Question: Is poo reactive to any chemicals?

Paul Brack answered on 20 Jun 2015:

Poo is about 75% water. The rest is about half dead bacteria, then there’s stuff like undigested protein and fats and plant matter. Your poo also contains various chemicals which make it smell. These mainly contain sulphur, stuff like dimethyl sulphide and hydrogen sulphide. Hydrogen sulphide is actually a very reactive chemical. This is a very poisonous gas (in large quantities, that is – don’t worry there’s no where near enough in your poo to poison you!) which can also form flammable mixtures with oxygen (although again in reality, there’s such a small amount in your poo you don’t have to worry), so don’t put a match in the toilet!