Silicone in breast implants are bulletproof

Question

"Doctors noted that the silicone implant was likely responsible for deflecting the bullet’s trajectory – ultimately saving the woman’s life."

- CNN

Comments

The claim that silicone breast implants are "bulletproof" is misleading and not entirely accurate. While there is a reported incident where silicone breast implants may have altered the trajectory of a bullet and potentially reduced injury, this does not mean that breast implants are designed or reliably effective at stopping bullets.You should have done more research about it to see if its true.

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Hello! This quote does show that a woman's implants saved her from a bullet to the chest. With that being said, that does not mean that implants are bulletproof, across the board, for everyone. Clarify that more next time. Great work overall!

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I think their argument misapplies the quote from the CNN story. Although a breast implant might have prevented a bullet in a particular case, this does not imply that all implants are impervious to bullets. After looking into the article you cited, I discovered that although it may imply that breast implants may lessen a bullet's penetration, it is deceptive to say that all implants are impregnable. This would suggest that all implants are bulletproof, which is obviously untrue.

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The student's article is a news article that talks more about the incident and less about implants being bulletproof. This shooting incident is also one of a few incidents that were recorded that saved a patient's life; there is not much information to go off to say breast implants are bulletproof. According to the National Library of Medicine, “The impact of a gunshot is tied to a bullet's path and placement within the body.” Due to the placement of the bullet, the patient took less damage, but if the trajectory of the bullet was different, it could have been life-threatening. The National Library of Medicine also states, “Pannucci et al evaluated the potential protective benefit of breast implants by measuring penetration distance into ballistics gel after gunshot passage through a saline implant, revealing a 20.6% decrease in penetration compared with that seen with no implant”. Having saline breast implants can lessen the chances of penetration, but that does not mean that breast implants are bulletproof. The student’s statement is exaggerated.

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/

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Shown from these 2 articles the breast implants do slow down bullets on impact and also in some ways can save lives. But that doesn't mean they are bulletproof. Said at the bottom of the Dr. Adams.com article “Let’s say that the average human chest cavity is 6” deep. This means if you had breast implants and were shot with a handgun, the bullet would only go 5” deep into your chest cavity.” This reinforces the fact that they can help to slow down a bullet but that doesn't make them bulletproof.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html
https://www.dr-adams.com/blog/can-a-breast-implant-stop-a-bullet/

Answer 1

Although your source is credible and the evidence true, saying that a breast implant is bulletproof versus that it can deflect the trajectory of a bullet, is misleading. The National Library of Medicine, in fact, never states that silicone breast impants are bulletproof, they instead state that "There are limited studies in the literature discussing the management of breast implants after gunshot wounds to the chest..." meaning that stating that silicone implants are bulletproof are not backed by enough evidence. Additionally, the definition of bulletproof, according to Merriem-Webster Disctionary, is "not subject to correction, alteration, or modification". The breast implants in the article by The National Library of Medicine were modified and had to be removed and replaced, meaning that by definition, silicone implants are not bulletproof but instead, can deflect the trajectory of a bullet. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bulletproof

Answer 2

No, The silicone in breast implants is not bulletproof. The CNN article cited in the claim does not explicitly say or imply that silicone breast implants are bulletproof. CNN stated that “The implant caused the change in the trajectory of the bullet”, while the woman still suffered a gunshot wound, broken rib, and ruptured implant. Because the woman in this story still suffered a gunshot wound which ruptured her implant it does not appear that her breast implant was bulletproof, although it may have deflected the bullet and saved her life. This is an isolated incident in which a breast implant was not bulletproof, and in order to fully assess this claim it seems necessary to examine other cases, as it is possible other silicone breast implants could be bulletproof.

According to the National Library of medicine, There have been several cases in which a bullet's trajectory is altered by a breast implant. This is similar to the CNN article, although this still does not cite any case in which a breast implant has stopped a bullet from entering the body. Although the NLM found “a 20.6% decrease in penetration compared with that seen with no implant”, meaning that the silicone in breast implants does have the ability to slow or decrease the velocity of a bullet. However, the NLM failed to cite any case in which a silicone implant has stopped a bullet's penetration. 

NLM’s findings are supported by Christopher Pannucci, a plastic surgeon from Utah. Through a study he conducted, he found that “there is a good chance the penetration stoppage power of the implant will be less than 20%”. While it does seem true that silicone breast implants have some ability to deflect a bullet, or soften the impact, the claim that silicone breast implants are bulletproof seems an extreme hyperbole. The claim appears to be untrue.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/ 

https://www.dr-adams.com/blog/can-a-breast-implant-stop-a-bullet/

Answer 3

While there is evidence that the silicone in breast implants can alter bullet velocity, penetration, and trajectory they are not bulletproof.  The CNN article cited by the poster does not claim they are either, nor does it claim that the breast implants stopped the bullet entirely, but simply that they likely saved her life by "deflecting the bullet's trajectory" and ultimately avoiding any of her vital organs.

A peer-reviewed ePlasty article by Barrow et al describes a study that found that saline breast implants resulted in a "20.6% decrease in penetration compared with that seen with no implant".  The article goes on to theorize that the high viscosity of silicone may further increase this percentage in penetration reduction, but at no point claims that breast implants of any kind can stop a bullet entirely, nor does it provide the evidence necessary to make that inference.  Therefore, while silicone breast implants can and have protected via projectile alteration, one can not be assured that they will prevent damage

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html

http://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/#:~:text=The%20authors%20of%20this%20case,penetration%20into%20the%20thoracic%20cavity.&text=Another%20report%20describing%20a%20case,likely%20deflected%20the%20bullets'%20trajectories.

Answer 4

Silicone Brest implants are not bulletproof. The article states that the doctors believe that the implants redirected the bullets trajectory missing any vital organs.

A YouTube video by the channel Garand Thumb talks about CNN's article. They test different types of calibers against real breast implants including .22 which is one of the smaller rounds used. The .22 went Stright through the implant and into the test dummy. They tested .25 auto, 9mm, 5.56 and 12 gauge buck shot. All of the rounds went through the implants. In the video they say the article most likely did not tell the whole story. they believe the round was already deflecting and the implants may have helped but it was not the sole reason for the person surviving. 

Citations:

Garand Thumb. (2024, February 4). Can breast implants save your life? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_HzUum3-Jc

Answer 5

The claim that breast implants are bulletproof is very misleading. While breast implants don’t make you bulletproof, they can influence the trajectory of a bullet, as shown in a study discussed in a CNN article. The article explains that while implants won’t stop a bullet, they can cause the bullet to deviate from its path, potentially reducing the severity of a wound.

Another article from PMC (National Library of Medicine) highlights that implants can reduce bullet penetration by 20.6% compared to cases with no implants at all. This doesn’t mean that implants will fully protect you, but they can reduce the depth of the bullet’s penetration.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html

Answer 6

The claim that "silicone in breast implants is bulletproof" is false. A recent medical  case study called, ''SAGE Journals was noted where a breast implant changed the path of a  bullet it didn’t stop it. Therefore, a ballistic testing by Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery showed that implants can decrease the probability of bullet penetration by about 20 percent, but they can’t prevent them completely.  Breast implants are not made to offer ballistic protection and are therefore not bulletproof. This  claim may have started from a misconception of medical data and the viral sensationalism.

Links: https://www.dr-adams.com/blog/can-a-breast-implant-stop-a-bullet/

Links: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/

Answer 7

Although the article tells us that the silicone in this woman's breast implants did prevent the bullets from causing extra damage and save her life, the headline is still misleading.  Just because in this instance the girl was helped, this does not mean in every case the silicone would prevent the bullets from killing another person.  Overall the student's statement is exaggerated.

Answer 8

The claim is vastly different than the CNN quote provided. While the silicone breast implants are NOT bulletproof, this incident was a rare incident of deflection/protection. Looking further into the CNN article, it says that "doctors described how a silicone breast implant deflected a bullet away from a 30-year-old woman’s vital organs," take note that this does not mean the implants were bulletproof. The article is entirely about this 2018 incident, not about breast implants of the studies behind them. It is far out to say that all silicone breast implants have the power to withstand bullets. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said "there are a few case reports highlighting the management of gunshot wounds involving breast implants,6,9 but no comprehensive studies in the literature exist." This means that while not completely dismissable, there are potential benefits of gel silicone implants when facing a gunshot's trajectory. It could potentially "...slow or deflect a bullet, it may serve as a protective factor." (NIH) This statement is exaggerated and misleading, it only applies to one outlier circumstance.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/