Remember Mr. Yuck? He celebrates his 35th birthday this week. Sadly, he is gone in Minnesota.

I attended a fascinating presentation by Steve Setzer of the Minnesota Poison Control System today. He talked about all manner of things by way of numerous case studies, creative photos, and a captivating presentation manner of speech. Some of the gems:

• Consumption of lethal amounts of acetaminophen (Tylenol) will not produce significant symptoms for 24 hours, but the antidote must be administered within 8 hours of ingestion. This is apparently a huge problem because so many things contain acetaminophen.
• Hydrocarbons such as lamp oil are not very toxic; for example, one may drink a cup of lamp oil and experience only laxative effects. The problem, apparently, is if even a drop or two enters the lungs. If that happens, the drop spreads like oil on water and causes chemical pneumonia, which can be quite dangerous.
• The cobra antivenin closest to Minneapolis is in Milwaukee. Bad news for the idiot who tried to build a tolerance for cobra venom by provoking a cobra to bite him.
• Consumption of methanol (e.g., windshield washer fluid) or ethylene glycol (e.g., antifreeze) is extremely dangerous. The standard antidote is a drug called Fomepizole, which is great, except it runs about $1000 a dose. The cheaper antidote? Ethanol. So kids, if you accidentally ingest antifreeze or windshield washer fluid, start drinking Everclear.
• Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are both extremely toxic to cats. Do not use this information when the neighbor’s cat gets annoying.
• Syrup of Ipecac should not be used after a suspected poisoning. The potential side effects greatly outnumber the possible (minimal) benefits. The poison control center recommends that supplies of Ipecac be destroyed. Ironically, child care providers in Minnesota are still compelled by law to maintain a stock of Ipecac.

How does this relate to Mr. Yuck? Well, budgetary constraints mean that he’s gone. Apparently, the economies of scale are such that it wasn’t cost effective to continue printing Mr. Yuck stickers for Minnesota. It would seem that Mr. Yuck got a taste of his own poison.