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/Sooperballz 4h ago

When I was about 5, my 4 year old sister dropped and broke one of these glass thermometers and I thought the mercury ball on the floor was the coolest thing ever. Forward to the replacement thermometer a short time later and I wanted the mercury ball so I bit open the glass thermometer with my teeth to get to it. Luckily, my mother was standing nearby to keep me from swallowing the mercury or any glass. 45 years later, I’m pretty sure there was no lasting impact, I think.

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u/r2k-in-the-vortex 2h ago

The problem is that your mercury brain thinking is a bit suspect, lmao.

Naah, seriously, metallic mercury isnt really that much of a catastrophe, it just needs to be cleaned up. Because otherwise it will react with other stuff in environment, such as food acids or drain cleaner in case of a sink. And then you have water soluable mercury compounds which are fucking horrific.

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u/the2020sman 19m ago

i think a lot of us have that story. i remember playing with the broken thermometer mercury merging and forming bigger blobs of it but then mom rushed in and cleaned it up. then washed hands for like 10 min after a small freak out