Bismuth

[Nevermore]

Me and my kool ass self melted some bismuth, and poured it into water. This created some bismuth dust, and bismuth trioxide. How much should I worry about lung damage/death?

[ecoli]

Aren't those the sort of questions you are supposed to ask before you do something stupid?

[Nevermore]

Yes. Yes they are.

So then, about the health risks...

[woelen]

Fortunately bismuth is non-toxic, even in quite large quantities. So, no need to worry.

 

Next time, please think twice before you do something like this. If this were lead, then you could have been screwed!

 

Bismuth is quite remarkable in the sense that it non-toxic, while all surrounding elements in the periodic table are toxic, very toxic, or extremely toxic. This is a good thing of bismuth and makes experimenting with bismuth relatively safe.

 

Btw, what was the purpose/goal of your experiment?

[Nevermore]

Growing crystals.

So, this won't cut up my lungs or anything?

[woelen]

No, it won't cut up your lungs. It was a one-time exposure, and it is no worse than breathing any general dust for a single time. So, no need to worry.

 

Of course, if this happens many times, then it will be harmful, even maybe just of all the dust, but again, for a single time there is no need to worry.

 

Shock cooling of a liquid molten compound is not the best way to make crystals. By shock cooling you tend to obtain amorphous compounds, or polycrystalline compounds, consisting of very small irregularly ordered crystals. Making good large uniform crystals requires very slow cooling.

[Nevermore]

Thank you very much, woolen. I'll try again with my newfound knowledge and a gas mask.

[jdurg]

Making good large uniform crystals requires very slow cooling.

Exactly! This is why you typically don't think of metals as crystalline substances. The melting point of most metals is so remarkably high that when you quit heating a molten metal it generally solidifies very quickly and is unable to form nice crystals. The crystals it does form are so small and mixed together that the metal as a whole looks like one large mass.

 

Cesium metal, which has a low melting point, does form some beautiful crystals. The cesium that I have readily melts and re-solidifies so I can see the very beautiful crystals that it tends to form. Gallium doesn't really form great crystals since it tends to supercool which makes crystal forming quite tough.

 

For most metals you can get quite beautiful crystal formation, but it takes quite a bit of effort and results in a much higher price for those metals.