How dangerous is mercury poisoning?

What would happen if I drank the mercury from a thermometer? Would I die? How much mercury is too much? I heard that even if you inhale a little mercury, your teeth can fall out. Is this true? And if you already have mercury built up in your body, how do you get rid of it?

It is said that drinking or handling elemental mercury is somewhat harmless, due to mercury's solid state... it would pass through the digestive system without being broken down by the body.

However, the chance of breathing in mercury vapor/droplets, being that the mouth is just under the nose, is quite high and this is where the real danger exists. Also, you would have to break apart a thermometer to expose the mercury... this could be a process that would also release mercury droplets into the air to make them an airborne risk.

Yes, inhaling elemental mercury can make your gums bleed and probably onset further infection/irratation to eventually having the teeth loosen. I wouldn't worry about the teeth though, brain and other serious organ damage would likely occur. If in case of mercury poisoning, a level of body detox would be performed by medical procedures. But, it's highly likely that damage would already be done. It all depends upon the "dose" of mercury inhaled and I'm not qualified to say what dose is relatively safe or not.

Thanks for the vote and wrapping this up! :) Report It

ahhhh does mercury really make your teeth fall out! omg i need to get rid of my thermostat! thanks for the update!