Exploding Pants: A Chemical Criminal Saga

Episode 63

The Pants, the Plot, and the Pickle Rain: Sodium Chlorate's Wild Ride

This week on Crime to Burn, we celebrate our one-year podiversary with an explosive tale—literally. From flaming trousers and banned weedkillers to accidental city-shaking disasters caused by petty crime, we trace the chaotic path of sodium chlorate: the chemical that just couldn’t stop stealing the spotlight.

We cover:

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  The fiery fashion faux pas that haunted New Zealand farmers

  
  


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  The whiskey heist that accidentally leveled part of Vancouver

  
  


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  The bad-boy redemption arc that now has it saving lives at 30,000 feet

  
  

Join us as we salute one of chemistry’s most chaotic compounds—and raise a toast (not a match) to one year of fire, crime, and chemically-assisted absurdity.

Background music by Not Notoriously Coordinated 

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Source List:

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  Watson, James. The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley’s Exploding Trousers: Reflections on an Aspect of Technological Change in New Zealand Dairy Farming between the World Wars. Agricultural History, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Summer 2004).

  
  


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  ChemistryViews. Chlorates: Tragic Incidents and Life-Saving Applications – Parts 1, 2, and 3. June 7, 2022. https://www.chemistryviews.org/chlorates-tragic-incidents-and-life-saving-applications-part-1/

  
  


• Who Was the Unabomber? The Real Story of What Ted Kaczynski Kept in his Cabon. Newsweek. July 31, 2017. https://www.newsweek.com/ted-kaczynski-manhunt-unabomber-644260


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  Leader (Orange, NSW). "The Danger of Celluloid Collars." August 24, 1912, p. 8. Retrieved from Trove. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117803078

  
  


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  USDA National Organic Standards Board. Sodium Chlorate: Technical Advisory Panel Report. 2000. https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/SodiumChlorateTAP1100.pdf

  
  


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  Smith, Helena. "Greek Letter Bomb Attack Put Europe on High Alert." The Guardian, November 2, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/02/greek-mail-bomb-attacks-athens

  
  


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  Hawthorn, Tom. "Vancouver’s Own Port Explosion Was Fuelled by Sodium Chlorate and Whiskey." The Tyee. August 7, 2020. https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/08/07/Vancouver-Port-Explosion-Fueled-By-Sodium-Chlorate-Whiskey/

  
  


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  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) Fact Sheet for Sodium Chlorate. February 2008. https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/reregistration/fs_G-94_1-Feb-08.pdf

  
  


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  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Homemade Chemical Bomb Events and Resulting Injuries — Selected States, January 1996 – March 2003. MMWR Weekly, July 18, 2003. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5228a3.htm

  
  


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  Wikipedia contributors. 2008 Exeter attempted bombing. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Exeter_attempted_bombing