bmaxey1@juno.com
Date: 11/18/00-02:17:54 AM Z
>>I don't want to start a flame war about this but pure mercury metal can
be
>>and has been ingested with little or no effect.
Agreed to a point, but now it seems like if you take some internally, do
not worry. I respectfully disagree. If you suspect injestion, call a
doctor immediately. And NO, I am not suggesting that you believe taking
it internally is safe.
>>It is the compounds of mercury that are dangerous when ingested. At
room
>>temperature it will take a long time before a teaspoon of mercury in
>>a normal sized room results in a level of mercury vapor that is
dangerous.
>>You have sufficient time to clean it all up.
I remember the problems created with Calomel(sp?) a compound of mercury.
As for mercurochrome, true. It does contain mercury, but in a very small
amount. The chemical used to make mercurochrome contains very little,
and even at that, levels are further reduced by dilution of 0.1% in
alcohol. Incidentally, Chocolate contains cyanide and about 1000 other
chemicals that are toxic.
As for what happens if you spill it or drop it, the drops will lodge
under baseboards and in all sorts of cracks. Mercury does NOT completely
volatize upon exposure to air. Place a drop on a surface and see for
yourself.
>>Mercury is very dangerous in the vapor state. Mercury, when heated,
vaporizes very
>>quickly. Then it is very toxic to inhale.
I completely agree. Did any of you know that in contact with ammonia,
mercury becomes highly volatile?Many common cleaners contain ammonia, and
a terrific high explosive called mercury fulminate is made from mercury.
>>Please note that mercurochrome
gets its name from the mercury it contains. Think
of all the kids that had it put on their scrapped knees. Mercuric
oxide ointment was, at one time, also fairly common. We use to play
with mercury when we were kids. Use to rub it on silver coins to make
them
shiny and theres nothing wrong with us...heh, heh, heh, heh...
I did this as a kid as well. Makes them shiny. DO NOT SO THIS AT HOME!
People tend to panic when it comes to mercury. The most recent panic
attack concerned the mercury amalgam used by dentists for fillings.
Yup. And did you know that mercury is NOT a known carcinogen?
So I guess all I can say to sum up this rather Mercuric discussion is to
say that ALL chemicals have potential problems, seek info from a chemical
supplier that knows chemicals, and be very careful.
Bob
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