Coffee, tea, mercury?

[Pherdinand]

Guys
i have to disagree with this a bit
These materials are not dangerous as a landmine found by a kid in the backyard
they won't kill you instantly neither surely
but statistically they are a serious threat
you can't judge based on your own former crazy classmates or such individual cases.

Mercury: the gold miners worked intensively with mercury too. Statistically it is proven that they lived much shorter and the symptomes of mercury poisoning are clear.
Asbestos: was overused in buildings before it turned out that inhaling its fine powder does increase the chance to lung cancer. Asbestos in the building is safe, as long as you leave it alone. If you start demolishing the building, then the risk rises.

These are risks that noone wants to take. I mean, if you go sky diving you do know about the risks and you do accept them. If you eat McDonalds each day, you hopefully do know the risks and you accept them. But if you are a worker at a building site you know about that brick that might fall on your head, so you wear a helmet, you know you should be careful with climbing up on high stuff and you avoid high voltage cables in the rain. And then you die at 40 from lung cancer because you did not know about that extra thing with the asbestos, wouldn't that be stupid?

It's the same with the discover of radioactivity. It was a way cool thing and people were so busy with studying it without knowing what its drawbacks are. And then the person who was supposed to know the most about radioactivity in the whole world eventually died because of it.

 

[john neal]

I have two Gossen light meters that use these batteries and would like to continue using them. I also bought a newer Gossen that uses a 9 volt battery, but still the other two that I have I would love to continue using them. I have a few mercury batteries in the fridge and if I can find and buy more I will.
I don't plan on opening them up when they expire nor will I throw them in the trash...so may I please have more???

I could make you a couple of adaptors - if you are interested (they are a lot less than $20) send me a PM

 

[mbisc]

I have two Gossen light meters that use these batteries and would like to continue using them. I also bought a newer Gossen that uses a 9 volt battery, but still the other two that I have I would love to continue using them. I have a few mercury batteries in the fridge and if I can find and buy more I will.

No need to keep mercury batteries for the older Gossen meters. Gossen makes a nifty little adapters (most good camera stores either have them or can order them for you) that allows you to use modern batteries. My wife has an old Gossen meter, and is quite happy with the fact that she can continue to use it...

 

[mc_vancouver]

Last night, I dis-assembled a mercury battery ....

Remember Alice's Mad Hatter?

Hatters really did go mad. The chemicals used in hat-making included mercurous nitrate, used in curing felt. Prolonged exposure to the mercury vapors caused mercury poisoning. Victims developed severe and uncontrollable muscular tremors and twitching limbs, called "hatter's shakes". Other symptoms included distorted vision and confused speech. In advanced cases, hatters developed hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms.

 

[Goodyear]

An acquaintenance died at age 74 from lung cancer. When he was in his 20s he worked for 6 months on a construction project wrapping asbestos around pipes. His wife is now part of a multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit against asbestos companies. I'm sure the fact that he smoked for 45 years had nothing to do with his cancer.

Well, if it's an asbestos case I presume the cancer was mesothelioma. That particular cancer is much more common after exposure to asbestos (as in 80% of cases in those with a history of exposure).

 

[ebolton]

My dad repairs antique clocks, and keeps a substantial container of mercury on hand as certain clocks used mercury to weight the pendulum. I got to play with it occasionally as a child, and it never failed to amuse. It's a bugger to clean the stuff up.

Ed

 

[clarence]

I hope no one's kid is reading all of this.

Clarence

 

[butch]

I live near the Ouchita (wash-eh-taw) River in South Arkansas. Several years ago, after a government study of mercury in fish, we were told to limit consumption of pan fish to no more than 1 pound per month and to avoid Catfish and Buffaloe (a carp like fish with a super taste) since they had a higher content. I've eaten fish from these waters for over 50 years and my tests came back normal. I'm more interested in where it came from. My opinion is that it is mostly natural. The Ouchita heads in the heaviest mineral deposits in our State, around Hot Springs, and I'm sure there must be cinnabar deposits there. I don't figure much of it came from button cell disposal. Sure wish I had had the foresight to have stocked up but, alas, the demise of the mercury cell came when I was on a break from photography.

 

[dmr]

Back in the old days a "find" of mercury was looked upon with favor. There were countless things to do with it.

Back when I was a kid I thought it was the coolest stuff there was! My brothers used to collect it out of light switches and thermometers and such. Of course we really didn't know how toxic it was. (Do we really know now?)

However, I remember one day seeing them smashing up an old mercury 9v battery to try to get mercury out of it, and reducing the thing to shards without getting even a drop of the stuff.

Do the modern (?) mercury batteries actually have metallic mercury in them?

 

[willie_901]

Mercury (Hg) fumes are toxic. If you breath enough elemental Hg vapor for a long enough period of time you will get sick. Keep the Hg in a closed container.

When elemental Hg evaporates into the environment it NEVER leaves the ecosystem. Hg compounds are toxic to animal/fish life. Some plants tolerate Hg quite well. The Hg vapor washes out of the atmosphere and eventually reacts with plant life to form organo-mercury compounds. Something small eats that plant–something bigger eats that–eventually the Hg reaches the top of the food chain. When the animal/fish at the top of the food chain dies, it decays and the Hg compounds (not liquid Hg) in the soil start the whole process over again.

Now, the pea sized Hg liquid you have is nothing compared to the Hg vapor released from Hg mines around the world. Still, if your community has a recycling center, take your Hg there.

 

[Bryce]

Mercury is dangerous, as are a lot of other things. No doubt about it. The quotes above are all true as far as I know. I've also read that mercury can be absorbed through the skin.
That said, reasonable precautions will make handling the stuff very safe for someone who deals with it in tiny quantities- rubber gloves, etc.
On a depressing but painfully relevant note, here's a link-
http://www.geocities.com/minoltaphotographyw/williameugenesmith.html
The chemical company in question may well have made the battery in Mr. Smith's Minolta....

 

[leica M2 fan]

Hello Jon... I'll stick to coffee or tea

Hello Jon... I'll stick to coffee or tea

Good to see you're posting here again and still.You have been missed.🙂