# 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:** 2
**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, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/21 "2003-10-07T22:27:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeep’s Phoenix \* > \*\*And while it’s not something you want to play with, exposing potassium or sodium to the air is pretty cool too. \*\* Why do you think that exposing sodium or potassium to air is cool? The elemental metal just sits there and corrodes… Now if you were to toss them into _water_… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/22 "2003-10-07T22:37:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rysto \* > \*\*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? \*\* Per NIOSH, the IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life/Health) level for Hg metal is 10mg/m³, exposure on a TWA basis (Time-Weighted Average assuming a maximum 10 hour workday of a 40 hour week) is limited to 0.05mg/m³ for Hg vapor for skin contact, and 0.1mg/m³ for other forms of Hg skin contact. We messed around with mercury when I was in school, but then again, we messed with picric acid, and lots of other nasties that folk don’t get to see or handle nowadays. Mercuric oxide would get a whole lot more attention from me than the raw metallic state. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/23 "2003-10-07T22:38:08Z")
Well, if they didn’t know what mercury was, they should at least realize that the little blobs may reconstitute themselves as a _liquid-metal killing machine from the future!_ ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/24 "2003-10-07T22:42:18Z")
long term exposure to mercury is harmful. Short term exposure will probably not do any damage. The problem is defining where short-term exposure causing no damage turns into long-term exposure with harmful effects. Since that point can’t be reliably defined, it is best to teach children, and adults, not to handle mercury. It’s like asbestos and coal dust. Walk through a cloud of either once or twice and you are not going to have breathing problems. Work around them for months or years, and the risk increases. As to when will kids learn mercury is not a toy, I learned it in elementary school science class. I forget what the teacher said, but I know I was scared of liquid metal for a while. I was under the impression that all schools took a moment to teach the children that mercury is dangerous and shouldn’t be played with. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/25 "2003-10-07T22:43:06Z")
Jeez, my father used to have some in our house. It was cool to look at, but I always thought it was a touch bad thing, not an inhale bad thing. To his credit, he kept it in a tight container and I was never allowed to touch it, although I do recall once he spilled it out on a work surface and we rolled it around for a minute before he put it away. I’m going to call him and see if he still has it and then have it removed. Damn. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/26 "2003-10-07T22:59:52Z")
I had this electronic device - I don’t know what the heck it was - back when I was a young lad. It had capsules of Mercury in it and you better believe my curious mind lead me to breaking them open and playing with the stuff. I was worried my dad would find out so when I was done, I loaded up the mercury on paper and dumped the whole lot in the garbage :eek: ---
**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 8, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/27 "2003-10-08T00:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leenmi \* > \*\*As to when will kids learn mercury is not a toy, I learned it in elementary school science class. I forget what the teacher said, but I know I was scared of liquid metal for a while. I was under the impression that all schools took a moment to teach the children that mercury is dangerous and shouldn’t be played with. \*\* I probably learned about mercury aound the time I started elementary school. Dad spent about 25 years working as a chemist; he and Mom made sure all us kids knew both reasons why biting down on a thermometer is not a good idea. That must be the problem! All those digital thermometers! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/28 "2003-10-08T01:03:44Z")
When I was a kid, oral thermometers had mercury in them. One time I broke one and SisterMatrix and I started playing with the mercury on the floor. It was cool watching the little droplets split, scatter and then regroup. The fun didn’t last very long. MamaMatrix came in and _freaked_. ---
**Author:** ![Mearl\_Dox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Mearl\_Dox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mearl_Dox)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/29 "2003-10-08T01:09:57Z")
I’m not that old (22) but I knew mercury was dangerous as a kid too, and I could recognize it probably back in elementary school. It’s not like there’s a whole bunch of mercury-like materials that you could have confused with it… ---
**Author:** ![Winkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/41988e/32.png) [@Winkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winkie)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/30 "2003-10-08T02:53:08Z")
Several states (including Indiana) now have legislation that prohibits all K-12 public and schools from using or purchasing any elemental mercury or mercury-containing device (unless there’s no available substitute, in the case of laboratory equipment.) Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it’s all out of the schools, and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s all out of the homes and businesses. Poor Muncie, Indiana had a string of three spills within a week … less than a year after a guy who was mad at his mom sprinkled about 8 pounds throughout her home in Muncie. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/31 "2003-10-08T02:58:07Z")
The kids were probably playing Madame Curie. Later in their lives, they wil play Mad Hatters. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/32 "2003-10-08T03:09:51Z")
About 17 years ago I came home from a late night working to find my husband (a 25 yr old college graduate with a degree in engineering) playing with a huge blob of mercury with his bare hands. He had found it somewhere at his work, it was about a tablespoon size. He had no idea it was dangerous and had probably been playing with it for about 6 or 7 hours (idiot). He’s still OK I guess, but if I found out mercury exposure caused some sort of brain damage it would explain a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/33 "2003-10-08T03:10:48Z")
\*\*When in the _hell_ will kids learn mercury is not a toy? \*\* The very minute it stops being an upstart and falls in line with Newtonian physics like it’s supposed to do. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/34 "2003-10-08T03:12:03Z")
Oh yeah… mercury turns a yellow gold wedding ring a bright shiny silver color for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/35 "2003-10-08T03:12:31Z")
This thread is making me feel like a moron (and no, I never played with mercury.) So wait, oral thermometers don’t have mercury in them anymore? How about little mini-thermometers, or the kind you hang outside your house? No mercury in them? None at all? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/36 "2003-10-08T03:36:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SP2263 \* > \*\*Oh yeah… mercury turns a yellow gold wedding ring a bright shiny silver color for a long time. \*\* Not if you quick toss your ring into a beaker of concentrated nitric acid. Gold is inert, mercury fizzes away as the nitrate. Speaking as A Liberal, I think someone should institute a class action suit against the makers of [Sunny Delight](http://www.sunnyd.com/). All those ads with kids on skateboards, chugging Sunny D, and turning into blobs of energized liquid metal, probably spread the wrong message about mercury safety. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/37 "2003-10-08T03:46:22Z")
Yeah… [mercury](http://www.xyroth-enterprises.co.uk/mercmetl.htm) is opaque, silvery, metallic, shiny, and liquid at room temperature, and electrically conductive. If your thermometer contains a [clear red liquid](http://www.datstor.com/exclusive/itemdetail.asp?CatNum=2528), well, that ain’t mercury. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/38 "2003-10-08T03:50:44Z")
You know, they say that Ivan the Terrible used to take mercury as medicine for years in his youth. Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/39 "2003-10-08T04:14:41Z")
When I went through my childhood chemistry set phase, I had a small vial of mercury that I used to poke and play with, and **I** turned out perfectly norbal. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/40 "2003-10-08T04:44:38Z")
When people stop saying, “Hell, I ate 3 pounds of mercury and I’m fine wibblesnortgeek!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146.md?page=3)