LogFAQs > #914193042

rjsilverthorn posted...

_AdjI_ posted...

It'd be easy enough to estimate how lethal it'd be. Sodium Chloride's LD50 is readily available knowledge, as is the sodium content of a serving of soya sauce (NaCl is about 40% Sodium by mass) and the volume of a bottle.

The LD50 on Sodium Chloride is 3000mg/kg and there are approximately 36,800 mg of sodium in a 20oz bottle of soy sauce.

So let us math:

3000 mg/kg NaCl is roughly 1200 mg of sodium
36,800/1200=30.7kg, or 67.5 lb

So that's enough sodium to kill a preteen reasonably reliably. A full-sized adult (for which a normal, healthy weight is typically in the range of 50-80 kg) should be okay, but it's risky territory, as the lady in that article found out the hard way. That's also not to say that such a rapid influx of sodium won't create other, potentially-lethal health problems.