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Certain chemicals, after ingestion, can be converted by the body into cyanide. Most of these chemicals have been removed from the market, but some old nail polish remover, solvents, and plastics manufacturing solutions can contain these substances.
Ether was used widely for surgeries but became less popular because of its flammability and its tendency to cause vomiting. In England, it was quickly replaced by chloroform, but this agent caused many deaths and lost popularity.
More than 2,500 barbiturates have been synthesized. At the height of their popularity, about 50 were marketed for human use.
Nearly 31 million adults in America have a total cholesterol level that is more than 240 mg per dL.
Approximately 500,000 babies are born each year in the United States to teenage mothers.