The 850.-th post on the blog is from things what never-ever gets boring: fun with fluorescent dyes!

The red color is emitted by a fairly common dye: Rhodamine B. The green color is a bit more interesting, it is emitted by merbromin, an organomercury chemical:

Merbromin is one of the best antiseptics and it is still used in several countries, but because of its mercury content, it is no longer sold in the United States, Germany, or France. When used as a topical antiseptic, it stains the skin bright red and it is quite hard to remove. Luckily it is only used as a 2% solution, or more dilute, and since it is not readily absorbed by the skin, it is perfectly safe to use.

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9:30 pm • 2 June 2014 • 208 notes • View comments