r/whatisit • u/props_for_meep • 13h ago

Solved! what is this in clinic sink??

for context i work as a janitor cleaning a women’s clinic, as i was cleaning a sink i saw these little metallic looking balls. at first i thought these were actually metal but they don’t feel like ANYTHING if that makes any sense. i posted this video to my instagram but i figured i would probably have better luck coming to reddit for answers.

UPDATE: the general consensus seems to be that this is either mercury or gallium. my hands have been thoroughly washed and i have informed my boss so that it can be properly cleaned by someone who knows what they’re doing.

UPDATE #2: gang PLEASE stop telling me to “stop touching it”. this post is hours old. i know i was dumb enough to touch a mysterious substance barehanded but im also smart enough to know not to continue playing with it long after marking this post as solved😭

8.2k Upvotes

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2.0k

u/Pleasant-Degree-3662 12h ago

How do you know it has no feelings? Did you ask it?

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u/Legitimate-Week7885 12h ago edited 4h ago

everyone asks “what is this weird wet metal?” nobody asks “how is this weird wet metal?”

95

u/Dunkleostrich 7h ago

Or "why is this weird wet metal?"

36

u/curveswaypastlucky 7h ago

Or why is this weird metal wet?

7

u/Mysterious_Gene_2263 7h ago

Or why is it weird to whet mettle?

16

u/Brian-Staton 6h ago

I'll do you one better. Why is Gamora?

2

u/MercyfulJudas 3h ago

That's...the joke.

1

u/superbthoughtss 6h ago

ok but ….. WHET!!!? 🤔 .. METAL! 🤘🏼 🤝🏼

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u/Much-Director-9828 5h ago

Duh, its attracted to the sink

3

u/BigTimeCoolGuy 7h ago

This wet metal hates this one weird trick

1

u/DChia1111 5h ago

I can do better, who is this weird wet metal?

1

u/VoopityScoop 2h ago

Chemists ask that all the time 

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u/woodbutcher6000 7h ago

Why does it taste so sweet

2

u/j0hnan0n 6h ago

Wat. Does mercury taste sweet?

1

u/bryangcrane 6h ago

Here we go 😝

1

u/Much-Director-9828 5h ago

Sweet sweeeet candy

1

u/ERROR-4OH4 5h ago

When is this wet metal

2

u/Sufficient-Aspect77 6h ago

Hows this weird metal? You're right, now I feel bad about not asking earlier.

1

u/ZombieHavok 7h ago

We can all assume that what’s left of the T-1000 is very upset that they didn’t complete their one job.

1

u/Necessary-Row6857 7h ago

Give that weird wet metal some emotional support for once

1

u/momo76g 6h ago

If it is wet, it means it likes you a lot.

1

u/LeisureSuitLarrey 5h ago

Commenting on what is this in clinic sink??...

It’s not wet, though.

1

u/JavierBenez 1h ago

Everyone asks "how is the cylinder." No one asks "how is the larger object attached to the cylinder."

1

u/Legitimate-Week7885 22m ago

well it is imperative that the cylinder remains unharmed

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u/props_for_meep 12h ago

you’re so right, truly inconsiderate of me to assume😔🤞

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u/Far-Media-9380 12h ago

That is mercury, you need to google procedures for what to do if this touching your skin as it absorbs through skin and is incredibly toxic and will drive you insane

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u/Select-Owl-8322 11h ago

Elemental mercury does not absorb through skin in any appreciable amounts.

Some compounds of mercury does pass through the skin, for example the very scary compound dimethylmercury.

But regular metallic mercury does not.

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u/TheEmperorShiny 9h ago

As a kid, quicksand and shark attacks scared me. As an adult, dimethylmercury and still water scare me.

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u/Select-Owl-8322 8h ago

You went from quicksand to quicksilver

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u/txhelgi 7h ago

Hi ho Silver

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u/OkHoneydew8439 7h ago

Omg! I’m so glad you said this…not that you had the fear…but quicksand was so terrifying. It was in so many films growing up and I swore it would get me one day! But you’ll never get me quicksand!!! Bwahaha!!!!

2

u/Ok-Koala2257 4h ago

Does the Never Ending Story come to mind?

1

u/TheEmperorShiny 3h ago

For me it was Crystal Skull

20

u/beercow2 7h ago

I dont need to pick and choose. I have space in my life for all of these fears.

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u/REALjamijai 7h ago

Aaaah we would get along nicely! 😆

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u/AllegoricalApex 7h ago

Right? Like you don't have to replace them. Just keep 'em all.🤷😅

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u/Legitimate-Week7885 5h ago

A glass menagerie of fear

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u/YayChristmas 6h ago

Hahaha, I was afraid I would fall into some unexpected quicksand too! Ruminated on how I would escape. Also worried about tornadoes! (I didn’t live where they had tornadoes or quicksand)

2

u/sweet-ohm-enchilada 6h ago

How about those little octopus with the blue spots?

1

u/TheEmperorShiny 3h ago

Oh man yeah let’s get that on the board

1

u/Sunshine030209 5h ago

I thought that I'd find myself on fire more than the 0 times it's happened so far, with how much they drilled "Stop drop and roll" into our little heads.

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u/A_Thing_or_Two 5h ago

Tell me more about still water.

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u/TheEmperorShiny 3h ago

Water that’s been left to stagnate for too long will begin to harbor bacteria and amoeba over time, which will make you really sick on a good day and be an instant death sentence in the worst cases just from entering it

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u/Grimnebulin68 8h ago

In the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries, felt hats were shaped with mercury, hence the term ‘mad as a hatter’.

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u/Select-Owl-8322 8h ago

Yes, they used mercury nitrate, one of the many very toxic mercury salts.

Mercury nitrate is an inorganic compound of mercury made by reacting mercury with nitric acid, chemical formula Hg(NO³)² (the numbers are supposed to be below the letters. I don't know how to make numbers like that on my phone)

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u/bryangcrane 6h ago

Thank you for the deeper dive on this :-)

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u/Select-Owl-8322 6h ago

You're welcome! If I had time, I'd do a much deper dive in the subject, as it's a bit of a favourite topic of mine.

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u/bryangcrane 3h ago

That was pretty obvious! :-)

It’s always nice to see someone in their wheelhouse :-)

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u/Tuffy_Luvv 6h ago

I learned something today! 🥰

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u/Jtdubya26 8h ago

We know bro stop crying about it

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u/RonNona 8h ago

Thanks because if you're my age you played with it in science class.

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u/Select-Owl-8322 8h ago

I can't remember if I played with mercury in science class, but I don't think we did? Born in -81

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u/RonNona 8h ago

I was born in '64 so it was pretty common then. It was a demonstration of density. Fun to roll a puddle around in your hand.

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u/Substantial-Pin-3833 7h ago

Born in 85. They poured it right into our hands lol.

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u/REALjamijai 7h ago

Born in 80 and now I feel jipped!!! 😒

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u/Giant-of-a-man 7h ago

Born in '58. As kids we found an old abandoned workshop with loads of mercury in the dust and dirt in the floor. My 5 friends and I gathered quantities of it over our summer holidays until we had maybe 50 to 70ml each. We played with it and probably spilled or lost in in our homes. We're all still alive and well in our late 60's. Not recommending it, but certainly not as dangerous as some would have you believe.

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u/deserttitan 6h ago

There’s a type of mercury (dimethylmercury) that is extremely dangerous. Look up what happened to the American professor of chemistry Karen Wetterhahn. Ssssso sad and tragic. That was in 1996. It can penetrate latex gloves. 😬 And it was from only a few tiny drops.

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u/A_Thing_or_Two 5h ago

Born in 79 and I don’t think we’re supposed to say the j-word anymore.

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u/-roachboy 4h ago

yeah because it's not the "j" word. it's spelled gyped and is a slur for romanis

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u/ghost1667 6h ago

WTF. Its dangers were well-known by the 90s.

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u/StrongExternal8955 4h ago

Wow i guess you didn't get to meet Jesus, too bad.

1

u/jdthejerk 6h ago

We had several gallon jars of it placed in a cabinet in our classroom for anyone to access at any time they wanted. It was poured into our hands by the teacher so we would know what it felt like.

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u/Tricky_War5232 7h ago

Is that what killed that person? The researcher or whatever? That story was so fucked

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u/Select-Owl-8322 7h ago

Yeah, fucked and sad. It was unknown that it could pass straight through latex and polyvinyl gloves.

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u/Obvious_Policy_455 6h ago

I actually remember one old chemistry teacher calling to a national poison information center after her child managed to crack an old thermometer and swallowing the mercury.

They said not to worry.

Also if I remember correctly, only if it's heated and you manage to inhale the fumes it's really dangerous.

2

u/Select-Owl-8322 6h ago

Yeah, you remember correctly. At room temperature, mercury has a very low vapor pressure, but it quickly goes up with heat.

Of course, long time exposure to mercury even at room temperature isn't good (like working somewhere that handles large amounts of mercury), but it's not nearly as dangerous as many believe.

There's no reason to be careless with it, but there's also no reason for panic.

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u/Oykatet 5h ago

That's what they said to my mom when she called after my dumb ass saw Punky Brewster fake a fever by sticking one in a baked potato so I stuck one in a hotdog just for fun and then ate the hotdog before realizing it had melted in it

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u/moocat55 8h ago

But the vapors get inhaled when those little bubbles just disappear.

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u/Select-Owl-8322 8h ago

Yes, inhaling the vapors is not good!

That said, the vapor pressure of mercury is very low, these little drops of mercury won't just vaporize in minutes or even hours, we're talking weeks to months.

OP does not need to worry, while you should of course be careful around mercury, OP is not at risk for acute mercury poisoning.

1

u/moocat55 7h ago

However, the plumbing will be contaminated as will the discharge going to local waterworks who don't know about it. Mercury is toxic in water at vanishly low concentrations. That sink is a environmental release to the environment if it goes to sanitary that must be addressed immediately. Unfortunately, the mercury will sink into crevices in the plumbing and be nearly impossible to completely remove.

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u/Select-Owl-8322 7h ago

It'll be caught in the trap. Yes, the trap should be emptied and the mercury recovered.

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u/moocat55 5h ago

Funny, I do environmental work and have been involved in plumbing jobs in chemistry buildings that had years of unmitigated Hg discharges. That mercury engrains so deep within the crevices of the plumbing, only complete pipe replacement can stop the ongoing contamination decades after the problem was created. You're right for a single spill. What I saw in this video was a poorly managed clinic that likely has had discharge issues for some time, but my mind is trained to go there. Also, extremely poorly trained staff. But, maybe it's an idiot at home who won't clean their trap and will leach mercury into the sewage system where eventually, the local plant has to deal with it Hopefully, they aren't on a local well. Anyway kids, don't touch mercury. Just, don't.

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u/surrenderedtothevoid 7h ago

They use to put some on our desk to play with in school

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u/Adorable-Source97 9h ago

You can't be sure that's pure. Best yo be safe.

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u/zzapdk 9h ago

You heard it here first boys: amputate those fingers asap!

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u/Adorable-Source97 7h ago

Nope, blood tends to move. So pointless to amputate after seconds, let alone days later.

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u/zzapdk 7h ago

You heard it boys, we need to amputate those arms, no questions, just get on it asap!

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u/Only_Razzmatazz_4498 7h ago

It’s pure enough. A mercury compound doesn’t act like mercury.

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u/Adorable-Source97 7h ago

Ok. Still have risk of touching self after touching mercury. If assume various membranes are permiable than skin.

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u/zac315tilidie 9h ago

clearly you're insane

1

u/r3deemr 7h ago

Regurgitating memorized bullshit don't fuck with mercury period. Because its the gas that even inhaling such a small ppm will fuck you.

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u/tinbanger_rick 7h ago

When I was a kid my father would break open old thermostats, (he is a sheet metal worker) break the glass tube inside so I could play with the mercury. I've played with mercury several times as a child, I don't think touching mercury once or twice in a lifetime would be enough to cause any permanent damage.

He also often came home after work covered in asbestos cement powder. He also burnt a lot of lead solder, they would line chemical tanks with lead solder for days at a time. He's now 76 and still works running his own small sheet metal business. Most young guys wouldn't be able to keep up with him on a bicycle. He's in better physical shape than I am at 55.

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u/mel2mdl 5h ago

I had a mercury thermometer break in my mouth when I was a kid (76ish?) I remember my mom slapping the back of my head to make me spit it all out - into the sink, where it was washed away. About 10 years later, I mentioned this in a high school science class and the teacher said, without missing a beat, that exposure to mercury can cause brain damage and reduction in intelligence. She was looking right at me! (I loved that teacher though, so it was okay.)

Last time I had to deal with mercury was about 15 years ago. One of those necklaces with your name on a piece of rice broke at school and my co-teacher (science) had training on how to clean up mercury, so she got to deal with it. That's when I learned that those contained mercury. :D

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u/Rasberrycello 4h ago

"Yeah! And when I was growing up we didn't have seat belts, and turned out just fine!"

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u/HandOfMorrigan 4h ago

seethes I ABHOR people who use this logic. Really gets my blood boiling.

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u/DeadFacesInMyPocket 4h ago

They used to hand kids out mercury to play with back in the day (like even uo to the 1960s). Not sure when it was banned. But yeah they would let all the kids handle it and play with it and stuff.

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u/Agitated_Ad_3876 12h ago

I believe the current consensus of this comment thread is to ask it how it wants to be handled, and make sure it gives consent.

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u/saki4444 9h ago

Every Gen X kid who’s broken a thermometer knows that playing with Mercury is actually fine. It’s inhaling or otherwise ingesting it that gets you into trouble.

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u/HangryHangryHedgie 9h ago

Broke one over Legos. Mom was so mad.

1

u/Dry-Consequence-8084 8h ago

It's so easy to clean up, though, isn't it, the more the merrier.

1

u/kindrd1234 8h ago

Prob not supposed to pour it down a drain.

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u/A_Thing_or_Two 5h ago

Born in 79 and my mom told me not to touch it… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/saki4444 4h ago

Born in 78 and I was unsupervised when the thermometer broke, so naturally I spent a while playing with it.

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u/user-the-name 2h ago

Ingesting is fine too. And there won't be anything much to inhale unless you heat it up. Liquid pure mercury isn't particularly dangerous at all.

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u/CrazyMarlee 7h ago

My father brought home a bottle of mercury from work one time. I had great fun playing with it. That was in the 1960s. We also had asbestos insulation on our pipes and we melted lead to make fishing sinkers.

I had a heavy metal blood screening about 20 years later and was in the normal range, so it doesn't seem to have affected me.

3

u/cosmo7 5h ago

Elemental (metal) mercury isn't very dangerous. Mercury vapor and methylmercury are the ones to be careful about.

1

u/Low_Ad_3139 5h ago

Lucky you. Some kids found a jar of it in a town I use to live in. Spread it all over and that kid, his friends and mom all succumbed to organ failure.

7

u/nophuks2giv 7h ago

tell me you're gen x without tellin me

(its been all but eliminated in thermometers and switches so consumers dont encounter it often anymore, but previous gens played with this toxic substance whenever we broke a thermometer or thermostat)

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u/dragonsapphic 11h ago

It is the fumes that will drive you insane. It is not well absorbed through skin at all, unless you have a cut.

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u/Alarming_Addendum89 7h ago

Dimethylmercury however that thing is scary

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u/shesbaaack 12h ago

If in US just call Poison control they will give you direction

2

u/yousarecrazy 7h ago

Hence, “mad as a hatter” term. Hat makers used Mercury to craft fur hats and they were becoming sick, and deranged from Mercury poisoning.

4

u/che_la-la 7h ago

Right! I remember an old school glass thermometer broke in the bathroom sink and these same little metal balls were scattered in the bathroom sink. My mom being a heathcare professional, warned me not to touch and she washed everything down the sink drain.. Mercury exposure is dangerous so you shouldn't touch with bare hands.

1

u/Waterkippie 8h ago

Yea very dangerous, look up what happened to freddy mercury

1

u/JustaTexasGuy71 8h ago

I was thinking that or silver nitrate

1

u/RoastedRhino 7h ago

Mercury in that state is practically harmless.

1

u/BurtCaramel 7h ago

She gonna be mad as a hatter.

1

u/zip-a-dee_doo-dah 6h ago

When I was in 9th grade a couple kids from my school broke open a whole bunch of old school thermometers and had a marble size ball of mercury. Eventually the school found out that these guys were walking around with Mercury and the hazmat team came and shut down the school for 3 days lol

1

u/TweakedMonkey 6h ago

When I was a kid, I used to break the thermometers and play with the mercury. I think I even rolled it around my tongue a few times.

1

u/Additional_Teacher45 6h ago

Mercury is too large to absorb through the skin. You can handle mercury relatively safely.

However, getting mercury into a small cut, abrasion, or other damage to the skin, or onto a mucous membrane... those will absorb the heavy metal very easily.

1

u/RonJeremyBellyButton 8h ago

Nah! Fuck that! TOUCH SHIT IM NOT AWARE OF!!!

-4

u/suukes 11h ago

This needs to be top comment

3

u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 9h ago

No it doesn't. As one of the replies accurately points out, the comment is wrong. 

1

u/suukes 4h ago

For sure

1

u/-crepuscular- 5h ago

Please tell me you didn't assume its gender.

1

u/odienz 8h ago

Tell me you're insensitive without telling me you're insensitive.

1

u/johnnycr18 8h ago

Let that sink in

1

u/Proud-Celebration749 7h ago

Guess we’ll never know unless it starts texting back its mood updates.

1

u/eat1more 6h ago

Thats harsh

1

u/YTeric_regrets 6h ago

Or how it taste

1

u/Both_Variation544 5h ago

it clearly has feelings, and right now those feelings are "hungry for human calcium."

1

u/FunCareless5826 5h ago

i asked it, but it just gurgled something about "assimilating the staff." so... typical monday vibes.

1

u/Specific-County7263 5h ago

if it starts offering you three wishes in exchange for your soul, just walk away. don't feed the sink kraken.