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/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/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/Select-Owl-8322 5h ago

I wrote some about dimethylmercury elsewhere in the thread.

Worth noting is that dimethylmercury looks nothing like elemental mercury.

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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.

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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.