# When in the \*hell\* will kids learn mercury is not a toy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 7, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146 "2003-10-07T20:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/1 "2003-10-07T20:14:56Z")
First three articles are from the Washington Post > [@](#): > > [article #1](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36989-2003Oct2.html) > Students stole mercury from a lab at Ballou High School in the District yesterday and spread it among classrooms, shutting down the school, authorities said. > > No injuries were reported, but the potentially poisonous liquid metal was found in BB-size spheres and pancake-size pools in five classrooms and the cafeteria, said Alan Etter, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. > > The fire department removed much of the mercury, but a private contractor was brought in to scour the school overnight, Etter said. > > School officials said the school, at 3401 Fourth St. SE, would remain closed today and throughout the weekend. > > The mercury apparently was taken from a second-floor room sometime after 11:30 a.m. School officials said it was stored in an unused honors chemistry lab that is scheduled for renovation. Etter said the room should have been locked, but school officials said it was temporarily unlocked. > > Etter said fire inspectors found other potentially hazardous chemicals in the room and had told the school to store them properly. > > Witnesses said they saw students carrying the mercury in a plastic bag and one female student flinging mercury with her bare hands, “watching it splatter all over the wall,” Etter said. > [@](#): > > [article #2](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46216-2003Oct5.html) > Ballou High School in the District could remain closed for as long as 30 days as health workers continue to clean up mercury that was intentionally spilled in several classrooms last week by students who had stolen the chemical from a lab, officials said yesterday. > > Workers labored to remove traces of the mercury yesterday, but officials were not certain how long it would be before the campus was declared safe. Ballou could reopen Wednesday or be closed for a month, school officials said. > > Authorities have yet to identify who stole the mercury Thursday and spread it throughout the school at 3401 Fourth St. SE. Because of the dangers of the poisonous liquid metal, they are moving with caution. The school’s roughly 900 students were evacuated after the incident, and the building has remained closed. > > Elemental mercury has been found in the cafeteria, gym and main hallways. The substance is not dangerous if ingested or touched, said Michael S.A. Richardson, the District’s chief medical officer. The danger is if the mercury vaporizes, which can occur at room temperature, and is inhaled into the lungs. > > “From what we’ve been told, the exposure at school was minimal,” said Richardson, who also met with concerned parents yesterday in a session at the old D.C. General Hospital. “Parents should look for whether their child brought any mercury home, and if so, they should call 911 and ask to have someone come and remove it.” > > Marcos Aquino, a coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who is helping with the cleanup, said the removal effort could take several weeks because officials must be sure all traces are gone so the substance does not vaporize. > > “We may have to do it two, three, four times,” he said. > [@](#): > > [article #3](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53369-2003Oct6.html) > Ballou Senior High School in Southeast Washington resumed classes yesterday after last week’s mercury spill, but the school day was anything but normal. > > Hundreds of students spent most of the morning waiting in a block-long line for mercury contamination screening in the parking lot in an area set up by federal and local authorities. Parents who had taken time off from work talked in clusters, and administrators scrambled to bus pupils to temporary classrooms at a nearby school and at the old Washington Convention Center downtown. > > More than 20 Ballou students may have handled some of the liquid, D.C. police said. Cmdr. Winston Robinson, who heads the 7th Police District, said various groups of students had carried the material, a silvery substance that Robinson said reminded some students of a special effect in the Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” > > “The kids didn’t realize what the liquid was, and they were actually holding the liquid, rolling it around,” Robinson said. One student told police he carried the mercury on a napkin, while other students carried it on pieces of paper. At one point, Robinson said, the chemical was taken outside the school, where students were throwing it at one another. Officials said they did not know how much mercury had been stored in the unused honors chemistry lab, which was scheduled for renovation, but said at least 250 milliliters, or about a cupful, was taken. > > Officers have identified one student who they say was involved in taking the mercury from the lab, and Robinson said the student was interviewed by detectives. For now, he said, police are not treating the incident as a criminal matter. William Wilhoyte, assistant superintendent for high schools, said that the students involved did not intend to disrupt school and that the incident was a case of “kids being kids.” More like a case of kids being morons. > [@](#): > > [WTOP](http://www.wtop.com/?sid=131329&nid=316) > The identity of the student who took mercury from an unlocked science lab at Ballou High School and splattered it throughout the school, shutting it down for weeks, is known. > > The name of the boy, who has admitted he was involved, has not been released. The blood and urine of the boy and three family members are being tested for mercury exposure. Their home is being checked for possible mercury contamination. > > The families of 23 other students who may be in danger are being contacted by officials. > > And, school board members are concerned the problem may be even more widespread because not all students brought in clothing to be tested for mercury. > > The Environmental Protection Agency screened students’ clothing Monday and identified the student involved because his clothing had a much higher level of mercury contamination than other students’ clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/2 "2003-10-07T20:20:35Z")
> [@](#): > > “The kids didn’t realize what the liquid was, and they were actually holding the liquid, rolling it around,” Robinson said. To answer the question in the subject, perhaps after they get a proper education in science. In high school, I certainly knew that shiny liquid metal = mercury = dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/3 "2003-10-07T20:31:56Z")
Touché, **FH**. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/4 "2003-10-07T20:40:41Z")
I and all of my geek friends agree - we feel really, really cheated that we were born too late to play with mercury. Not on a regular basis or anything, but… maybe just once? It just seems so COOL. We just want to get some gloves and masks and… you know… mess with it. Just once. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/5 "2003-10-07T20:46:08Z")
You know, mercury IS pretty cool when you look at it from a certain point of view… (Bongmaster scuttles out of view dragging 3rd appendage) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/6 "2003-10-07T20:48:28Z")
It’s too bad there isn’t a non-toxic substance that looks and acts like mercury. It is neat stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/7 "2003-10-07T20:51:05Z")
[hijack] Once when I was a very young kid, my parents were taking my temperature (orally). I wanted to be helpful, so I was shaking it so it’ll return back down. I accidentally broke the tube on my desk, spilling the stuff. I played with it for a minute until my parents returned into my room and yelled the hell outa me… [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/8 "2003-10-07T20:52:34Z")
Now, my teachers always told me that playing around with mercury isn’t all that dangerous. It’s long term exposure to the stuff that can cause real harm. I don’t know for sure; can anyone confirm? ---
**Author:** ![StanDup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@StanDup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StanDup)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/9 "2003-10-07T20:58:23Z")
['sup, Jack?]I was getting my temperature taken and I sneezed, shattering the glass between my teeth and putting mercury in my mouth and on the floor. Last time I checked, I was still alive[/'sup Jack] ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/10 "2003-10-07T21:06:07Z")
I broke a mercury thermometer as a kid, and my dad played with it with me. He was a physicist, but also an asshole, so who knows? Maybe I’m dead too. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/11 "2003-10-07T21:07:32Z")
You just don’t want the liquid stuff hanging out in the heat registers, releasing vapor into the air the same kids breathe over and over, day after day. It’s the vapor that’s deadly. I read about a suicide attempt where the girl injected mercury from thermometers under the skin of her arms. It was causing a plastic surgery nightmare, but wasn’t anywhere near fatal. I got to play with mercury in high school (1994, exactly). Neener neener. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/12 "2003-10-07T21:20:50Z")
> [@](#): > > “The kids didn’t realize what the liquid was, and they were actually holding the liquid, rolling it around,” Who the hell doesn’t know what mercury is?? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/13 "2003-10-07T21:32:42Z")
**Revtim** - [Gallium](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium)’s pretty [kewl](http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/resource/ptable/ga.htm)… It does seem kinda outrageous that they would do that, but it happens often enough that I’m pretty sure some people are just oblivious by nature. At least they didn’t [smoke cigarettes dipped in it](http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/1998/gs80127-.php) cause it looked neat. Or break open medical equipment and [play with the glowing stuff inside](http://www.physics.umd.edu/ripe/icpe/newsletters/n35/). :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/14 "2003-10-07T21:36:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cerri \* > \*\*Who the hell doesn’t know what mercury is?? \*\* A bunch of kids who have been SO overprotected that while they may have heard “mercury is dangerous” have NO FRIGGING CLUE what mercury actually looks and acts like, maybe? I don’t remember ever getting to play with mercury. My mom does. I’m jealous! ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/15 "2003-10-07T21:45:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bongmaster \* > \*\*You know, mercury IS pretty cool when you look at it from a certain point of view… (Bongmaster scuttles out of view dragging 3rd appendage) \*\* Ah, so THAT’S what’s in those penis-enlargement pills… ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/16 "2003-10-07T21:53:05Z")
Overprotected, definitely. But I can’t believe that they’ve made it all the way to high school without at least seeing a chemistry or physical science video that showed mercury. (Then again, maybe my science teachers relied a little too heavily on videos to occupy the class.) And while it’s not something you want to play with, exposing potassium or sodium to the air is pretty cool too. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/17 "2003-10-07T21:58:00Z")
Back during the Truman Administration when I was a second or third grader, a bunch of us got our hands on a vial of liquid mercury and spent a happy afternoon silvering pennies so they looked like dimes. That evening I tried to get two nickels for one of them from my father, a physician. The old man came unglued. There was a series of phone calls to my friends’ parents with an explanation of the dangers. All of this was followed by a stiff lecture and a quick trip through an AMA Journal article on mercury poisoning. While I did a lot of stupid dangerous stuff as a kid, I don’t think I ever saw the old man as concerned and worried as he was that night. We didn’t know any better. Surely high school kids today do. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/18 "2003-10-07T22:14:56Z")
My mother taught me about the dangers of mercury when I was a child: \*Little Willie from the mirror Licked the mercury right off, Thinking in his childish error It would cure his whooping cough. At the funeral his mother Brightly said to Mrs. Brown: “It was a chilly day for Willie When the mercury went down.”\* (Of course then she had to explain all of the references to obsolete technology and no longer common childhood diseases.) ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/19 "2003-10-07T22:22:39Z")
This is like that mst3k episode with the monsters that could only be poisoned with sodium. “Kids today don’t know SQUAT about sodium! Let’s sing a song about sodium using the rock and roll music the kids seem to like!” ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/20 "2003-10-07T22:22:41Z")
To address **Topaz** and **lissener** , it’s not a matter of you being dead. It’s a matter of you becoming stupid. Exposure to mercury is similar to exposure to lead. Ingested or inhaled, it causes nervous system damage. The effect is especially marked in children. Have you ever heard of the “Mad Hatter” from _Alice in Wonderland_? Hatters were associated with madness in the 19th century due to chronic exposure to mercury-containing felting compounds. As far as identifying mercury, an interesting thing happened in my son’s first grade class last week. The students were learning about thermometers, and the teacher told the students that the red liquid in the thermometers she showed them was mercury! I happened to run into my son’s teacher a few days later, and I told her that mercury is a liquid silver-colored metal. The red liquid in thermometers is colored alcohol. She told me that she told the students that the red liquid was mercury because that’s what her printed, published lesson book said! In fact, she added that she was terrified of dropping one of these thermometers because she was worried about mercury contamination! I want to add that this teacher is very highly regarded, and has been teaching for 20-plus years. Some science education, huh? :rolleyes: It’s no wonder that when I taught at a post-secondary prep school, I ran into so many misconceptions and out-and-out lies taught to my students in their previous education. (e.g. window glass supposedly flowing, electrons in wires travelling at the speed of light, etc.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146.md?page=2)