"Yes, but how does it taste?"
"No way!"
"Hey!"
"Oh my gosh!"
This metal can exist in all three states.
As a liquid,
a vapor
and a solid.
And this toxic substance might be lurking
inside you already.
So what would happen if you
swallowed liquid mercury?
In 1804,
American explorers Lewis and Clark
set off to map
bought from the French government.
And if you wanted to retrace their route,
you could use a metal detector
instead of a map.
Since these two guys ate nothing
but dried meat and whisky,
they supplemented their diets
with a laxative laced with mercury chloride.
This pill, known as calomel,
contained a high dose of mercury
and gave this duo extreme diarrhea,
which they called
Hundreds of years later,
archaeologists still find high amounts
of mercury in the soil
where their campsites used to be.
Marketed as a cure for everything,
people thought this popular drug treated
illnesses from syphilis to constipation.
"Mercury!"
"On your genitals!"
"Come on!"
You could say it was cleaning out their systems thoroughly.
There are three different types of mercury,
called elemental,
organic and inorganic.
You're probably most familiar with elemental mercury.
That's what you find in thermometers,
electrical switches
and even dental fillings.
Depending on where you live,
you might have already had
a small dose with your dinner.
Microorganisms living on the ocean floor
absorb and break down inorganic mercury compounds floating in the sea.
And when larger fish,
like mackerel, swordfish or tuna,
eat these creatures,
they contain those trace amounts of the toxic metal.
Yeah.
Binging out at the sushi bar could give you a slight case of mercury poisoning.
But if you chugged this liquid metal like a shot,
Well, in its liquid form,
mercury is insoluble,
meaning it can't break down further.
As this metal passes through your body,
The rest would flush right out.
And on its way through you,
it would kill bacteria
and violently clean out your intestines.
But if this substance remained in your bloodstream,
the toxic effects would begin to destroy your body.
If you kept ingesting liquid mercury,
it could build up in your appendix.
Over time,
the bacteria in your body would convert
this metal into organic mercury compounds.
And then,
the real toxic effects would kick in.
Once the liquid crosses
the blood-brain barrier,
it could end up inside your brain,
causing severe neurological issues.
You might suffer from anxiety, depression, irritability, tremors and numbness.
With your muscles weakening
and your lack of coordination,
your mobility would be limited.
Things would get worse when this metal
starts damaging your DNA.
That would lead to chronic conditions
like ALS, Parkinson's disease
or even Alzheimer's disease.
Ingesting too much liquid mercury
could cause your heart to grow and the tissue to thicken.
Your blood flow would slow,
and your cardiovascular system could be in danger of shutting down.
This metal could even impair your kidney functions and lead to renal cancer.
Now, while liquid mercury could
tear you apart physically and mentally,
it still wouldn't be as dangerous
as if you breathed it in.
Liquid mercury vaporizes at room temperature.
While consuming this metal
can damage your body over time,
inhaling mercury can lead to instant damage.
These tiny invisible atoms have no scent,
and they break down in fats and oils.
Once inside your lungs,
mercury can poison your brain,
causing sleep disorders and even paralysis.
And unlike water vapor,
this form of mercury can linger for days
or even weeks,
killing you slowly without you even knowing.
Swallowing liquid mercury may not seem harmful since most of it exits your body.
But inhaling the vapor from the build-up
of this toxin could create damage that lasts a lifetime.
So hold off breaking open that thermometer.
But maybe you're still in the mood
to drink some metal anyway.
OK, what if you swallowed gallium?
Well, get ready to rinse and spit
because that's a story for another WHAT IF.