[VIDEO] A scientist spilled 2 drops organic mercury on her hand - This is what happened to her brain

[Pakistanian]

Bizarre!

 

[mmkextreme_1]

That is insane.

A little mishap like this took her life.

Personally having worked with mercury, it is one nasty compound if not handled properly.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Her name is Karen Wetterhahn.

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

 

[gani999]

That is insane.

A little mishap like this took her life.

Personally having worked with mercury, it is one nasty compound if not handled properly.

Organic mercury is toxic. Elemental mercury is much more benign and is dangerous only if it is either consumed or it enters the bloodstream.


I've had mercury fall on my bare hands and nothing happened to me . Touchwood.


Back in our university chemistry lab, a popular game was to pour some mercury in a small crucible and touch the gleaming surface with our fingers. A wonderfully clear fingerprint would be left on the surface.

 

[mmkextreme_1]

Organic mercury is toxic. Elemental mercury is much more benign and is dangerous only if it is either consumed or it enters the bloodstream.


I've had mercury fall on my bare hands and nothing happened to me . Touchwood.


Back in our university chemistry lab, a popular game was to pour some mercury in a small crucible and touch the gleaming surface with our fingers. A wonderfully clear fingerprint would be left on the surface.

Damn, the stuff we do in labs without thinking (especially in uni life).

As mentioned in the video, organic mercury is soluble in lipids, thus it can easily cross the blood brain barrier. In the case of the professor that is basically what happened. Our brains love fat, and the majority of it is basically fat.

Man, I feel so bad for the professor, she knew what was coming as she found out what was going on

 

[DeadBall]

Not a chemist but isn't mercury the same substance in thermometers which is liquid in room temperature? I'm sure I have played with it quite a bit in my time.

 

[WC-Passion]

Not a chemist but isn't mercury the same substance in thermometers which is liquid in room temperature? I'm sure I have played with it quite a bit in my time.

Most thermometers do not contain mercury anymore, however there is still mercury commonly used in bulbs. Somewhat like how they've stopped using actual led in pencils.

 

[DeadBall]

Most thermometers do not contain mercury anymore, however there is still mercury commonly used in bulbs. Somewhat like how they've stopped using actual led in pencils.

Yeah but my point was I have played with mercury in my hands which looked liked that thing the Terminator 2 villain was made up of. Don't understand the difference between that mercury and the one the one this woman died from.

 

[WC-Passion]

Yeah but my point was I have played with mercury in my hands which looked liked that thing the Terminator 2 villain was made up of. Don't understand the difference between that mercury and the one the one this woman died from.

"Mercury is not absorbed through intact skin or from a healthy digestive tract in amounts that would cause toxic effects. Therefore, harmful effects would not be expected from touching the small amount of mercury from a broken thermometer."

 

[world cup captain]

Yeah but my point was I have played with mercury in my hands which looked liked that thing the Terminator 2 villain was made up of. Don't understand the difference between that mercury and the one the one this woman died from.

Thermometer, light bulbs and such contain elemenal mercury or inorganic mercury which does not contain Carbon. Organic mercury does contain Carbon from which the molecule becomes highly lipophilic which means the molecule is very absorptive. The main thing to take away is only organic mercury can be absorbed by physical contact; however, this doesn't mean any other forms of mercury should be played around with without proper equipment.

 

[DeadBall]

Thermometer, light bulbs and such contain elemenal mercury or inorganic mercury which does not contain Carbon. Organic mercury does contain Carbon from which the molecule becomes highly lipophilic which means the molecule is very absorptive. The main thing to take away is only organic mercury can be absorbed by physical contact; however, this doesn't mean any other forms of mercury should be played around with without proper equipment.

Ah ok. I meant something like this from 1:47 onwards

 

[mmkextreme_1]

Yeah but my point was I have played with mercury in my hands which looked liked that thing the Terminator 2 villain was made up of. Don't understand the difference between that mercury and the one the one this woman died from.

The difference is elemental mercury vs. organic mercury. The later is what the professor was exposed to. Because of the organic properties of the substance it permeates through the skin and eventually crosses the blood-brain barrier, and enters the brain.

Thermometers have elemental mercury present in them.

Another form is inorganic mercury, which is basically mercury bonded with other elements (except carbon), such as sulfur or oxygen. This type is usually found in different industrial processes and it's also naturally occurring in the environment.

In the end, organic mercury is the most dangerous. But that doesn't mean, I would go play with other forms as well.

 

[world cup captain]

Ah ok. I meant something like this from 1:47 onwards

Yes, the video had inorganic form of mercury which doesn't go through the skin unlike organic form which goes right through skin due to its properties.

 

[DeadBall]

Thanks all for the information. Btw I wanted to say Touche and acknowledge [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION] 's hilarious reply but it was deleted. Really made me laugh. The mods are doing a great job but these fun jibes should be left too as it creates a more fun environment as it was before. Tensions have been high of late though.