--- title: Why Liquid Nitrogen Is Dangerous description: Recently, an 18-year-old British teen named Gaby Scanlon made news when she underwent an emergency gastrectomy — the surgical removal of part of the stomach... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7137459/why-liquid-nitrogen-is-dangerous/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-10-10T15:17:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:52:17.635Z article:section: Health og:title: Why Liquid Nitrogen Is Dangerous og:description: Recently, an 18-year-old British teen named Gaby Scanlon made news when she underwent an emergency gastrectomy — the surgical removal of part of the stomach... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7137459/why-liquid-nitrogen-is-dangerous/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b6de58a8c600c21/698a932e9d83e8afcdba02e8/liquidnitrogenhealthland.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: liquidnitrogenhealthland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Liquid Nitrogen Is Dangerous twitter:description: Recently, an 18-year-old British teen named Gaby Scanlon made news when she underwent an emergency gastrectomy — the surgical removal of part of the stomach... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b6de58a8c600c21/698a932e9d83e8afcdba02e8/liquidnitrogenhealthland.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Why Liquid Nitrogen Is Dangerous > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Oct 10, 2012 3:17 PM UTC  Liquid nitrogen is poured from a container. Liquid nitrogen is poured from a container. Charles D Winters / Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Oct 10, 2012 3:17 PM UTC Recently, an 18-year-old British teen named Gaby Scanlon [made news](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/09/woman-loses-stomach-after-drinking-liquid-nitrogen-cocktail/) when she underwent an emergency gastrectomy — the surgical removal of part of the stomach — after drinking a Jagermeister cocktail made with liquid nitrogen at a bar in northern England. The incident immediately brought comment from chefs and bartenders, particularly molecular gastronomists who make a living of experimenting with gases and chemicals to enhance food and drink preparation and the eating experience in general. But while liquid nitrogen is commonly used by trained chefs, it can be extremely dangerous or deadly if not handled properly. Let’s review the safe and dangerous uses of the chemical. (**MORE:** [British Woman Loses Stomach After Drinking Liquid Nitrogen Cocktail](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/09/woman-loses-stomach-after-drinking-liquid-nitrogen-cocktail/)) First, what is liquid nitrogen? Known scientifically as [LN2](http://weill.cornell.edu/ehs/static%5Flocal/pdfs/ln2.pdf), it is an odorless, colorless, non-flammable cryogen — a really cold chemical — with a boiling point of [\-196°C](http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcsneng/neng1199.html). It’s used routinely in medicine, to freeze off warts, including genital and HIV-related warts. Because liquid nitrogen instantly [freezes anything](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002246.htm) on contact, dermatologists can use it to simply dry out unwanted tissue and let it fall off. Surgeons also use cryotherapies to eliminate cancerous cells. [In the kitchen](http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/liquid-nitrogen-primer/), liquid nitrogen is used to make ice cream, flash-freeze herbs or freeze alcohol. Bartenders will swirl it around glasses to chill them, so that the supercooled glass will emanate a dramatic-looking vapor. (Liquid nitrogen creates a fog when exposed to air.) The main point is that liquid nitrogen must be fully evaporated from the meal or drink before serving, said Peter Barham of the University of Bristol’s School of Physics. It can safely be used in food or drink preparation, but it should not be ingested. The BBC [reported](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19870668): --- > “” --- (**MORE:** [Give Modernist Cuisine a Break)](http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2059203,00.html) There’s a pretty penny to be made in molecular gastronomy, according to a [2011 American Culinary Federation salary study](http://www.acfchefs.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/Resources/Salary/Survey/default.htm); research chefs earn some of the highest incomes in the industry. In fact, the Culinary Institute of America just instituted a [major in culinary science](http://www.cianewswire.com/2012/10/culinaryscience.html). As part of the degree, students learn how to use liquid nitrogen as a coolant to make a smoother batch of ice cream, or dip strawberries in liquid nitrogen and then smash them to produce a strawberry dust that could be sprinkled over a dish, the Associated Press [reported](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/famous-culinary-school-stresses-science-kitchen). When used properly, “it’s mesmerizing,” Dave Arnold, head of culinary technology at the French Culinary Institute and partner in charge of cocktails at Momofuku’s Booker and Dax bar in [New York City](http://topics.time.com/new-york-city/), [told](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/liquid-nitrogen-cocktail-injury-steams-debate-flashy-drinks/story?id=17425885#.UHWJWdPzdSA) ABC News. “It’s like so many things in life. If it is used improperly, there are hazards. … A deep-fryer also has dangers when people are using it without training.” He added that in bartending, if liquid nitrogen does get into the cocktail itself, you can see it because it floats. “You can see it rolling around the top of the drink,” he said. So, drink responsibly, Healthland readers. **MORE:** [Punched Up: Mixing Victoria-Era Cocktails with Molecular Gastronomy](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2109137,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7137459/why-liquid-nitrogen-is-dangerous/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7137459/why-liquid-nitrogen-is-dangerous/"},"headline":"Why Liquid Nitrogen Is Dangerous","datePublished":"2012-10-10T15:17:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:52:17.635Z","description":"Recently, an 18-year-old British teen named Gaby Scanlon made news when she underwent an emergency gastrectomy — the surgical removal of part of the stomach...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7137459/why-liquid-nitrogen-is-dangerous/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b6de58a8c600c21/698a932e9d83e8afcdba02e8/liquidnitrogenhealthland.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b6de58a8c600c21/698a932e9d83e8afcdba02e8/liquidnitrogenhealthland.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"liquidnitrogenhealthland","caption":"Liquid nitrogen is poured from a container.","creditText":"Charles D Winters / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7137459/why-liquid-nitrogen-is-dangerous/","name":"Why Liquid Nitrogen Is Dangerous"}}]}] ```