What happens if you eat a pencil lead

Usually children think about eating the core of a pencil. This is due to the myth on which more than one generation of schoolchildren has grown up: if you want to skip classes, you need to eat a lead. Then the temperature will immediately rise, and it will be possible to obtain the coveted certificate legally. But in reality, the effect will vary from “nothing happens” to “weekends in intensive care and a long recovery.”

What happens to the temperature if you eat a pencil lead

stylus consists ofPencil Lead / Illinois Poison Center graphite, a minimally toxic carbon compound. There is no evidence that graphite actually raises the temperature. Moreover, there is not so much of it in the stylus that it has an effect on the entire body. So there's no point in even trying.

What happens to the digestive tract if you eat a pencil lead

Most likely, the body will not even notice that something has gone wrong. A foreign object will quietly leave the body in a few hours.

The problem may be in the form of a piece. If the edge is sharp, it can damage the delicate intestinal wall, and a large fragment callM.A. Crane, D.A. Lakhani, R. Kuhnlein, A.B. Balar, S. Neptune, D. Parrish, N. Shorter, A. Adelanwa, T.P. Nguyen, E. Hailemichael. Small bowel obstruction from hollow foreign body ingestion: A case report and brief review of literature / Radiology Case Reports obstruction. It is urgent to call a doctor if, after swallowing the stylus, symptoms such as:

• abdominal pain;
• diarrhea;
• constipation;
• vomiting, including blood;
• decreased appetite.

What happens to the respiratory system if you eat a pencil lead

Probably the worst thing is inhale Pencil swallowing / Medline Plus piece of stylus. Sometimes this can happen very imperceptibly for a person, but the following symptoms will appear:

• recurring cough;
• chest pain;
• dyspnea;
• rapid breathing.

If you do not catch yourself in time, it may leadT. Hilliard, R. Sim, M. Saunders, S.L. Hewer, J. Henderson. Delayed diagnosis of foreign body aspiration in children /BMJ to a serious lung infection. Therefore, you need to immediately go to the hospital and pull out the chip.