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Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

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Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#51

Post by OutOfHere »

SoftTalker wrote: post #27
gavinward wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Hydrofluoric acid is probably the substance you're describing which leaches the calcium out of your bones. It will certainly burn you too though. It's a common byproduct from heating fluorinated gases and is sometimes used in its own right for wet etching. As an aside, I love it when they tell you in the safety WBT what the highly toxic gas smells like.

HF is released in lithium ion battery fires. Just one reason why the correct response to such a fire is GTFO as fast as you can.

Rechargeable lithium batteries pose a higher risk than single-use lithium batteries. Only the rechargeable ones have a thermal runaway hazard. I figured it was wise to get rid of old rechargeable lithium batteries that I no longer need or use.

Fwiw, there is a BurnBuster brand of fire extinguisher for stopping lithium runaway. See ASIN B0DZ9R7Q51. It is a ripoff but probably good to have.

Single use ones too can contain fluorine, but not the runaway risk. Nevertheless, they require significant care to avoid shorting during storage. Never store them loose or where they can contact each other. Tape them well from all sides, and put them in a sealed ziploc bag before disposing.

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#52

Post by weberer »

peri-cl wrote: post #46
Finnucane wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently the article was, in fact, trolling with inaccurate speculative 'information.'

The deleted post was a "Dear Colleagues" letter written by an MIT chemistry faculty member. It's the same letter posted here: https://old.reddit.com/r/labrats/comments/1w1ukrv/mit_studen... ( "A message sent out from the chair of the department of chemistry..." )

>Log in to use old Reddit

>To keep Reddit safe, accounts are required to access old Reddit.

God, I hate that horrible website. How does this keep people "safe"

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#53

Post by weberer »

rdtsc wrote: post #36

Can someone who knows a thing or two about chemistry explain why one would need to synthesize or purchase this chemical. Given that it involves a student I'll take "because of bragging rights to impress everyone" as a valid response, but wondering if it has any value is otherwise? Is it one of those "well despite its danger it's still the best at X, Y and Z and nothing else comes even close"?

It can theoretically be used as rocket fuel.

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#54

Post by SoftTalker »

peri-cl wrote: post #46
Finnucane wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently the article was, in fact, trolling with inaccurate speculative 'information.'

The deleted post was a "Dear Colleagues" letter written by an MIT chemistry faculty member. It's the same letter posted here: https://old.reddit.com/r/labrats/comments/1w1ukrv/mit_studen... ( "A message sent out from the chair of the department of chemistry..." )

Sadly old.reddit.com has started requiring a login now. It worked for me up until today. Another site off the reading list, unless someone knows a workaround (I tried deleting cookies).

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#55

Post by advisedwang »

tptacek wrote: post #49
peri-cl wrote: post #38

Derek Lowe has comments about this incident, https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/alleged-dimethylme... ( "The Alleged Dimethylmercury Incident" ) Seems the initial reporting may have been misleading. There was apparently *no* dimethylmercury exposure, after all: and MIT doubts it was synthesized in the first place.

She had very high levels of mercury in her blood, and all attempts at chelation therapy to remove it were ineffective. That’s surely because it had spread throughout her body by the time the problem was recognized, but frankly no one can be sure if there were any measures that could have been effective enough after the initial exposure. Is this accurate? I read the original Wetterhahn report (it's the first search re…

I think the article meant "ineffective" as in "it didn't save her life", not "it didn't do anything".

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#56

Post by ac29 »

recursivecaveat wrote: post #33
manarth wrote: post #11

Other "sources" (using the word loosely as their provenance is unclear) > "based on the information available, this was a localized issue with only one student directly exposed. Their reported use of dimethyl mercury was unauthorized. MIT does not allow the purchase or synthesis of dimethyl mercury." [1] Karen Wetterhahn's exposure and death [3] is a cautionary tale of the extreme toxicity of dimethyl mercury, and wa…

> Less than 0.1 mL is capable of inducing severe mercury poisoning resulting in death Holy hell. I would've have believed it was possible for a non-biological substance to be so toxic.

the methyl groups make it organic chemistry (and dangerous), elemental mercury is fairly safe

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#57

Post by amluto »

tptacek wrote: post #49
peri-cl wrote: post #38

Derek Lowe has comments about this incident, https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/alleged-dimethylme... ( "The Alleged Dimethylmercury Incident" ) Seems the initial reporting may have been misleading. There was apparently *no* dimethylmercury exposure, after all: and MIT doubts it was synthesized in the first place.

She had very high levels of mercury in her blood, and all attempts at chelation therapy to remove it were ineffective. That’s surely because it had spread throughout her body by the time the problem was recognized, but frankly no one can be sure if there were any measures that could have been effective enough after the initial exposure. Is this accurate? I read the original Wetterhahn report (it's the first search re…

Here’s an interesting article suggesting that selenium and acetylcysteine may be superior to succimer:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24734306.2020.1...

There are also some studies suggesting that the amount of excess mercury in fish compared to selenium may be more relevant than the absolute mercury concentration in causing potential toxicity.

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#58

Post by dooglius »

dang wrote: post #25
manarth wrote: post #19

Related thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49484912

(since merged hither)

Out of curiosity, does this reset/modify the timestamps of the old posts? I was confused at reading comments from "hours ago" I thought for sure I'd read days ago.

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#59

Post by peri-cl »

SoftTalker wrote: post #54
peri-cl wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The deleted post was a "Dear Colleagues" letter written by an MIT chemistry faculty member. It's the same letter posted here: https://old.reddit.com/r/labrats/comments/1w1ukrv/mit_studen... ( "A message sent out from the chair of the department of chemistry..." )

Sadly old.reddit.com has started requiring a login now. It worked for me up until today. Another site off the reading list, unless someone knows a workaround (I tried deleting cookies).

Ahh, that was thoughtless of me!

> "A message sent out from the chair of the department of chemistry at the school identifying the substance in question:"

> "“Dear Chemistry Colleagues,"

> "I am writing to provide an update on efforts to reopen Building 18 safely."

> "A specialized team from Triumvirate Environmental worked overnight on decontamination efforts in the building. This work includes wipe-downs of relevant surfaces in the lab and common areas, as well as the safe disposal of items that may have been contaminated. Decontamination work will continue throughout the day, and the building will remain closed until the work is complete."

> "In addition to our health and safety experts, we have been working continuously with staff and colleagues from departments across the Institute. Our highest priority is community safety, and we continue to make decisions accordingly and gather as much information as we can."

> "It remains the case that, based on the information available, this was a localized issue with only one student directly exposed, and this student was the individual working with the compound. Their reported use of dimethyl mercury was unauthorized. MIT does not allow the purchase or synthesis of dimethyl mercury."

> "I want to reiterate that, based on the information available to me, our industrial hygienists, MIT Health medical experts, and other resources we've consulted, the risk of secondary or tertiary exposures remains low, given the compound's characteristics and the information available to us."

> "Please feel free to reach out with questions. I will continue to provide regular updates as we learn and have more to share."

> "With care and regards,"

> "Matt Shoulders”"

Re: Dimethyl Mercury Exposure Incident at MIT

#60

Post by dang »

dooglius wrote: post #58
dang wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(since merged hither)

Out of curiosity, does this reset/modify the timestamps of the old posts? I was confused at reading comments from "hours ago" I thought for sure I'd read days ago.

Yes. The re-upping system is described at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308 and links back from there. About the timestamps, there are past explanations here: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que.... I hope that will make sense.

Sorry for the confusion—I know it's weird but the alternative turns out to be even more confusing and we've never figured out how to square that circle!

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