Searching for Answers or Following a Trend?
I am amazed! In the last seven days this blog has been found 392 times utilizing various search terms. Eighty-eight percent, or 345, of those search terms are a variation of “detergent suicide recipe” or “how to make hydrogen sulfide”. This is the result of my post titled “Bloomberg Publishes Suicide Gas Recipe” where I, with some help from my friend Nick and fellow blogger Ken at What Japan Thinks, brought to light what we all agreed was irresponsible and sensational journalism by Bloomberg on an alarming suicide trend in Japan which is injuring or killing innocent bystanders.
Bloomberg ultimately corrected the article to delete the ‘recipe’ and product links. I purposely did not link to the article and it is no longer available for viewing online.
But back to the to search engine terms…why are people searching for information on hydrogen sulfide?
The Australian Government has produced a Hydrogen Sulfide Fact Sheet that states the following:
“Hydrogen sulfide is used in the manufacture of pulp and paper (digesting agent), in tanneries and in sulfide ores. Most man made hydrogen sulfide is produced as a by-product of industry, rather than for industry.
Hydrogen sulfide is found in coal pits, volcanic gases, natural gas wells, sulfur springs, and decaying organic matter which contains sulfur.
It is not believed that there are any consumer products that contain hydrogen sulfide. Some consumer products may release hydrogen sulfide, such as septic tanks and the burning of coal or oil.”
A couple of other sites confirm that there is no common use for hydrogen sulfide so I must conclude that this isn’t something the everyday person would need to know or would be curious about. So now I am back to the question above….
Are these searches the result of broad reporting on this alarming suicide trend in Japan?
Or, are they people who, for whatever reason, actually want to learn how to make hydrogen sulfide?
What do you think? Why are people searching for information on “how to make hydrogen sulfide”?
on 13 May, 2008 on 6:55 am
[...] FOLLOW UP POST: Searching for Answers or Following a Trend? [...]
on 13 May, 2008 on 8:00 am
Hi Shane,
I’ve had just eight hits for hydrogen sulfide myself.
I saw on the news at the weekend that the manufacturer of the bath salts has decided to withdraw their product from sale, or was it that the Japan chain drug store association recommended its members to take it off the shelf – I didn’t quite catch the Japanese.
on 27 May, 2008 on 1:32 am
You asked Bloomberg to take down the recipie, then you claim he was irresponsible? The reason people used hydrogen sulfide was because carbon monoxide is a colorless, ordorless gas. At least with hydrogen sulfide, people who were accidentally exposed could detect the gas by smell and escape.
on 4 June, 2008 on 10:36 pm
Well I was just looking for the recipe to see how easy it actually is to make. I have zero interest in making it, just miffed about the value of life these folks have.
It seems to me (from my quick research) that some of these folks did not realize how potent this mixture could be.
on 7 June, 2008 on 12:31 pm
I am looking for the recipe to hydrogen sulfide becasue someone in my immediate family recently commited suicede in this way. We found him in the car and he had even printed out signs that read ” danger hydrogen sulfide gas vent carefully” The signs wher enot hand made; it looked like he founnd a website where he could justprint them out.
I just want to know how and where he found this information and how easy it was to make. I want to know if this suicede was planned or if we had the ingrediants in our home that he could have simply mixed together on the spot.
on 7 June, 2008 on 6:39 pm
My condolences to you, Just Want to Know. The only place that I found the recipe was the article from Bloomberg. However, the Japanese government did make an effort to get it off the net in Japan and I’m not sure how successful they were. Those sites would have been in Japanese though so it may not have been the source in your case.
on 20 June, 2008 on 10:30 pm
I read the articles in the news as well and curiosity got the best of me. Just wondering how easy it is to make and how in the world people think this stuff up to use as a way out! 33,000 people a year is horrible.
on 21 June, 2008 on 2:00 am
I decided to do some research on this, after reading an article about suicide amongst those over 60 in Japan as a cultural phenomena. I know people who’ve committed suicide, attempted suicide and threatened suicide. When I read further articles on the subject I was astounded at the breath of this problem, meaning that some of the people who killed themselves took others with them.
I was curious to see how quickly I could find the answer to the question about how this stuff is made and what the chemical was really used for. I did find out how it was made, within a relatively short amount of time. Even though the “recipe” was removed from Bloombergs site, that doesn’t preclude it being removed from any other source on the net. That’s the tricky part about this free information society we live in, that if you want to know something, it’s really easy to find the answers if you’re smart enough to know how to look.
on 9 December, 2008 on 2:01 pm
Shane,
I understand where you’re coming from but who are you to determine what someone does with their life? If it’s not hydrogen sulfide, it’ll be something else. Yes this method can harm others, but it sounds like most ppl using it are warning innocent bystanders. Personally, I would prefer to be found passed out than with my brain splattered everywhere from shooting myself.
Everyone dies, some sooner than others. You can’t protect people from themselves forever…
on 19 December, 2008 on 2:55 am
I believe the majority of people searching the net for a recipe on making hydrogen sulfide are not doing it to find a a way to kill themselves. Look at how many people search for things like bomb making, etc… For most it is just a desire for the data. But there are are much simplier ways of doing it and most people know that. I wonder what all the excitement regarding this method is about, especially since it can be a danger to other people.
Should suicide be illegal for adults? Who are we to decide whether someone should kill themselves or not? I know people make wrong decisions based on information the rest of us don’t understand or agree with, but is suicide something that is always unacceptable? Shouldn’t someone who is guarantedd a life of misery and pain, as a result of a disease or injury for instance, not be allowed to end their suffeing?
For an extreme example, what if you are about to be taken prisioner by a group that you know will torture you in the most ghastly of ways. Shouldn’t it be acceptable then? If you know you are on your way to face a much more gruesome death than simply taking your own life, shouldn’t you be expected to?