Feeler: Mercury GB

[digital_blue]

I've noticed that there are several people interested in obtaining mercury but are unable to do so through the current Element GB. I recently found a source and I'm placing an order for a relatively large amount; I figured that it wouldn't hurt if I let a few people tag along with my order. There will probably be a 2 Oz minimum order per person due to the availability of the containers they come it. Overall, we need at least 1 Lb(16 Oz) for this GB to run.

I am imposing a 10 person limit on this GB simply because I don't like handling too much money. If this GB is successful, I may run a second/third wave...


THIS IS A FEELER, NOT A FULL BLOWN GB. Please post if you are interested(serious parties only) along with the approximate amount you want.

The price will be approximately $6.50 to $8 an Ounce depending on the amount we order. Shipping is NOT INCLUDED in this price due to the higher than normal cost of packaging mercury properly.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask...

 

[Dark_Horse]

I would be interested in at least 3-4 ounces.
Note: According to Wikipedia, a pound of mercury is only 1.13 fluid ounces-2.039 cubic inches

 

[diachi]

Im quite interested in 2Oz

 

[icecruncher]

I'm definitely interested.

 

[yobresal]

......

 

[diachi]

PM sent

 

[danq]

:huh: just curious - what are you guys doing with all that mercury?

anyone with children should not even have it in the house

hopefully you know the hazards... in case you don't:

mercury is not a toy! Along with its high toxicity in minute amounts,
-it is absorbed through your skin (fingers too)
- whenever you open the container or have it out, some of it vaporizes
- if you drop even a little it 'shatters' into tiny balls, many nearly invisible - which hide in carpets, floor cracks, clothes - and sit there turning into vapor with time.

DanQ

 

[yobresal]

I think that the toxicity of mercury is WAY overrated. I have played with it many times with out any ill effect. Sometimes I even pour a little in my shot glass when I am drinking for fun. It also helps heal open woulds if you splash a little in there.

J/K I am totally aware that if misused mercury can have negative effects. That is why you wear gloves when handling it. NEVER drop it so that it splashes into little balls. Keep in stored properly (out of reach of children and inside of a vapor seal container)

On second thought perhaps I will keep this Mercury to myself. I would hate to see someone get poisoned because they don't know what they are doing.

 

[pianoman2011]

Exactly how illegal is it to own mercury in the U.S.??? :huh:

I don't think I'm going to buy any (seeing as I'm 15 in the first place and its very poisonous in the second place)... just curious.

-Jakob

 

[digital_blue]

Pianoman - Mercury is not illegal to possess...

Danq - As long as you understand the dangers and observe proper handling procedures, you will not fall victim to mercury poisoning. Common sense goes a long way.

To all interested parties that have not posted in this tread, Please do so soon so that I can get this GB organized... My supplier is starting to run low so I'll need to place my order soon to ensure this GB goes through.

 

[pianoman2011]

Oh sweet... for some reason I thought it was. I would buy some... but I feel a bit too young to posses something so risky

-Jakob

 

[diachi]

My dad used to " play " with mercury a lot when he was younger, with skin contact and everything. He doesn't seem to have mercury poisoning ! I don't think mercury is as bad as people say it is. I mean the hat makers who got mercury poisoning worked with the stuff every day, without protection, so they had A LOT of contact with it.

I'm still interested in 2 ounces or so !

Regards,

Adam

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Most of the danger is from inhaling mercury vapor, not so much through absorption through the skin.

My mom once mentioned that as a kid she found and played with some she found in the pencil dip of a desk. I'm sure nowadays the entire wing of the school would've been closed and a hazardous substance company called in to vacuum it up.

I found some in a glass vial that was in an old thermostat in my yard as a kid (lots of old junk there when we moved in). Pretty neat stuff. I still have it.

 

[phoenix77]

FYI, If you should happen to spill Mercury, the best way to clean it up is with a simple suction ball or large (REALLY LARGE) bore syringe. Try to get as much of the spilled Mercury in one spot, & simply suction it up off the floor or wherever. Just my $00.02 on Mercury clean-up...........rob

 

[Benm]

Metallic mercury isnt particularly hazardous - it was widely used to play with in science experiments (pouring from one hand to the other and all) in highschools up to a decade or two ago... noone suffered any ill effect from that.

What IS dangerous are mercury compounds, some of which are extremely toxic and lethal even in hardly visible amounts. Mercury is fairly noble though, and none of these compounds would form unless you actively try to synthesize them.

Long term exposure to high concentrations of vapour can be dangerous, but you have to put in into perspective: Mercury is mined from cinnabar. Historically, this is just roasted and the mercury then collected by condensing the vapour into a tube. Workers have done this without any protective gear since roman times, and many of them lived till old age, though some of them did die of mercury poisoning eventually.

The vapour escaping a little jar of mercury with a lid on it wouldn't do anything of that magnitude, nor would a little drop evaporating somewhere in a corner it rolled into.


One thing i do wonder about in this GB: How do you plan on shipping it? Metallic mercury is normally not allowed on aircraft. This is for good reason, as it can do serious damage to aluminium parts (it breaks its protective oxide layer, allowing it to oxidize all the way through).
This is what happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ilxsu-JlY

 

[danq]

I mean the hat makers who got mercury poisoning worked with the stuff every day, without protection, so they had A LOT of contact with it.

uh huh. and have you heard the expression "mad as a hatter"? of course, I see you have... but it doesn't take every-day exposure, and you don't need to be completely coo-coo to have been affected. Your statement implies those things, and that's unnecessarily trivializing the danger.

Yes, metalic mercury is the least toxic form. But it always produces vapor, and usually some is spilled in "playing" with it; that makes lots of fragments that vaporize quicker.

I'm not going to argue this out more with everyone. I've said what needs to be known, except this: Not every person reading this thread knows or is capable of using "appropriate precautions" - even if they were included in this thread.
Trivializing the dangers may cause someone to endanger themselves or their kids. Mercury toxicity is not trivial.

DanQ