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Pilot 3: "Larry’s Lawn Chair Balloon, Poppy Seed Drug Test, Goldfinger"

Air Date: March 7, 2003

Covering your body in gold paint can kill you by skin asphyxiation like in the James Bond movie Goldfinger.

busted

Jamie was covered in gold paint from head to toe and lasted over an hour without reporting any major ill effects, besides a slight (and temporary) flu-like feeling, as he described it. The myth stated that the actress portraying the gold plated woman in Goldfinger, Shirley Eaton, died as well. Ms. Eaton did survive the filming of Goldfinger and went on to appear in many more feature films and a segment for the show in which she confirmed she was still alive.

Could Larry Walters have flown a lawn chair by means of weather balloons, and descend safely by means of an airgun?

confirmed

Adam Savage went up in the MythBuster’s rig, which was a lawn chair with 16 plastic weather balloons attached, and went up to the maximum height that could be obtained with the safety ropes attached, 75 feet (22.5 m). He safely descended by shooting out some of the balloons. The actual event behind the myth was verified by documents provided by the FAA.

Eating poppy seed bagels or poppy seed cake can cause one to test positive for heroin and/or opium on a drug test.

confirmed

Heroin is a semi-synthetic opoid made from Morphine. If a test is sensitive enough it can generate a false positive simply by detecting the poppy seeds. Lawsuits have actually been filed and settled due to this phenomenon.

Newer: Episode 1: "Ice Bullet, Exploding Toilet, Who Gets Wetter?"

Older: Pilot 2: "Vacuum Toilet, Biscuit Bazooka, Leaping Lawyer"

9 Comments

  1. 42Adult:

    Any case law that you can show online?

    “Eating poppy seed bagels or poppy seed cake can cause one to test positive for heroin and/or opium on a drug test.

    confirmed

    Heroin is a semi-synthetic opoid made from Morphine. If a test is sensitive enough it can generate a false positive simply by detecting the poppy seeds. Lawsuits have actually been filed and settled due to this phenomenon.”

    August 17, 2007 at 6:48 PM
  2. romel garcia:

    i work as firefighter for a city in texas, according to our mro (medical review officer) he say that its just a bunch of bull. he say taht poppy seed can’t give a false reading, i mentioned your show and he said you all were not doctors/lab techs to actually decipher the results that you were getting and that he needed proof.
    i say he’s wrong, great show guys keep up that mythbusting.

    November 6, 2007 at 2:14 PM
  3. parsons:

    the james bond movie was a representation of lead based paint. today we do not have that kind of paint for saftey, therefore when the two are not affected by the gold paint, they can’t say it is busted. they did not use the same kind of paint

    January 2, 2008 at 2:16 PM
  4. Eileen:

    Romel Garcia and 42Adult,

    There’s actually a lot of documentation on the poppy-seed drug cases.

    I attached one link to a nytimes article, I suggest Romel give a copy of the article to his boss.

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DA133AF932A1575AC0A961948260

    January 7, 2008 at 9:30 AM
  5. Audrey:

    Static Electricity, cleared my Ipod! What !
    Lightning follows me. I demagatize watches, and credit cards if I hold the strip.

    January 16, 2008 at 9:40 PM
  6. Lance Brydges:

    Hey
    I found the write up where Jamie and Adam were covered in gold paint but I can’t find the one where Kari was. I’m pretty sure I’m not confusing it with my dreams. I distinctly remember thinking it wasn’t fair. She didn’t have near as much flesh covered to cause any reaction. I mean really, what was with those boy’s briefs. A thong would have exposed enough skin to match the guys’ chest area and you would have still kept your family rating. I just watched a commercial where a woman was shown completely naked from behind. It was medical commercial but still, there it was. And I certainly don’t see anything wrong with breasts, but I’m from Canada. It’s legal up here. But still it should be legal there, if they were covered, with paint?
    Needless to say I would like to see more of Kari… you know what I mean.
    Keep Busting!
    Namarie an si
    Lance

    February 4, 2008 at 4:13 PM
  7. steve lewis:

    hi, i just been fired from my job for testing positive with opium in my result, thru eating bread with poppy seeds on it. I work in the railway industry the take the reading as low as 300 mine was 310. i am in a middle of a unfair dismisle case. so that is how bad it can afect your life.

    February 28, 2008 at 4:17 AM
  8. Carolyn:

    I’d love to see a follow up episode with other types of drug testing like hair, sweat, blood and saliva. I’d also like to see what other common over the counter things can give a false positive. I’ve heard that Advil can be mistaken for pot.

    March 7, 2008 at 4:23 PM
  9. Melissa:

    My own research and the experience of friends, proves to me that poppy seeds can cause a false positive drug test. Questions: Does it show up positive in both urine AND blood analysis? Also, I eat alot of salads, and my dressing of choice is Poppy Seed Dressing. Most pieces on line address eating poppy seed muffins or bread. Have any of you heard about studies regarding false positives and poppy seed SALAD DRESSING?? I’m not a current user, but I receive services from a pain clinic which includes some random drug testing. I was tested unexpectedly on 3 days ago, and altho i told them of my regular “DofC” (Poppy Seed Dressing-LOL), I wasn’t able to get an answer about the salad dressing usage would or would not affect my drug test. (I would hate to loose my pain mgmt treatmentiok comments, questions, and/or concerns on the subject would be appreciated!!!

    March 28, 2008 at 6:48 AM

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