Since salt undergoes a chemical change causing it to become Na(aq)+ and Cl(aq)- why does drinking aqueous Sodium and Chlorine not harm you?
In: Chemistry
Drinking salt water will definitely harm you, if you drink enough.
The body has filtering mechanisms that can remove excess ions, Na+, CL-, and many others. These mechanisms work best for limited amounts of these ions in the presence of lots of water. Move outside these limits and many harms will happen.
Sodium metal and chlorine gas are dangerous specifically because they really want to be Na+ and Cl- and will violently react with anything in reach to get there.
Once they’re done with that, the resulting ions are mostly harmless – although chugging salt water will disturb your internal water/ion balance and eventually kill you.
There is no reason to assume that it would harm you. That sodium chloride disassociates in water has nothing to really do with your question.
In large quantities salt water is bad for you. It will increase your blood pressure and cause loose stools by causing water to be pulled into your intestines.
In small quantities it will not have a noticeable effect.
Both changes are temporary and quantity dependant.
Well, drinking sea water does have [negative health effects](https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-you-drink-saltwater1.htm), but sodium and chlorine ions are not immediately poisonous to us (again, even this depends on concentrations) because your stomach acid is HCl, and your table salt is NaCl, so the body is used to handling and/or digesting these ions.
At the cell level, your cells have mechanisms for [transporting sodium and potassium](http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Biology/nakpump.html) ions into and out of the cell, and sodium and potassium play important functions in the cell biology.
Are you asking why drinking saltwater doesn’t harm you?
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