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In “Pass the Vegetables, Please”, the 71st episode of Gilligan's Island, Gilligan and the gang all ate seeds of radioactive vegetables, and the professor suggested eating soap. He says the hydrocarbons absorb radiation:

Professor: I've applied the principles of theoretic chemistry to the problem of radioactivity. Now the best preventative for the internal bombardment of radioactive particles is through their containment by hydrocarbons.

Gilligan: Would you mind repeating that?

Professor: Not at all. I've applied the principals of theoretic chemistry to the problem of radioactivity.

Skipper: Oh come on Professor, never mind all the scientific lingo. What are you trying to tell us?

Professor: That our best protection against the vegetables we've eaten is through hydrocar… well that is to say through plant fats. And the best source of plant fat is the soap we've been making here on the island.

Gilligan: Do you mean we have to take a bath with that soap?

Professor: No we shall have to consume it internally.

Gilligan: Oh thank goodness. For a minute there I thought we were going to have to eat it!

Does that have any basics in reality?

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    $\begingroup$ It would cause diarrhea and help purging the digestive system. OTOH, it would left it in desolate state biochemically. $\endgroup$
    – Poutnik
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 4:55
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    $\begingroup$ If only it were that easy we should not have to worry about radioactivity at all. $\endgroup$
    – porphyrin
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 6:29
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    $\begingroup$ Gilligan and the gang did end up getting rescued, none the worse for wear. Notably, they were all healthy 14 years later when the sequels were produced. I thereby infer that the Professor was correct. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Minehardt
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 15:41

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Some of these sentences are non-sense. For example : Now the best preventative for the internal bombardment of radioactive particles is through their containment by hydrocarbons. First remark : there exist three types of particles coming from the radioactive substances : 1) the alpha particules, made of 2 protons and two neutrons, which can cross about 0.1 millimeter matter (and will have an effect only over this distance. 2) the beta particules, made of usual electrons, which can travel and cross water and human tissues about one centimeter thick, and this value is changing a lot with the energy of the beta ray. 3) the gamma rays, which are similar to the light, although with a much higher energy ; they can cross water and human tissues many meters thick, although this exact value changes with the energy of the ray. Some radioactive isotopes are emitting alpha, beta or gamma rays with high energy, and some with a low energy. So their effect depends mainly of their energy. It does not depend so much on the target (hydrocarbons or soap or living tissues). So the sentence printed in italics does not have any meaning.

Edit : As a consequence, the question was : Can eating soap protect you if you ingested radioisotopes ? The answer is : NO !

Why are some of the readers criticizing my explanations ? They are all scientifically correct. Maybe they are oversimplified. I could of course develop them, but it would take time. I am a radioprotection expert in my country.

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  • $\begingroup$ Well, I like your explanation. The sentences are appropriate for a comedy show for scientific illiterates. However... if they had cancer, maybe the radioisotopes could cure them, and maybe that's why they lived so long. $\endgroup$
    – James Gaidis
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 20:03
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    $\begingroup$ I think the issue is that you aren't answering the question directly, you've just picked on that one sentence. Now, it does kind of indirectly answer the question, but maybe being more explicit would help. $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 22:05

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