Mercury contamination HELP!!

[Alondro]

Exactly that’s my worries I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know if it was in my AR with the other rocks, if it came from Cinnabar which is mined less than 10 miles from me so that’s possible I’m guessing I don’t know because I’m not a chemist and I’m obviously waiting over my head with this and was unaware of the dangers

If your rocks have a very red mineral in them, that could be cinnabar. The real risk there is exposing it to very high temps, which would reduce and vaporize the mercury; and getting any contaminated acid solutions you make on your skin, as dissolved mercury ions could slip through into the blood stream. But, you don't want concentrated acid and metal solutions on your skin in the first place!

You can check an aqueous sulfuric acid solution from leaching a sample of your rocks for the presence of mercury by taking two test tubes of the solution and adding a little dilute nitric acid to one. It will form virtually insoluble, yellow mercury(I) nitrate if there's a significant amount of mercury. To the other tube, add a little HCl. That will form mercury chloride, which is a white solid also virtually insoluble in water. Further tests would involve isolating the white chloride, cleaning it with distilled water, then adding a few drops of ammonia. The white compound would then turn pitch black due to a disproportionation reaction. Forming those compounds proves the presence of high levels of mercury in solution.

However, cinnabar does not like to dissolve. You'd likely need to be using a EDT or mercaptoethanol solution to get it to dissolve out of the rock in the first place.

Be careful, wear protective gloves and goggles, store and dispose of the waste solutions properly... and don't drink any pretty colored solutions just because they look like Koolaid!

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Metallic mercury is far less toxic than organic mercury compounds. Kids used to play with the liquid drops back in the day. Heck, I still have a Mercury Maze, where you'd move a drop of mercury through a little maze.

When I was a kid, my dad worked for Ford motor as a maintenance machinist. He used to bring home the mercury from damaged ignitrons (high voltage rectifiers). My brother and I would pour it out on the kitchen table, break the beads into smaller beads, push them back together, etc. Great fun. No telling how many beads fell off the table and broke into tiny, tiny droplets on the floor. And we're all fi, fi, fi, fine!

Seriously, metallic mercury isn't the horrible boogeyman it's portrayed as. Still, something to take precautions with, but don't lose sleep over it. As has been said, treat it with respect. Keep it isolated, in a sealed bottle. A little water on top doesn't hurt.

Dave

 

[smcg924]

If your rocks have a very red mineral in them, that could be cinnabar. The real risk there is exposing it to very high temps, which would reduce and vaporize the mercury; and getting any contaminated acid solutions you make on your skin, as dissolved mercury ions could slip through into the blood stream. But, you don't want concentrated acid and metal solutions on your skin in the first place!

You can check an aqueous sulfuric acid solution from leaching a sample of your rocks for the presence of mercury by taking two test tubes of the solution and adding a little dilute nitric acid to one. It will form virtually insoluble, yellow mercury(I) nitrate if there's a significant amount of mercury. To the other tube, add a little HCl. That will form mercury chloride, which is a white solid also virtually insoluble in water. Further tests would involve isolating the white chloride, cleaning it with distilled water, then adding a few drops of ammonia. The white compound would then turn pitch black due to a disproportionation reaction. Forming those compounds proves the presence of high levels of mercury in solution.

However, cinnabar does not like to dissolve. You'd likely need to be using a EDT or mercaptoethanol solution to get it to dissolve out of the rock in the first place.

Be careful, wear protective gloves and goggles, store and dispose of the waste solutions properly... and don't drink any pretty colored solutions just because they look like Koolaid!

Ok now that makes me feel better! I won’t be doing the test you explained rather well I believe as I’m just not competent or confident in my understanding of it. But if you are saying that mercury isn’t readily available without further processing cinnabar I do feel better. There are plenty of red rocks in my inventory and I remember some rocks bleeding like blood red which tripped me out was wondering if they were fossils with traces of blood coming out as they were more of a white color to begin with

 

[Agostino]

The deadliest is dimethyl mercury. A single drop on the skin will kill you. Slowly. Painfully.

That is correct. Organomercury compounds are deadly as they are readily absorbed into the body. Mercury metal is fairly benign with a very low vapour pressure at room temperature so even the risk of inhalation to poisoning is low. The fear of mercury arose from the result of microbes in waterways acting on metallic mercury present in the sediments introduced by the now long banned industrial uses of the metal. The microbial action formed organomercury compounds which entered and concentrated moving up the food chain. I have had mercury amalgams in my mouth for over thirty years and played with the metal as a child and am now 65 years of age with NO signs of mercury poisoning. Caveat: I am not endorsing the irresponsible use and/ or disposal of mercury.

 

[Alondro]

That is correct. Organomercury compounds are deadly as they are readily absorbed into the body. Mercury metal is fairly benign with a very low vapour pressure at room temperature so even the risk of inhalation to poisoning is low. The fear of mercury arose from the result of microbes in waterways acting on metallic mercury present in the sediments introduced by the now long banned industrial uses of the metal. The microbial action formed organomercury compounds which entered and concentrated moving up the food chain. I have had mercury amalgams in my mouth for over thirty years and played with the metal as a child and am now 65 years of age with NO signs of mercury poisoning. Caveat: I am not endorsing the irresponsible use and/ or disposal of mercury.

We did lab safety courses and saw a case where a suicidal person had INJECTED metallic mercury into her veins... and survived. She had health problems afterward, but did not die from it.

In fact, here's a recent similar case! Teen deliberately injects himself with mercury 'to become Marvel superhero'

Mercury vapors inhaled during improperly smelting gold in primitive mining operations are the most common sources of mercury poisoning in the world these days.

Arsenic is a far bigger problem. It's present in many groundwater sources, especially in South America, where large regions have levels over 10ug/L.

 

[flamington12]

your screen is most certainly not 150 mesh - more like 32 mesh (I count 32 holes per inch) 150 mesh would be so fine you would hardly be able to see the holes between the wires

Kurt

This is accurate - Years back I had a similar situation with screen - and when I touched base with the manufacturer Wire CLoth - Belleville they explained that the only way to KNOW the mesh size was to count the holes per inch. This is in fact 32x32.

 

[stampeden]

If you are concerned about mercury or lead fumes inhalation (which you should be), get a "heavy metal blood test" from your doctor and a "24 hour urine sample" (they will know what that means). I had elevated mercury and arsenic levels and, after extensive drinking water and gold recovery precipitant sample-testing, I concluded it was NOT from my refining hobby. It appears to be from my affinity to sushi, rice and vegetables. How's that for a surprise?

Mercury poisoning can happen from a variety of sources. Some that we have little control over. Dental amalgam, when squeezed into your teeth, still has 50% mercury. YES! You heard that right. 50%. And the mercury enters your body in a variety of ways. Inhalation is the way most dental amalgam enters the body. Mercury constantly leaches from the amalgam into your mouth where it is inhaled and enters the body from the lungs. This chronic condition can last a lifetime. Recently it was found that cell phones tend to migrate the mercury from the amalgam. Bottom Line - Be careful. Always keep mercury covered with water. Be aware of your surroundings and KNOW WHAT YOU ARE USING! Mercury is rarely fatal. But we do not want to become Mad Hatters! I had mercury poisoning and went through chelation (EDTA) therapy 40 years ago. I am still here.

 

[goldshark]

I just looked at the picture in your original post. Are you talking about the larger balls, in from the edge of the bowl in the field, or what looks like very tiny Silver BBs around the edge , where the bowl transitions from flat, up the wall? The transition from flat to vertical area, also looks like light being reflected. This makes it hard to tell exactly what we are looking at.

 

[kurtak]

Mercury poisoning can happen from a variety of sources. Some that we have little control over. Dental amalgam, when squeezed into your teeth, still has 50% mercury. YES! You heard that right. 50%. And the mercury enters your body in a variety of ways. Inhalation is the way most dental amalgam enters the body. Mercury constantly leaches from the amalgam into your mouth where it is inhaled and enters the body from the lungs.

I am sorry but the fact is that you are (far) more likely to get mercury poisoning from eating tuna fish (&/or other fish - especially eating fish that eat fish) then you are from silver/mercury amalgam fillings in your mouth

https://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/how-does-toxic-mercury-get-into-fish/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylmercury
I am 65 years old & have had silver/mercury amalgam fillings in my mouth my entire life & have yet to suffer any kind of mercury poisoning

In fact - when I need a tooth filled I actually request that they use silver/mercury amalgam to fill the tooth --- this is because they don't fall out in a year or two like the new plastic composite fillings do

Also - about 25 -30 years ago I was hired to log redwood on 500 acers of private property in Guerneville California - the 500 acers was originally a VERY LARGE mercury mine (Great Eastern Quicksilver Mine Company)

The floor of the LARGE rotary retort room had about an inch to inch & half of fine dust/dirt on the floor - under that dust/dirt was a LOT of mercury - so in my spare time I would fill a five gallon bucket with the dirt & wash the dirt to recover the mercury - after a year (in my spare time) I recovered something like 2&1/2 gallons of mercury - NEVER got mercury poisoning

I sold the mercury to a couple hard rock miners (two different mines) & they used it for amalgamating the fine gold from their ball milling - they NEVER got mercury poisoning - they of course had a proper retort set up

Here is a video of the old mercury mine (in Guerneville) where I recovered the 2&1/2 gallons of mercury from



The actual element mercury is actually not all that much of a concern for mercury poisoning --- it is the vapors (when heated above normal ambient temperatures) &/or other chemical compounds/complexes of it that become a real concern for poisoning

Even the so called Mad Hatters got it (mercury poisoning) because of long term & consent exposer to it & that was because the mercury they were exposed to was mercury nitrate - not elemental mercury

Kurt