# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/61 "2003-10-08T21:32:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by danceswithcats \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*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. Uh, thanks. Care to say that in english? ---
**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 8, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/62 "2003-10-08T22:12:30Z")
It’s in english, buddy. In Moro^H^H^H^H layman’s terms(:D), the maximum “safe” exposure level would be 0.05 mg/m^3 vapor on skin at ~80 hours a week. Mercury is dangerous! So close to the sun! No atmosphere! Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/63 "2003-10-08T22:25:00Z")
Can someone in the know give us a comparison between the amount of mercury likely to be absorbed from holding a bead of it the size of a penny in the palm of the hand (apply any other reasonable criteria you like) and the amount absorbed from eating the worst-contaminated tin of tuna that can legally be sold? ---
**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 9, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/64 "2003-10-09T01:05:52Z")
> [@](#): > > [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58539-2003Oct7.html) > > Last night, a contractor was to begin testing the houses of Ballou students or staff members whose clothes or shoes were found to contain an excessive level of mercury, said Tony Bullock, a spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D). > > “We want to make sure that there is no risk to the people who live there,” Bullock said. “It’s what we feel is the responsible thing to do.” > > Students and employees were screened Monday, and the clothing that they wore to school the day of the spill was collected. The clothing of 80 people was determined to contain mercury, Bullock said. More clothing was tested yesterday, and officials said they could not immediately say how much was contaminated. Health officials have not reported finding any individuals with mercury poisoning. > > Houses found to have excessive levels of the vapor will be cleaned at government expense and families will be relocated temporarily, Bullock said. > > Michael S.A. Richardson, the District’s chief medical officer, said that the expansion of the investigation was a precaution. > > “The exposure to mercury . . . is so far not an exposure that many people should be worried about,” he said after at a meeting last night for some Ballou students and parents. > > The house already determined to have excessive levels of mercury – in its vapor form – is in Southeast Washington and is the residence of a Ballou student who is believed to have taken the mercury from a chemistry lab Thursday and helped to spread it through the school, officials said. > > As the investigation continued into how the mercury was taken and spread, school officials placed on leave with pay a Ballou science teacher who apparently left the mercury in a vial on a counter in an unlocked chemistry lab, a violation of procedures, said William Wilhoyte, the school system’s assistant superintendent for high schools. > > The teacher was moving the mercury, along with other substances, to a new lab to prepare for renovation of the old lab, officials said. They would not identify the teacher, citing an ongoing investigation and privacy concerns. In other cases, school officials have released names of employees placed on leave before an investigation is complete. > > The student who is believed to have removed the liquid from the lab was identified when he brought a bag of clothes and shoes he had worn Thursday to school Monday for screening, as students were instructed to do. The items had the highest reading of mercury vapors among the staff and student bags that had been checked, officials said. > > The student’s home was screened for mercury vapor early yesterday morning, and the highest concentrations of mercury vapor were found in the youth’s room, according to officials with the Environmental Protection Agency, which is assisting the city. The family was taken to a hospital to be tested for mercury exposure, and crews began ventilating the home by opening doors and windows and blowing air from at least one industrial-size fan, EPA officials said. > > If inhaled, mercury vapors can be highly toxic and can cause fever, shortness of breath or nausea, officials said. > > Officials said one Metro bus was tested for mercury vapors, and it came up negative. Four other Metro buses have been quarantined and scheduled for testing. Officials said they believe that the student who originally took the mercury might have ridden a Metro bus. > > Nationally, school systems have been discontinuing use of mercury in labs because of safety concerns, according to an official with the National Science Teachers Association, which makes safety recommendations for school science labs. Oh, and **Mangetout** , fresh tuna has potential for way more mercury content than any tin. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/65 "2003-10-09T01:25:51Z")
FWIW one of my kids broke a mercury thermometer in their mouth. Having been a chem major (and knowing that Hg is poisonous) I did my correct parent thing and freaked. I called the poison control center to find out what must be done. Their answer? Ah don’t sweat it, not enough Hg to be dangerous. :eek: Makes the pennies I turned silver as a kid not look so bad. 🙂 ---
**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 9, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/66 "2003-10-09T02:17:42Z")
I’m wondering how much the government is spending to investigate and clean up these kids’ idiodicy. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/67 "2003-10-09T03:25:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Winkie \* > **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.)** Don’t tell me they can’t use fluorescent lamps anymore! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Broken\_Doll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@Broken\_Doll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broken_Doll)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/68 "2003-10-09T04:56:57Z")
Umm, this might sound naive and kinda silly…but would Mercurochrome [the bright red antiseptic used on many a kid’s skinned knee in the 80’s] be harmful? It was used quite a lot when I was a kid and my gf has a bottle of it in her house… Is it going to have a long-term affect? _panic mode_ ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/69 "2003-10-09T05:41:56Z")
Bah. I used to have several pounds of mercury, until someone thought they were “doing me a favour” by giving it away, because somehow in a sealed chemical container on a bottom shelf it was “too dangerous”. :rolleyes: Someday I’ll order a 70-lb flask from Aldrich, and then I’ll finally feel complete again. Maybe they can send it with all that antimony and arsenic and 14 molar nitric that I need for… What? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/70 "2003-10-09T11:40:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*Paint chips? Hah! We used to _dream_ of eating paint chips. Why, we had to eat molten lead for breakfast, and we loved it. \*\* Did I mention **which** side of the cradle they strapped me to? Occasionally they’d take pity on me and give me a depleted uranium straw to suck in the toxic smog we lovingly called our atmosphere. Yes, true, the paint chips were a luxury, but I’d get to eat them only **after** I’d had my fill of plasma and molten Einsteinium. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/71 "2003-10-09T12:57:00Z")
I don’t know how much would absorb into the skin, but it won’t be enough to hurt you. Seriously, we played with it a lot. Don’t be afraid. Grow a pair and bust up some thermometers. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/72 "2003-10-09T13:52:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*Oh, and **Mangetout** , fresh tuna has potential for way more mercury content than any tin. \*\* I’m intrigued by this - please could you explain? ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/73 "2003-10-09T14:06:38Z")
The closest thing I got as a kid was playing with corn starch and water. You get that same liquid / solid effect. I thought it was pretty cool, but I never got to play with mercury. We were too poor for luxuries like that. ---
**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 9, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/74 "2003-10-09T15:29:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I’m intrigued by this - please could you explain? \*\* > [@](#): > > [The Mercury Content of Fish](http://www.tbkfitness.org/fishmerc.html) > Tuna, halibut, and grouper have moderate amounts of mercury. Fresh tuna has higher levels than canned tuna. The [US Tuna Foundation](http://www.tunafacts.com/mercury/qanda.cfm) says the average content of fresh or frozen tuna is about twice as much as canned. I think it has something to do with the canning process. BTW: I don’t know if this has been mentioned yet but the mercury in fish is really methylmercury, a neurotoxin that is especially dangerous for fetuses, babies, and toddlers. Canned Albacore (white) tuna tends to have higher levels than canned chunk light tuna. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/75 "2003-10-09T16:56:45Z")
It definately a acquired taste. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/76 "2003-10-09T20:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*It definately a acquired taste. \*\* ItPerhaps it are. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/77 "2003-10-09T23:14:49Z")
Fresh tuna is so good. It has a truly luxurious flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/78 "2003-10-09T23:36:13Z")
I prefer swordfish myself, or Dodo, but I’ve only got a couple of those left in the freezer now. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/79 "2003-10-10T01:55:02Z")
Two things: As cool as gallium is, it generally has to be at body temperature, so you gotta heat it up first from room temp. Second, mercury in its elemental state as a liquid is fairly safe. There are several forms, especially methyl mercury, where the bioconcentration factor is very high. Methyl mercury also complexes with several amino acids and vitamins, including B12. The elemental state is fairly unreactive to anything you’d have in your body, except for maybe the acid in your stomach, but the acids it reacts with has to be oxidizing. Of course, as was said earlier, you don’t want to inhale it. In my opinion, the reaction seen here to mercury is by people who either don’t understand science in general or at least chemistry. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146/80 "2003-10-10T03:59:13Z")
Sure. Agreed. Mercury in some forms, in some quantities, is not instantly deadly. However, there’s **asterion** saying that “as a liquid is fairly safe”, and **danceswithcats** with “IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life/Health) level for Hg metal is 10mg/m³”. Isn’t there anyone willing to fight ignorance with something like “if you drop x amount of mercury on your heater, the vapours in a small house will cause you to develop symptoms y in time z, and could cause a,b and c unless you do d. However, you can drink q ml every day with no ill effects!” Nanoda fights ignorance in the area of computers and basic physics, electronics and machinery only. Tag me out! Tag me out! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-in-the-hell-will-kids-learn-mercury-is-not-a-toy/206146.md?page=5)