When I was about 12yo I saved the mercury from a thermometer that broke. I had it in a tiny little contact lense jar (they used to come in mini dram-sizes glass jars) and I loved shaking it to watch it split apart and go back together. Its also surprising heavy!
When I was about that age, I stuck a thermometer under the hot water because I wanted to fake having a fever so I wouldn't have to go to school that day. Well, the hot water melted the tip and the mercury spilled in the sink. I then spend the next 5 minutes trying to wash the mercury down the drain to cover up the evidence. I can still see the entire moment in my mind's eye. I'm sure I probably poisoned myself a bit. Sorry, mom.
I touched it as well, so I googled how fucked we are now:
As long as you don't expose your skin to the metal too much and you wash your hands after then you would be fine. If any mercury did absorb through your skin then the amount will be so small then you would urinate it out, leaving no mercury in your body and meaning it won't build up to harmful amounts.
When I was maybe 12 or 13 I dropped the thermometer on the floor and the Mercury came out of course. I don't know how long I sat on the floor rolling it around with my fingers but I was so fascinated by it. I had no idea it was poisonous. I even had it in the palm of my hand rolling it around. š¤¦
It's mercury, it doesn't behave quite the same way water does.
The surface tension is much much higher, so it doesn't just spill and continue spreading until it hits a wall.
Instead it stays together in a puddle, or forms beads.
You can definitely pick the smaller beads up with a piece of paper or something like that.
Maybe with nails if yours are long enough.
I remember scooping it up with something. I don't remember what it was. A piece of paper or something like that. I don't remember what I used but I put it in my hand and rolled it around. I was so fascinated by it. It wasn't my brightest moment, but I also would have never touched it if I would have known it was dangerous. No wonder my memory sucks at 46.
It's the breathing it that is more of an issue. Hell, even drinking it would be less toxic if you have no wounds in your mouth or digestive tract (obviously don't try that though). Keeping it around in an open container or a sink P-trap (remember, mercury is heavy and will likely just sit there) will lead to hazardous exposure to mercury fumes.
Yeah, I drank a thermometers worth and was fine. My mom was told the same thing by poison control about how I should be fine with no sores, and she was surprised, to say the least
When I was a toddler I got my hands on one, my mom found me with it cracked open in my mouth and empty. I'd be more embarrassed about it if it was a memory I could even remember, I was too young
Yeah we've been told to FEAR the mercury but really the issues are prolonged exposures or taking a mercury bath. Touching it one time is not deadly or really THAT dangerous.
the pure elemental form of it isnt as dangerous as we made it. ofc its still plenty dangerous but you can technically touch it. the ionic forms such as mercury chloride is the really REALLY dangerous. dont even handle it or go near it
Same, I put it in a cup of hot tea and it broke. Shards of glass and mercury everywhere. I donāt remember how I cleaned it up, just that I was playing with it for a while. I was absolutely fascinated by being able to push drops around on the carpet. It behaved so different from any other liquid Iād ever come across. So stupid.
Did the same thing when I was a youngin, except I put it in my cup of hot tea my granny made me (for my āsore throatā) it broke and spilled inside the tea. Granny came out wondering why I wasnāt drinking my tea and where the damn thermometer went. Donāt remember how I got out of that one but never did that again lol
So it didn't go anywhere. That mercury just got stuck in the p-trap. If the kitchen hasn't been renovated, there's a good chance the mercury is still just sitting in the bottom of the trap under the sink.
Dude, this is just what happened as I remember it. I don't know what to tell you. You are not the first to go bananas about my thermometer story. This happened 40+ years ago. I guess they made shitty thermometers in the 70s. I don't know.
Nah man, he's got a point. What thermometer would ever melt under tap water? Typically mercury is housed in glass. Did your sink really produce water hot enough to melt glass? Or was it a plastic mercury thermometer?
Also way to come out the gate with an insult. The guy wasn't even being rude, just mentioning something that didn't make sense to him.
I appreciate that. Yeah, the anal birth omnipotent thing was odd. Even if the thermometer was plastic, water heaters don't get water hot enough to melt that either. Some water heaters actually have a plastic liner so the story doesn't add up.
My dad did some gold panning back in the 70s, and he'd met an old miner up in the hills who gave him some liquid mercury (I believe it's used to help separate gold from other minerals). It was in an old glass Gerber baby food jar, and there was a quite a bit of it (like 1/3rd of the jar). It was a lot of fun to slosh it around and watch the weird ways it moved. I had been snooping around in my dad's old hiking gear in the garage when I found it, and of course, once my dad found out, the jar of mercury disappeared. Just like the Playboys in his nightstand drawer š¢
My chemistry teacher used to have a huge mason jar full of mercury (early 1990s and he was definitely an old-school 1960s/70s era teacher). It was CRAZY how heavy it was and I'm glad no one every dropped it. I don't think this would be allowed now.
Yep you are correct and it's a big big fine if your busted. Especially if you have a copper gold pan I find it ironic that they were using a gold pan in this video. I worked for Gold Divers underwater mining equipment for a few years. If you've ever seen the movie "The Deep" we made that dredge :) And the owner would separate placer using Mercury. But not in the field!
Mercury has a specific gravity of 13.6, which means it's 13.6 more dense than water. 4 gallons of mercury weighs the same as a 55 gallon drum full of water.
I remember visiting my brother in the hospital when I was a kid. There was a wall mounted blood pressure meter with a small levee on it. When you pushed the lever, the glass vial lifted and the mercury came spilling out of the bottom. I spent some time with it in the palm of my hand, poking and prodding at the cool liquid metal.
Technically your body won't do much of anything with ingested elemental mercury. It's unlikely to do much unless you have an open wound and it can get into your bloodstream. Of course, breaking a thermometer in your mouth can definitely cause wounds...
Yea, I was just messing around, and when it broke my mouth froze. So I know there were no cuts, but I sooort of remember a quick swallow before I put my head forward and let the glass pieces fall out onto the bed. and there were also beads of Mercury or gallium pooling on the bed. Still alive.
As a kid I broke a thermometer and kept playing with the mercury balls, pushing them along the grout lines between floor tiles. The adults kind of freaked out when they found me and I was angry that they took my toy.
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u/FunSushi-638 Dec 15 '24
When I was about 12yo I saved the mercury from a thermometer that broke. I had it in a tiny little contact lense jar (they used to come in mini dram-sizes glass jars) and I loved shaking it to watch it split apart and go back together. Its also surprising heavy!