Have you played with mercury?

[Druidus]

Have you?

I did. It was fun. I think it would be pretty cool, as a toy, were it not for the toxic side effects...

 

[Melody]

Yeah, I remember as a kid breaking the thermometer so I could play with the mercury. That probably explains my loss of brain cells. The mercury has finally made it to the brain.

Cool stuff though!

 

[Jaymes]

How dangerous is it to play with mercury? If you had gloves or something on, could you do it? *interested in doing it, now*

 

[jimbob]

I do it all the time, i guess that explains my extra set of arms and my tail.

 

[Melody]

How dangerous is it to play with mercury? If you had gloves or something on, could you do it? *interested in doing it, now*

Here's an MSDS (Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet). Scroll down and it has an interesting laundry list of things to worry about.

 

[Druidus]

It's not as dangerous as one might suspect. The amount from a thermometer could safely be handled for long amounts of time, because to absorbsion rate through skin is low. However, if exposed to levels of mercury for extended periods (years), you risk madness, and other happy presents.

Hatters, in the old days, used to make felt hats with a process involving mercury. Many hatters went mad. Thus, the mad hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame. To quote another, "The moral of Alice in Wonderland is clear. Don't play with mercury, or you'll go crazy. However, drop acid, it's fun!"

To answer your question Jensa, you would experience no side effects of playing with such a small amount of mercury, for such a small amount of time. Unless you had any open cuts or sores on your hands, you'd be ok. With gloves, you'd certainly be ok, unless the mercury vapourized somehow.

Edit: Also, you might be allergic to it. If so, you will get an itching rash. In my case, I amused myself with mercury for about a half hour, touching it and rolling it from hand to hand with no harm, so likely it wouldn't harm you. Just be careful and sensible. Do NOT heat it.

For those looking for a non-toxic mercury substitute, I found one! What people will do for a fun toy like mercury... I'll have to look up the link again, but it something like part gallium (which melts at 30 degrees Celsius), part tin, and part indium. It melts at -20 degrees Celsius, and thus is liquid like mercury. It costed something like 24 dollars for a decent sized vial.



What's weirdest of all about mercury is that it doesn't feel wet because of it's density!

 

[Scuba Pete]

People, people people... mercury is not absorbed by your hands, but by any mucous membranes it comes in contact with. This is also true for lead. Anyone who comes in contact with either metal needs to avoid smoking, eating or drinking for a few hours AFTER they wash their hands thouroughly. This is poisonous stuff and while it is easily absorbed, it is not so easily expunged by the body.

It is recommended that disposal he handled by the appropriate Hazmat personell.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

I read somewhere that if you feed it to a chicken it comes straight out the other end...not so cool for the chicken, I imagine.

 

[Master Vigil]

Thus, the mad hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame.

Indeed, which is why the card in his hat is the chemical symbol for mercury.

 

[Scuba Pete]

it comes straight out the other end

Now THAT'S some "quick silver".

 

[Valjean]

Good points, NetDoc. like other heavy metals, breathing Hg vapor or ingesting its salts is harmful, but limited, casual contact with metallic Hg is not that dangerous.

I remember a classroom that had an uncovered beakerful (several hundred ml) of metallic Hg for students to play with. If such a thing were discovered today they'd call out a hazmat team and probably evacuate the whole neighborhood.

Mercury is fun. You can submerge your hand in it and feel the pressure, but it won't adhere and it's not wet. You can float coins or other pieces of metal on it. It you rub a tiny ball of it onto a quarter the coin becomes very shiney.

 

[Pah]

How dangerous is it to play with mercury? If you had gloves or something on, could you do it? *interested in doing it, now*

The vapors are highly toxic

 

[michel]

Mercury was used in Victorian England as a laxative. (And that's not a joke BTW)

 

[CaptainXeroid]

I think I've learned more on this thread than on the last 10 I read. Fascinating stuff.

I played with mercury back in school but made sure not to touch it. It was really neat to pour some on wax paper and watch it ooze along. I'm such a nerd.

 

[cardero]

Have you played with mercury?
No, my sister and I were too busy eating lead paint.

 

[cardero]

A safer way to play with mercury.

http://psp.ign.com/articles/601/601517p1.html?fromint=1

 

[Melody]

This is poisonous stuff and while it is easily absorbed, it is not so easily expunged by the body.

As my husband is fixing a tuna sandwich, he commented that cheap tuna fish is better for you than the more expensive stuff because it's made from smaller tuna which means it contains less mercury than the big tuna. Mercury absorbed into plankton, little fish eats plankton, mercury is retained even with the waste is eliminated. Bigger fish eats little fish containing a bit of mercury, eliminates waste but retains all the mercury. Ad nauseum to the large sought after tuna for the expensive tuna. Lots more mercury.

He's been trying to get me to eat the cheap tuna for years....and may have just convinced me.

 

[michel]

As my husband is fixing a tuna sandwich, he commented that cheap tuna fish is better for you than the more expensive stuff because it's made from smaller tuna which means it contains less mercury than the big tuna. Mercury absorbed into plankton, little fish eats plankton, mercury is retained even with the waste is eliminated. Bigger fish eats little fish containing a bit of mercury, eliminates waste but retains all the mercury. Ad nauseum to the large sought after tuna for the expensive tuna. Lots more mercury.

He's been trying to get me to eat the cheap tuna for years....and may have just convinced me.

I must tell my wife that; we often have tuna - very good for arthritis as well as a delicious fish

 

[Valjean]

All the fish higher on the food chain are contaminated. There are Federal, state and various medical organization's recommendations of how much of what species should be consumed per month/week. Some fish should be eschewed completely by children and pregnant women.

http://www.ems.org/mercury/fish.html

 

[Druidus]

All the fish higher on the food chain are contaminated. There are Federal, state and various medical organization's recommendations of how much of what species should be consumed per month/week. Some fish should be eschewed completely by children and pregnant women.

Never eat shark, no matter what you are. The mercury contamination is far too high in shark.