Liquid mercury maze game-spillage about 20 years ago mine leaked & I played with it in hands longterm effect?

Question

Help about 20 years ago when I was 10 I had a hand held puzzle maze which had mercury in it. It started coming out the side one day and I put it in my hand, I played with it on my palm for ages, thinking it was amazing, rubbing my fingers on it watching it seperate(about half size of my little finger nail) it's only recently I found out the dangers of it (must have been off that day in Chemistry!) I'm 30 now pregnant with 2nd child what damage do you think this will have done to me but more so my children??
I've read about renal/liver damage and mental/behavioural effects i'm really worried please advise me Thanks

I haven't had any problems so far it was just the long term effect or effects it may have on my kids as in my system, as i've read to much metal in body can cause autisim in children!

I know i didn't swallow it well don't think, but it is absorbed through skin and there's special ways to dispose of it- now those mazes are banned.

Answer 1

You've got nothing to worry about. Although mercury vapour is very toxic, the amount you would have breathed in while playing with it for 20 minutes is so tiny that it would not have any noticeable effect. The sort of people who ARE at risk from breathing in mercury vapour are lab tecnicians, people who work in factories where a lot of mercury is used (e.g. in the production of sodium hydroxide) and amateur gold miners who use mercury to extract gold from rocks. This is simply because the exposure to mercury vapour goes on for a very long time. Also, it is not true that the body cannot eliminate mercury. It DOES eliminate mercury, albeit at a very, very slow rate. It usually finishes up in the hair and nails, where it can do no harm. Whatever tiny amount you ingested would have been completely eliminated over a period of 6 to 12 months.

On a visit to a gold-mine in Ghana in the 1960s, I noticed in the analytical lab a big crucible with about 30 kg of mercury in it. I stuck my left hand into it, right up to my wrist. It was an amazing feeling !

Even swallowing liquid mercury is not particularly harmful. In the 18th century, a popular cure for constipation was to drink ½ a pound of mercury. I wouldn't actually recommend that today. However, there have been quite a few cases of people swallowing mercury accidentally, when a thermometer broke in their mouth. As far as I know this has never resulted in mercury poisoning.

Answer 2

Very unlikely that there is a problem. Cold metallic mercury is not very dangerous, specially in the quantity you had. Long term or heavy exposure to concentrated vapours, and organic compounds of mercury are the problem. Millions of women have had mercury amalgam tooth fillings and produced even more millions of healthy children.

Answer 3

From what I see this is MLB brand marketing its baseball product globally. I am not sure what they want to get out of it in the end. More players from japan, merchandise sales, media contracts? Those will give more revenue to MLB which is great but how does that help the average fan or ball club? But the Japanese fans are really into it so I am not opposed to it. Just as long as the Sox don't do it every year. Just surprised they chose the A's as the opening day team they played against. I would have thought it would be Seattle since they have Ichiro and that would be exciting for the Japanese fan base.

Answer 4

Mercury is very toxic if you breathe the vapors, the toxicity is really less if you touch or swallow it because it's not absorbed (in German is called Quicksilver because of it's speed inside the stomach and colon)

You can do a hair analysis (it's not very expensive) to find if you are mercury intoxicated.

Some children vaccinations contains Thiomersal (or thimerosal or merthiolate) as a preservative ! and it's an organomercury compound, very very toxic. So ask your doctor to give your children only vaccines without mercury.

more common names or thiomersal:
Elcide
Mercurothiolate
Merfamin
Merthiolade
Merthiolate
Mertorgan
Merzonin
Merzonin sodium
Sodium ethylmercuric thiosalicylate
Sodium merthiolate
Thimerosal
Thimerosalate
Thiomersalate
Vitaseptol

Answer 5

Your children should be fine. As another mentioned, if you had eaten it (eg, from fish), it would accumulate in your body. According to WebMD:

"If you're eating a lot of fish, mercury accumulates in your bloodstream over time. While the body naturally gets rid of mercury, it may take a year for the levels to drop significantly."

Anyway, it's the methylated form of mercury that is considered to be hazardous to fetuses. Elemental mercury (stuff you were playing with) probably left you very quickly.

After 20 years, I imagine that there is no problem.

Don't freak out over yourself, I know a few 60+ chemists who played with mercury long ago, and they have no problems.

Answer 6

Mercury is a highly toxic substance (not meaning to scare you!) Even inhaling mercury vapours can effect you. Also once you have mercury in your body it will never be "diluted" or go away. I don't think you will be at risk or your children but avoid and other mercury for the rest of your life!

Answer 7

Liquid mercury isn't particulary toxic in the amounts and for the time you were exposed to it, so I wouldn't worry about any harm at all to your children or to you.

The main health issues with mercury come from exposure to mercury compounds and from longer-term or higher exposures.

Answer 8

Effects of mercury poisoning come from constant exposure, mostly to the vapors, not one-time exposure.

You have nothing to worry about.

Answer 9

Since you have not consumed it, you are not at risk.

Answer 10

I did the same and had no problems.