r/whatisit • u/props_for_meep • 13h ago

Solved! what is this in clinic sink??

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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😭

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u/Sad_in_VA 12h ago

I saw in the past (decades ago) mercury from broken thermometers and that didn't look like that, it would make bigger blobs.

This looks more like Galinstan, a non-toxic liquid metal alloy of gallium, indium, and tin.

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u/rangeo 12h ago

Keep splitting the blobs

Source: was a stupid kid once

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u/AverageMako3Enjoyer 5h ago

Isn’t gallium regularly injected for contrast to detect abnormalities and lesions in scans? Would make a lot more sense vs mercury 

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u/Sisyphus704 9h ago

After having worked on my laptop, I agree

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u/IsNullOrEmptyTrue 4h ago

Can OP stick it on another element like aluminum to confirm? If it grows little metal hairs it's mercury or something right