3 ms·

I expected this to be about organic mercury.

by andrewstuart 4y ago

cperciva 4y ago
At 20-60 mg/kg, the LD50 of methylmercury is 3000000x higher than botulinum toxin.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  Dose isn't the only aspect of danger, though. You'll find botulinum toxin at dental, neurology, plastic surgery, etc. offices being safely used regularly. You're unlikely to find methymercury.
java-man 4y ago
Or FOOF [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxygen_difluoride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxygen_difluoride [1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-dioxygen-difluoride https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor...
- Gordonjcp 4y ago
  Thing with FOOF is you'd notice your bones dissolving almost immediately. Poor old Karen Wetterhahn didn't even show symptoms for a year, from a milligram drop of it.
  - stavros 4y ago
    That's a tragic story, she was taking all precautions and thought she was safe, but it turned out they were inadequate.
  - slackdog 4y ago
    > Thing with FOOF is you'd notice your bones dissolving almost immediately. I'm not sure about FOOF, but that's definitely not the case with hydrofluoric acid. With hydrofluoric acid, depending on the concentration, burn symptoms can take several hours to manifest, luring victims of accidents into a false sense of security and causing them to delay seeking treatment.
  - jojobas 4y ago
    Wikipedia states her blood mercury level at 4 mg/L with 0.2mg/L in the urine (i.e. getting excreted at a decent rate) five months after the alleged incident. Ignoring exponential decay, in five months at one liter a day she would have shed 30mg (so actual numbers were way higher). Is it a typo/error or does this actually mean she was killed by way more mercury than a few drops through the glove?
    - Gordonjcp 4y ago
      The actual amount was was probably in the tens or so of milligrams. "A milligram" is a slightly hyperbolic way of saying "a very small amount", down in the small-fractions-of-a-gram level. I forget that not everyone on the Internet is aware of English idiom.
      - jojobas 4y ago
        The numbers point to more like a gram.

I expected this to be about organic mercury.

cperciva 4y ago

At 20-60 mg/kg, the LD50 of methylmercury is 3000000x higher than botulinum toxin.

ceejayoz 4y ago
Dose isn't the only aspect of danger, though. You'll find botulinum toxin at dental, neurology, plastic surgery, etc. offices being safely used regularly. You're unlikely to find methymercury.

java-man 4y ago

Or FOOF [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxygen_difluoride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxygen_difluoride [1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-dioxygen-difluoride https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor...

Gordonjcp 4y ago
Thing with FOOF is you'd notice your bones dissolving almost immediately. Poor old Karen Wetterhahn didn't even show symptoms for a year, from a milligram drop of it.
- stavros 4y ago
  That's a tragic story, she was taking all precautions and thought she was safe, but it turned out they were inadequate.
- slackdog 4y ago
  > Thing with FOOF is you'd notice your bones dissolving almost immediately. I'm not sure about FOOF, but that's definitely not the case with hydrofluoric acid. With hydrofluoric acid, depending on the concentration, burn symptoms can take several hours to manifest, luring victims of accidents into a false sense of security and causing them to delay seeking treatment.
- jojobas 4y ago
  Wikipedia states her blood mercury level at 4 mg/L with 0.2mg/L in the urine (i.e. getting excreted at a decent rate) five months after the alleged incident. Ignoring exponential decay, in five months at one liter a day she would have shed 30mg (so actual numbers were way higher). Is it a typo/error or does this actually mean she was killed by way more mercury than a few drops through the glove?
  - Gordonjcp 4y ago
    The actual amount was was probably in the tens or so of milligrams. "A milligram" is a slightly hyperbolic way of saying "a very small amount", down in the small-fractions-of-a-gram level. I forget that not everyone on the Internet is aware of English idiom.
    - jojobas 4y ago
      The numbers point to more like a gram.