In the Summer of 1997 scientist Karen Wetterhahn died of poisoning. Her death was the result of a seemingly harmless mistake that she thought nothing of at the time, however, over the course of 10 months her condition would slowly deteriorate until she succumbed to the poison.
Wetterhahn, 48, was working at Dartmouth college, studying the effects of heavy metals on living organisms according to an article from science.org. The incident occurred in August of 1996, she had been working with a substance known as dimethyl mercury. According to the head of the Dartmouth chemistry department, John Winn, “She was taking what any of us would have considered prudent and reasonable precautions.”
