Answer to Question #184387 in General Chemistry for fili

Question

barium is a poisonous substance that can cause severe damage to heart function. In a barium enema procedure, a patient drinks a 20g BaSO4 aqueous suspension. if this substance is in balance with 5.0L of blood in the patient's body, how many grams of BaSO4 will be dissolved in the blood? for a good estimate, we can assume that the temperature is 25 degrees celsius. why was Ba (NO3) 2 not chosen for this procedure?

Answer 1

Within 1–4 hours of ingestion, profound hypokalemia and generalized muscle weakness can develop which may progress to paralysis of the limbs and respiratory muscles. Severe hypokalemia induced by barium toxicity can cause ventricular dysrhythmias (1-7).