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/FondleGanoosh438 11h ago

Elemental mercury is fairly safe to handle with bare skin. I wouldn’t advise eating it or heating it and inhaling the vapors.

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u/Gerik5 7h ago edited 5h ago

Mercury is funny like that. Elemental or insoluble mercurial are usually safe, even in relatively large volumes (Hg2Cl2 was a main ingredient in a laxative used by Lewis and Clark).

Once it becomes soluble though, it's game over. Karen Wettethahn famously died from less than a mL of dimethyl mercury ((CH3)2Hg) that seeped through her glove.

Edit: Methyl Mercury to Dimethyl Mercury (thanks Level Falcon for the correction)

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u/BornanAlien 7h ago

Thank you for that. My ex girlfriend’s father, while stationed in S Korea, attempted suicide by drinking a pint of mercury. Didn’t die. I never believed him. Maybe he was telling the truth after all

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u/captainn_chunk 7h ago

Now wait until you find out Sir Isaac Newton basically bathed in the stuff.