A janitor at a women’s clinic in Oklahoma is drawing attention online after discovering what he believes is “mercury” in a break room sink. Out of curiosity, the janitor began touching the tiny metallic-colored orbs with their bare hands, which horrified thousands of Redditors, considering the toxicity of mercury. He claims to have washed his hands thoroughly and informed his boss, but viewers still couldn’t believe why he’d try touching it in the first place.
“I know I was dumb enough to touch a mysterious substance barehanded,” said Reddit user props_for_meep in response to numerous people on r/whatisit for berating him for touching the metallic balls. “In my defense, this is a break room. I didn’t expect them to have hazardous substances in the same room they make lunch,” he adds. Though, there’s no evidence that someone wouldn’t have thrown away any chemicals into the break room’s sink as well.
Needless to say, people were fairly upset he used his bare hands to touch the substance. “The fact yall have no issue touching unknown substances/particles/objects will forever baffle me,” remarked a commenter. “You 100% the type of person to become patient 0,” laughed a second.
Some Reddit Users Believed the Metallic Substance Could Be Gallium, Not Mercury
While the majority of the comment section agreed that the substance is mercury, several noted that it could be gallium, a metal far less toxic. Still, a professional at the women’s clinic would need to verify. “To be honest… It looks like mercury/gallium… And considering it’s not eating the sink … Most likely mercury...” suggested a Redditor.
One person claiming to be a chemical engineer comments that many of those warning the janitor might be exaggerating things, based on myths. They state that, based on the sizes of the small orbs in the post’s video, it’s very unlikely that it would cause any notable damage. “Metallic mercury won’t absorb through your skin at any rate that causes issues,” they explained.
It should be noted that gallium tends to leave a visible stain on one’s skin after physical contact, while mercury typically does not. And OP shared a photo of their finger after playing with the orb-shaped substance, which appeared ‘stainless.’
