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Mercury may affect the nervous system, leading to neurological symptoms such as:
nervousness or anxiety
irritability or mood changes
numbness
memory problems
depression
physical tremors
As the levels of mercury in the body rise, more symptoms will appear. These symptoms may vary depending on a person’s age and exposure levels. Adults with mercury poisoning may experience symptoms such as:
muscle weakness
metallic taste in the mouth
nausea and vomiting
lack of motor skills or feeling uncoordinated
inability to feel in the hands, face, or other areas
changes in vision, hearing, or speech
difficulty breathing
difficulty walking or standing straight
Yeah, I saw that and thought that is certainly enough to kill you, and he had gallons of the stuff stored in old anti freeze bottles. Where the heck could you even buy that much toxic crap?
And no respirator in sight either.
Holy Cripes!!! Where was that, Mailman, so I can avoid that area for the next...... forever. Where, indeed, would you buy that much of one of the most toxic substances extant. There's enough there to kill MILLIONS!!!
Just because someone calls them-self a “researcher“ or a “scientist”....it doesn’t make them smart or wise (definitely not the same thing). In fact, some of the most foolish people I know have a doctorate in some damn thing or other.
I remember as a kid we used to break open a thermometer and pour the mercury out in our hands. Was cool to watch it roll around. Yeah.... mad as hatters we wuz....
'Course... we dint know better back then.
Don't wear any gold rings or jewelry within 10 feet of that stuff. The vapors, few as they are, will find their way to your gold high-school ring, and turn it silver.
Add to symptoms list:
- Urges to do stoopid stuff with machinery...
When I was in the 6th grade our science teacher (Mr Bryant) brought a jar of mercury and each kid got a eyedropper full on a paper plate to roll around and coat a penny and such. I`m sure half of them put it in their mouth too. When ever a thermometer broke it was scramble time to pick up the little balls of mercury that hit the floor. A highly treasured kid prize in the 50`s. I visited a old (no longer in use) lighthouse in Sitka Alaska. The beacon itself was huge and weighed a couple of tons. It was gear driven and did not ride on a bearing but floated in a pool of mercury instead. There is some interesting web stuff on the dangers of being a early lighthouse keeper.
I too remember mercury being passed around at school ( on the playground ) all the kids were fascinated by the way it rolled around in your hands. Sheesh! Who knew?
Danger is overstated in the modern age. Everything will hurt you. I hear much of the same hysteria about lead. Jus don't cast bullets in poorly ventilated areas. Smoking is bad. So is red meat. So is beer. Motorcycling is dangerous. So are guns. Reality is an avid consumer of fish has more to worry about than the YouTuber. Mercury causes hair loss and he has plenty to spare!
I remember coating dimes when I was 5 or 6. Made look like chrome ones. Of coarse back then, all we had were silver coins. Don't remember where we got it, but most bad stuff today was pretty easy to get in the '50s. I worked at a newspaper for 35 years. We used lead, more lead and even melted and recast our own. I don't think anyone had respiratory equipment, not even a mask then. Lots of pressmen lived long (80 years) lives. I worked in photo engraving. We had a 500 gal.? acid etcher for zinc plates. It used a sulfuric acid and nitric acid and water.. Had clouds of yellow smoke throughout the room until we got a 4 ft fan and vented it outside.. This lasted from '65-'71 until we changed to cold type.
Agree with those who remember "playing" with mercury in high school. Recall the chemistry lab had a pint bottle of the stuff it was fun to see someone try to lift the bottle the first time! Also there was some as I recall orange powder that when heated with the Bunsen burner you would get some beads of mercury to form. Mercury Oxide?
And there were a few other things to play with like hydrochloric or sulfuric acid! This brings back some memories of the Chemistry teacher Mrs.Creech! Back in the late 1960's she drove a dark blue 2 stroke Saab with a Ferrari logo on the right front fender!
Back in the 70's I worked on Hiller H-12 helicopters. The main transmission was driven by a mercury clutch.... not a Mercury branded clutch... a clutch that used mercury as the centrifugal medium.
I was curious, so I looked it up. I didn’t think it was found in nature as a liquid metal.
How is Mercury mined and processed?
In order to extract mercury from its ores, cinnabar ore is crushed and heated to release the mercury as a vapor. The mercury vapor is then cooled, condensed, and collected.