• regdog@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    38
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    That seems a bit much for a prank since mercury is a toxic substance.

    • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      57
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      Not long ago they didn’t care so much about that. He also talked about how they’d play with it with their bare hands. He’s not dead because mercury is only toxic when ingested.

      Edit: in retrospect, he is dead. I forgot that cancer got him a few years back and that high school was 30 years ago…

      • 𝓔𝓶𝓶𝓲𝓮@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        22
        ·
        edit-2
        6 months ago

        He’s not dead because he absorbed so much chemicals over the years it all cancelled out. Those tech room uni workers are supermutants. That’s why you are so scared of them instinctively when meeting one for the first time.

      • geissi@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        6 months ago

        mercury is only toxic when ingested

        Doesn’t it give off toxic vapors?

        • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          6 months ago

          I’m not an expert, but from what little I remember: mercury doesn’t immediately kill you like other poisons. What it does do is build up in your body until it hits a tipping point and starts causing problems. Your body has no way to process or get rid of it. Which was why accumulations of it in seafood was a big deal because eat enough of it, even in tiny amounts over a long time, and it starts to mess you up. The amount of mercury that you would be exposed to by breathing near an open source would be minimal I imagine. Or something like that. Like I said. Not an expert. Better to just stay away from it entirely, I’m sure.

          • geissi@feddit.de
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            6 months ago

            Ah, I see.
            You meant he didn’t die immediately from touching it.
            I misread that.

        • Peppycito@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          As I understand it, the danger is the vapour. It boils at a high enough temperature that it’s supposed to be safe for handling.

    • TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      6 months ago

      My chem teacher played with it with his hands. Wouldn’t let us tough it and said it was toxic so he immediately washed his hands.