• @Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      62 months ago

      I’m not an expert, but from what little I remember: mercury doesn’t immediately kill you like other poisons. What it does do is build up in your body until it hits a tipping point and starts causing problems. Your body has no way to process or get rid of it. Which was why accumulations of it in seafood was a big deal because eat enough of it, even in tiny amounts over a long time, and it starts to mess you up. The amount of mercury that you would be exposed to by breathing near an open source would be minimal I imagine. Or something like that. Like I said. Not an expert. Better to just stay away from it entirely, I’m sure.

      • @geissi@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        12 months ago

        Ah, I see.
        You meant he didn’t die immediately from touching it.
        I misread that.