The science behind Breaking Bad

From 2011–2012 we published a number of articles looking at the science behind Breaking Bad.

These articles were part of the On-Screen Chemistry series originally published in InfoChem and later in The Mole.

• In the first article, Jonathan Hare examines whether it’s possible to poison gangsters with phosphine gas.
• The second article looks at the famous acid bath scenes.
• Thermite break-in explains the chemistry of melting a lock with iron oxide and aluminium powder.
• The final article asks if a crystal of mercury fulminate can blow up a room.

After the first series, Breaking Bad producers wanted input from chemists to make future episodes as scientifically accurate as possible. Find out how that led to Donna Nelson becoming an advisor to the show in this 2025 interview from Chemistry World.