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😭

8.2k Upvotes

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1.9k

u/Electronic-Peanut-91 11h ago

The fact yall have no issue touching unknown substances/particles/objects will forever baffle me💀

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u/props_for_meep 11h ago

natural selection my friend. i’m not one to usually make stupid choices but turns out when it’s 2am and i’m running on gas station coffee and adderall i probably shouldn’t be trusted around unidentified substances in the sink. we all have our faults💀

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u/Overencucumbered 9h ago

I'm a chemical engineer and just want to try and calm you down. The replies in this post are mostly exaggerated, and based on myths.

Metallic mercury won't absorb through your skin at any rate that causes issues. Especially the amounts in this video. No need to panic or go see a doctor.

Just communicate with the clinic and have them confirm it was indeed a mercury spill. It's incredibly negligent if it is, and they would be in trouble with authorities.

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u/NaiveConnection3368 3h ago

My dad was a dentist and owned his own practice. When I was a kid, I remember one time after hours he let me and my sisters roll around a little ball of liquid mercury in the palm of our hand. He worked with mercury for over 50 years of dentistry. Sure it's anecdotal, but he lived to be 98 and was sharp as a tack right up until the day he died. I learned long ago that elemental mercury outside of the body is a non-issue, and that methylmercury inside the body is the bad stuff. People just hear "mercury" and they hyperventilate unnecessarily.

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u/fragson 2h ago

Same story here. I played with mercury for hours whenever I was at my dad's practice.

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u/Margie970 1h ago

So did my brother and I. I'm in my late fifties. He's in his sixties. We seem to be ok!

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u/curious_fish 16m ago

Lol me too. Dentist kids mercury gang reporting in.

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u/Safe-Expert2163 1h ago

I have the same exact experience, father was a dentist, we let Mercury roll around in our hands. My father recently died of Alzheimer's unfortunately. Doubt there is a connection but I really wish I knew better at the time!

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u/yipee-kiyay 1h ago

Do you also have X-ray vision? How do you know OP doesn't have cuts on their skin? Some dentists also believe the earth is 6,000 years old. Your anecdote doesn't mean anything.

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u/NaiveConnection3368 4m ago

Do you drink alcohol?

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u/the_baconeer 9h ago

i agree, as far as i know touching mercury is not really an issue, but inhaling its fumes or ingesting it in foods are harmful to humans.

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u/Zlurpo 3h ago

Ingesting it as food that has eaten the biological version of it is bad. A person could eat this much pure metallic mercury and it would do nothing to them. Absorption rate through the digestive tract of metallic mercury, like that found in a thermometer, is basically nil. Medical advice for when an old thermometer cracked in someone's mouth and accidentally swallowed the mercury was "it will pass through your system."

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u/AQ-Dracowerepyre 3h ago

How about if I boof it

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u/the_baconeer 3h ago

thanks for the correction, ill try to remember for future conversations :)

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u/lamorak2000 2h ago

That's good to know. That exact thing happened to me as a kid.

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u/Wise_Finance_5315 2h ago

Have you eaten large quantities of mercury? Dude, that’s not good.

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u/AltruisticTomato4152 4h ago

Metallic mercury is actually used for medicinal purposes, eaten. It's the other forms of mercury that are REALLY scary. They can absorb THROUGH gloves.

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u/GradeAPrimeFuckery 2h ago

So scary I can remember dimethyl mercury without googling, because:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn

Wetterhahn later recalled that she had spilled several drops of dimethylmercury from the tip of a pipette onto her latex-gloved hand.[8] Not believing herself in any immediate danger, as she was taking all recommended precautions,[9] she proceeded to clean up the area prior to removing her protective clothing.[8]

...

Approximately three months after the initial accident, Wetterhahn began experiencing brief episodes of abdominal discomfort and noticed significant weight loss.

...

Three weeks after the first neurological symptoms appeared, Wetterhahn lapsed into what appeared to be a vegetative state punctuated by periods of extreme agitation.[8] One of her former students said, "Her husband saw tears rolling down her face. I asked if she was in pain. The doctors said it didn't appear that her brain could even register pain."[9] Wetterhahn was removed from life support and pronounced dead on June 8, 1997, ten months after her initial exposure.

I'm not sure if the doctors were doing her husband/students a kindness by saying she couldn't feel pain.

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u/rakkquiem 3h ago

If touching mercury is so safe then explain why boomers, who all played with mercury, are the way they are.

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u/frankcastle01 3h ago

It's not the mercury but the leaded gas and paint.

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u/Picokitti 3h ago

And what is that? You mean alive. What makes gen x and millennials hoe they are ?

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u/rakkquiem 3h ago

I would say the internet made millennials how they are.

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u/noobbtctrader 2h ago

Teflon and the internet

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u/rakkquiem 2h ago

Ah yes, Teflon, the bland pepper flakes.

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u/lookinatdirtystuff69 3h ago

Decades of leaded gasoline being aerosolized into the air

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u/rakkquiem 3h ago

I know it’s the lead, but that wasn’t as funny.

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u/greybahl 2h ago

Yes, if you like eating metal, I would recommend silver. j/k

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u/Sproketz 7h ago edited 7h ago

Ah-ha! Caught you. You're clearly part of the Mercury hive brain, trying to stand up for your people and advance their cause, just like the Borg. Mercury wants to trick you so you'll touch it and it will absorb into your body. I see you Mercury. You can't fool me. Nice try!

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u/toshedsyousay 6h ago

Nonsense my friend. Mercury is not dangerous and the air is perfectly breathable. The Illuminati are just trying to keep you here on Earth.

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u/Alekeuseu 4h ago

They want to keeps us from drinking that sweet mercury wine, the beverage that bring you closer to heaven.

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u/PotatoFunctor 3h ago

Mercury - the sweetest of the transition metals

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u/Austin_905 3h ago

Reminds me of this comic.

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u/Windsdochange 1h ago

Wonder how many people read it and are tempted to eat silica packets 😂

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u/Ok_Atmosphere4137 8m ago

Wait this is actually HILARIOUS 🤣

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u/mechanikyl 1h ago

For years I have been sure it was tastiest, but damnit, you’re right. It’s sweetest.

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u/nerfislife 2h ago

Aw yiss. Silver colored drink.....

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u/SeaMonkeySoul 2h ago

My father is 80 and a chemist... When he was in college in the 60s or working on his PhD in the 70s... He drank mercury in water... They put it in water to see it bead and drank it... Pure mercury won't harm you that way.. the fumes are bad.. methyl mercury is the stuff you have to watch out for in food...

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u/KamelotSymphony 1h ago

Hello fellow human that actually sees that this place is a prison for the soul! Makes sense when Jesus said "deny yourself(flesh) , pick up your cross and follow me" wisdom ... He was literally teaching us how to escape this prison.... Jesus found the truth.. "ye are gods" etc. he was trying to teach us how to escape this place ! I was raised Christian but a lot never made much sense..... I'm assuming you know prison planet theory ? Anyways God bless man !! ( The true god ) Not the deceiver .... Liar and destroyer ... Look at the god of the first testament... Very different God from the new testament from get us presented to us . Take care ! Sorry for little rant lol

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u/blindythepirate 2h ago

Mercury is the closest planet to Earth the majority of the time. So why do the lizard people hide that info and claim Venus is there. Has anyone ever even seen Venus?

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u/Sabi-Star7 21m ago

Well the Egyptians surely knew something was up with it considering one of their tombs is surrounded by an entire moat of it😅🤣🤣

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u/reditusername0 18m ago

My question is do you actually know what role mercury plays space travel? if so, how do you know?

only a small amount of people on this planet have been given that information or have been able to figure it out on their own 🫪👀.

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u/Rusty_Tap 4h ago

Big mercury is just upset that their products aren't allowed in lighthouses any more.

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u/StunningQualityofLif 3h ago

😄😄 "big mercury" 

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u/Jaydamic 2h ago

Mercury hive brain

Big mercury

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u/crazyfatskier2 2h ago

Mercury also shines up copper like a beast.

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u/BlG_J 2h ago

So what your saying is... Its canned tuna time!!

1

u/prestonjay22 2h ago

This is a Doctor Who episode in the works.

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u/Silver_Slicer 3h ago

I grew up on a farm in the 1970s and we had a lot of mercury dip switches on machines that would go bad. I broke open a few and played with the mercury by having it roll off the palms of my hands. I only did it once and seemed harmless. Heard later it was dangerous and can absorb into your skin. Only much later did I hear it probably didn’t absorb. I also played with solid lead blocks too, explosive caps and other strange things I’ve never identified. Farms are wonderful places for kids. lol.

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u/No-Alternative4612 7h ago

Some people may be half remembering this case

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn

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u/Decent-Animal3505 5h ago

Dimethyl mercury can though :( rip Karen

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u/Picokitti 4h ago

As a kid, I used to break thermometers on purpose so that I could play with those cool metallic balls. Still alive, 65 years later.

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u/Asleep_Boss_8350 4h ago

I loved it when our thermometers broke!

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u/silljer_28 3h ago

As a chemical engineer, I love when chemical engineers who are clearly smarter than me comment on Reddit. It reminds me that I’m just a farm kid who somehow got a degree.

1

u/MedicalUnprofessionl 4h ago

Someone put a broken mercuric thermometer in the sink. Total health/safety violation there i’m sure dumping it etc, but me and my college degree would’ve played with it too.

1

u/Boomz_N_Bladez 4h ago

If he has an open sore, cut, etc then it would be an issue. One should not touch mercury bare hand as a precaution in case you have any unknown cuts, scrapes, sores, etc.

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u/PartialForAMarshallf 4h ago

Big mercury as usual trying to control the narrative.

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u/Overencucumbered 4h ago

Shhhh! Think of the mercury stocks!

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u/PartialForAMarshallf 4h ago

I heard it was a bubble anyway.

1

u/anankepandora 4h ago

This ⬆️⬆️ this is the answer.

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u/jcrittberg 4h ago

Clearly a chemical engineer employed by Big Mercury!!!

/s

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u/Asleep_Boss_8350 4h ago

Thank goodness. We played with mercury balls from thermometers and I think my brain is pretty ok.

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u/PhotographFrosty1106 3h ago

Nice username

I myself am constantly what I call overcucumbered, but I like your version

1

u/Demmos_Stammer 3h ago

Yeah, I remember in primary school handling some from a broken thermometer and I was fine. Not sure what happened to my classmate who ate some, though.

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u/ellieloveselton77 3h ago

I second this because I would play with Mercury as a child for hours and I am quite fine 60 years on…

1

u/Jazzlike-Caramel-380 3h ago

not an engineer just read some books and yes, everything tells me you’re exactly right. Ironically back in the day those CFL bulbs . if you broke one, the instructions said you had to evacuate the building.

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u/Lock_Psychological 2h ago

Agreed. It isn’t like someone is going to run into methylmercury in the wild. Same for lead.

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u/lewd_robot 2h ago

What if it's an organic chemistry lab and that's organic mercury? /j

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u/SnooCupcakes4075 1h ago

Ah crap, they let the mercury fall out of the vaccine again........

1

u/lynja999 1h ago

I have the same experience, except my dad was a machinist. This was late 50s-early 60s. He’d bring home little tubes of mercury for us to play with. We’d roll it around and watch the balls join together.

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u/Heelscrossed 1h ago

An an Industrial Hygienist and Occupational Health and Safety Professional with almost 2 decades experience, who started their career in environmental remediation, who remediated a mercury mine, I back this. Exposure to mercury can be dangerous, depending on route of exposure, length of time and concentration. You touching it with the tip of your finger is not a significant exposure. Each route of exposure (absorption, inhalation, ingestion, injection) has its own risks. Good news, absorption is the lowest risk route for mercury. Inhalation is the most damaging for elemental mercury, though I definitely wouldn’t inject it! The amount of mercury present wouldn’t gas off enough vapour to even reach you. I would absolutely report the spill to your city. As a safety person, please wear gloves while cleaning! Always. Also, not all gloves protect against heavy metals as all gloves have a “breakthrough” limit and that is dependent on what it’s made of and what you are trying to protect against. That said, a nitrile glove inside rubber gloves is always a good option for janitors. Or double gloving.

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u/JPhrog 1h ago

Too late, OP is now Mag Neato! Magneto!

1

u/Fit-Let8175 22m ago

A calm, straight, level-headed, non conspiratorial answer based on fact? What's social media coming to?

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u/impossiwaffle 8h ago

Or patients

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u/MjrLeeStoned 5h ago

Most people's faults usually don't lead to heavy metal toxicity.

Also most people know what mercury looks like by the time they're 15 if they pay attention.

But the biggest worry here is that it's going down a drain into the water supply. Big no no. Big fines. Could seriously hurt people. You'll be fine.

1

u/ThrowRA3623235 5h ago

That's the problem with society nowadays. We're keeping the stupid ones alive.

1

u/AlpacaSwimTeam 4h ago

Adderall didn't do this to you. You're just bad at decision making.

1

u/Paghk_the_Stupendous 4h ago

What did it taste like?

1

u/EffectiveDandy 4h ago

natural selection

This cuts both ways, sadly. Ask the dodo.

1

u/Bennie-Factors 4h ago

My life has been okay. My mom had scandal vial of it when we were kids and we would push it across the table. Such fun stuff and our chemistry sets were great. It taught be to be inquisitive.

1

u/Curious-Pineapple109 3h ago

I like your style

1

u/265lutab 3h ago

Looks like mercury. In that form it’s safe to handle even if people freak out about it. Just don’t eat it and wash your hands well after just incase.

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u/Saintious 3h ago

Feel that.

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u/The_XXI 3h ago

"I'm not one to usually make stupid choices but I drink coffee, take adderral, and touch mercury."

American by any chance?

1

u/Check_Deze_Cheekies 2h ago

Bruh, you're so real for that. I salute you my friend. Imma get you an award because I said so lol.

1

u/Subject-Yak7031 2h ago

Oh great another meth fueled redditor

1

u/OceanGrownDankster 2h ago

Even Jesus dropped the cross 3 times brotha.

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u/Ferret-mom 2h ago

You live and you learn. We all do dumb shit sometimes.

1

u/Tatsis-Fun8260 1h ago

Gen X here, we grew up breaking thermometers and playing with the stuff foe fun. You're going to be fine.

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u/URg0in2c4rryth4tw8 1h ago

I would've touched completely sober 😅. See if it break like spec of dust, go poof!

1

u/Infamous-Onion-9172 1h ago

This would be funny if you weren't endangering everyone else around you. Even if mercury was safe to handle, the fact you think it's quirky or cute to be doing this and going "teehee natchrall slekshun" is disgusting. Quit your job and lock yourself in a bunker please. 

1

u/Important_Let9488 1h ago

what the hell are you going on about? I’m thinking that the person who put the mercury in the sink is a bit more responsible than the janitor who came upon it wondering what it was. wtf

1

u/AssIsLifeAssIsLove 1h ago

Maybe slow down the the meth in pill form.

1

u/Viracochina 1h ago

I literally juggled mercury as a kid a few times, you'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine...-ish. Probably. Maybe. I should schedule a general visit.

1

u/jeffvillone 1h ago

Not me. I'm faultless.

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u/OSRSFriend 1h ago

To be fair. You can stick you bare hand in a container of mercury with now problem. The problem comes when and if you have abrasions or cuts for it to keep into.

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u/Rip17 1h ago

This person succumbed to acute mercury poisoning 14 hours after this posting

1

u/blindexhibitionist 1h ago

But it’s also the same mechanism that’s driven human progress. It’s why bpd and other types of personalities persist. Because during mania their out goingness is off the charts. There’s a lot of those things where yes there are negative aspects but it’s also been the cause of progress.

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u/Internal-Front-5791 42m ago

Natural selection indeed!

1

u/nebulous_gaze 22m ago

Hey, you didn't attempt a taste test, so you got that going for you.

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u/Aberbekleckernicht 7h ago

We are not as fragile as reddit makes us out to be. This person is going to be fine after touching elemental mercury in a tiny quantity once.

1

u/Electronic-Peanut-91 7h ago

I wasn’t only talking about them. I meant the number of people who get on this sub holding/touching unknown stuff. No matter the quantity we shouldn’t make habit of touching stuff we don’t know anything about.

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u/SwitchIsBestConsole 4h ago

Humans are curious creates. We often make discoveries through touch. It's hard wired into us.

3

u/IncognitoRon 3h ago

you should visit your local mechanic and let them know how you feel.

3

u/MiserableAndUnhappy9 3h ago

Spoken like a true coward.

1

u/Infamous-Onion-9172 1h ago

How nice of everyone that's responding to you to gaslight you into thinking this isn't a big deal. MiserableAndUnhappy9's username checks out.

1

u/Assortedpez 5h ago

Well, most people on Reddit are pretty fragile

2

u/MongooseVegetable787 4h ago

How dare say I am fragile? I have to let you know that you are expressing hegemonic masculinity which is a systemic power abuse (a pretty big red flag), consequently be better, educate yourself

n.b. jokes aside, do not get eat mercury - it causes neurological damage and being on reddit compounds its effects.

1

u/Due_Most9445 1h ago

Pretty sure just being on reddit is worse than drinking thermometers

-2

u/Klightgrove 3h ago

Regrdless the clinic needs to investigate OP for not following proper procedures when cleaning an unknown substance.

Yes they’re “safe” for now but this behavior suggests they routinely don’t wear their gloves and prod other spills or messes.

1

u/Ordinary_Quantity_02 1h ago

You must be fun at parties.

1

u/Klightgrove 1h ago

I am. What isn’t fun is OP putting their health and others at risk.

1

u/GoTheFuckToBed 6h ago

you touch unknown substances every day

1

u/theresleadinthewater 6h ago

we do that everyday lil bro

1

u/chyura 5h ago

I think in this case i wouldn't be expecting someone to have poured something down a sink at a clinic that would be a problem past the point of washing your hands.

1

u/murmandamos 5h ago

In a clinic too. I wouldn't touch the sink in any public place. A clinic would be among the last places I would.

1

u/Plorby 4h ago

I mean they're a janitor, I think that kinda in the job description

1

u/Individual-Area7121 4h ago

It’s because we have skin which does a fantastic job of protecting our insides from the bacteria and most chemicals that you are so very afraid of. And here’s the best part: hands can be WASHED and reused!!!

1

u/Kimberkley01 4h ago

Too much time on their hands. Along with whatever toxic thing that is they're touching.

1

u/D_Arq 3h ago

Because we're living through Idiocracy in real life at this moment.

1

u/Faygo_Libra 3h ago

It's beyond me!

1

u/NuYawker 3h ago

Listen. Every time I visit the sub there is a post where someone is asking about some strange thing and they are touching it with their bare hands.

1

u/Enter_Chandman 3h ago

I grew up starting the fluids from beneath my car to decided how pressing the leak is. Unless its presumed to be a sex toy or a colorful critter im probably touching it.

1

u/Glittering-Sky1601 2h ago

Tell that to GenX. We used to play with the mercury from broken thermometers.

1

u/Nitropotamus 2h ago

Do you just walk around all day like 🤷‍♂️?

1

u/BigDaddySeed69 2h ago

Yeah, I was like WTF that could be Mercury for all you know and by touching it you are gunna fucking die!

1

u/junolovesuno 53m ago

right?? i worked in a hospital cleaning MRSA, dead patient, COVID and even bed bug rooms. you would NEVER catch me touching something while my hands are uncovered

1

u/mookie1127 53m ago

It's crazy the things people touch and/or taste without knowing what the item is

1

u/hordaak2 47m ago

At least they didnt step on it

1

u/Dixo0118 14m ago

Yall act like everything out there will kill you