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If by hydrocarbons you mean fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, yes, they can be. However, without hydrocarbons, life would be very much more difficult and there would be a lot fewer humans.

Hydrocarbons, typically, are not highly poisonous. Natural gas can displace oxygen in high concentrations and cause suffocation, and petroleum distillates can irritate digestive tissues if swallowed, and cause edema if inhaled.

Their main danger is that they are flammable. Natural gas explosions kill hundreds of people every year, and many others are burned by distillate fires.

Another danger in rich countries is hydrocarbons reduce, sometimes sharply, the amount of exercise people get, leading to diseases like Diabetes and hypertension.

DK

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14y ago

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