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Goldfinger



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The Myth

THIS MYTH WAS FEATURED IN...
Episode Title: Pilot 3: Larry's Lawn-Chair Balloon, Goldfinger, Poppy-Seed Drug Test

Original air date:3/7/2003

Myth Title:

Goldfinger

Myth Description:

True to the movie Goldfinger, having your body entirely covered in gold paint can kill you because your skin will be unable to breathe, and this is actually the fate that befell the actress Shirley Eaton in the filming of the movie.

MythBusters on the bust:

  • Adam
  • Jamie

Guest appearances:

  • Shirley Eaton
  • San Francisco Bay Area Paramedics (names needed please)

Hypothesis:

Latex paint can kill you by skin asphyxiation.

Procedure/Experimental Design:

Jamie was covered from head to toe in gold paint and observed for an hour. They also planned to have him run on a treadmill while covered in paint but this was advised against by attending paramedics.

Results:

After a little over an hour, Jamie reported feeling slightly ill, with vaguely flu-like symptoms. The paramedics recorded a rise in his blood pressure.

Conclusion:

Under some circumstances, covering yourself in latex paint can be dangerous, but it isn't nearly as deadly as shown in the movie.

Busted or Not Busted:

BUSTED

Shirley Eaton made a guest appearance, and multiple sources list her as still being alive and well.
Fan Feedback

Highlights of the bust:






Best quotes by the MythBusters:






Your Scientific Method

Did the MythBusters get it right? How would you have busted this myth differently? Share your experiment design for how you would prove/disprove this myth:

  • latex is an allergen. Some people have an immune over-reaction to it, but if you overwhelm ANY person with it, they're going to be affected, and Adam's blood pressure rise and general flu-like malaise fit perfectly. You could test the skin gas exchange aspect by placing him in a tank of water with very low oxygen and very high carbon dioxide contents. Wear wetsuit with hood to keep the head out of the gas exchange (and cut down the rate of convection underwater), lay a layer of olive oil on the surface to stop gas exchange between the water and the air. as an aside, if you'd painted a person with any spray paint available in 1964, the victim would die from hydrocarbon poisining in pretty short order.
See Also

Related myths: ----

Related resources and reference pages: ----




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