by Daniel E. Walsh Author of Our Sunday "History & Reflections" Series
Ah, those duck and cover days! The specters of atomic explosions and celluloid monsters hovered in the imagination of American youth. Anything was possible with chemicals. We went to schools with asbestos insulation. Lived in houses painted with lead paint. Ashtrays sat on every table. Every once and a while some kid would show up with a dollop of mercury. Great fun with chemistry!
Mercury really was fun and interesting. When kids poured the silvery substance from one hand to the other, they would marvel at its magical properties. This was a liquid metal that would bead and then reform. You almost had to chase the beads like a pack of puppies to get them back together.
The uses would be talked about. There was mercury in a host of electrical devices. Thermometers may have been the biggest source; kids would break them just to get the mercury inside. The metal was known to be in dental fillings. The fact that there was a planet with the same name and a Mercury dime heightened the general mystique for kids.
Not that the authorities exactly condoned playing with the metal and its procurement, but the stuff was easy to get. Tincture of Mercurochrome, a diabolical reddish liquid with valid medical uses, was slathered on scrapes and cuts. The stuff burned so that the pain of the injury paled in comparison. We would avoid the treatment if we could get away with it.
While the culture as a whole can’t really remove all danger from a child’s world, the rising realization of this chemical as a particularly menacing poison caused an awakening. Amando Kapauan, a scientist from the Philippines, raised the alarm about mercury in the early 1970s. That this innocent fun substance would find its way onto the dinner table really brought home the message - literally.
Mercury stays in your body for the rest of your life. Mercury was found in the hair of Isaac Newton. Sir Isaac, when not ensconced under an apple tree, spent hours in laboratories in close quarters with the chemical.
Another tidbit about the chemical (known on the element table as Hg) is that mercury caused the term mad hatter. Mercury was used in the manufacture of hats. A process that was known as “carroting” was employed to separate fur from the animal pelts that the hats were shaped from. There was an effect on the hatters; they would become loopy and irrational as the mercury soaked into their systems. Some time would pass before the connection was made and the practice was banned. In the interim, the conventional wisdom was that hatting attracted folks who were inclined to be sort of nutty.
The mad, lackadaisical stewardship of mercury and other chemical wonders has passed. What was once deemed harmless fun is now looked upon quite differently. Today’s parents would be horrified to see their youngsters trailing behind a mosquito fogging truck on their Schwinns, for instance. Back then, half-hearted admonitions and warm chuckles from adults would swirl around in the fog with the bicyclists.
Such stunts like handling mercury and other screwball antics will always be a part of growing up. Actions have been made, however, to minimize potential harm when that harm is recognized. Mercury is now looked upon as a dangerous poison that especially should not be handled as we did.
To be fair, chemicals have made life better in many ways—think of breakthroughs in medicines. At times, though, there is an uneasy alliance between the benefits and the harmful aspects. The very institutions that heal us – hospitals - are significant producers of mercury waste in Massachusetts.
In those days of yesteryear*, science seemed to be in a headlong rush to find the ultimate destructive weapon; to create maximum consternation**. In our hurry to compete with the other side, we may have overlooked trivial matters such as the ready availability of mercury. Lately, the focus has appeared to have shifted to the importance of such small things and their impact on the whole. A complete breakdown of all matters mercury can be seen at MassDEP. The length and breadth of this topic is as surprising as it is exhaustive. Another tidbit--If it is true that there are more scientists alive today than have ever existed through time***. Let’s listen to them for a change.
*from the introduction to The Lone Ranger
** General William Westmoreland, commander of armed forces at the height of the Vietnam War
*** The author confesses ignorance as to the source of this quote (I’ve forgotten, maybe the mercury I handled had an effect).
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