oxide contain a neutron, causing each hydrogen atom to be about twice as heavy as a normal hydrogen atom. The increased weight of the hydrogen in the water thus makes it slightly more dense.

Deuterium oxide is not radioactive. So, if you drink heavy water, you don't have to stress over radiation harming. It's not totally safe to drink, however, because the biochemical reactions in your cells are affected by the distinction in the mass of the hydrogen atoms and how well they shape hydrogen bonds.

If you drank a considerable volume of deuterium oxide, you may feel dizzy because deuterium oxide would change the density of the liquid in your inner ear.

Deuterium oxide damages the ability of mitotic spindles cells to repair their DNA and replicate. If you could replace 25-50% of the regular hydrogen in your body with deuterium, you would encounter issues.

For mammals, replacing 20% of your water with heavy water is survivable; 25% causes sterilization, and about 50% replacement is deadly.

Other species endure deuterium oxide better. For example, algae and bacteria can survive using 100% deuterium oxide.

 

Source:

https://www.thoughtco.com/can-you-drink-heavy-water-607731