Some fun with Gallium.

[jdurg]

Gallium has a very low melting point. The heat of the light bulbs in the area, especially if they were photographry light bulbs, is enough to make it molten. Gallium and Indium will combine to form a liquid alloy at room temperature. So the heat from the lightbulbs melted the gallium, and the gallium then attacked the indium. This is why gallium requires Hazmat shipping in large quantities. (Since if the Ga melted during transportation and leaked out of the container, it could alloy with any metal in site and create some serious problems).

 

But what you have is a Gallium/Indium alloy. Neat stuff, but it makes a mess. As for my ingestion, it wasn't a whole bottle. It was a little nub about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen.

[EL]

Gallium and Indium will combine to form a liquid alloy at room temperature.

Is that room in Central Gabon or in North Finland?

[Erlenmeyer]

No problem DQW. I know what you mean! The same thing has happened to me before which is what prompted me to find a cheaper source.

[weldermanx]

rofl why in the hell would you eat gallium.... any doctor will tell you and excess of any of the transition metals in your body.. any metals in general will kill you... that just stupid... by the way... howd it taste?

[YT2095]

since when was Gallium a Transition metal???

[BenSon]

rofl why in the hell would you eat gallium.... any doctor will tell you and excess of any of the transition metals in your body.. any metals in general will kill you... that just stupid... by the way... howd it taste?

Transition metals are only dangerous when they exceed a certain amount within the body, <1mg or so of Gallium is hardly a lethal dose, But yeah what did it taste like?

 

~Scott

[EL]

But yeah what did it taste like?

 

~Scott

Gallium?

[woelen]

Transition metals are only dangerous when they exceed a certain amount within the body' date=' <1mg or so of Gallium is hardly a lethal dose, But yeah what did it taste like?

 

~Scott[/quote']

Since when is gallium a transition metal?

[YT2095]

LOL, Woelen, see post #80

[BenSon]

Since when is gallium a transition metal?

I never said Gallium was a transition metal, I said that transition metals were only dangerous when they get past a certain concentration in the body. And that <1mg is not a lethal does of Gallium. I suggest you read more throughly.

 

~Scott

[woelen]

LOL, Woelen, see post #80

I missed that . In my browser it was in the second last list of posts and I clicked the last list .

[woelen]

I never said Gallium was a transition metal' date=' I said that transition metals were only dangerous when they get past a certain concentration in the body. And that <1mg is not a lethal does of Gallium. I suggest you read more throughly.

 

~Scott[/quote']

I would say, think over again your own formulation of the original sentence... to my opinion it is ambiguous at best.

 

But I would suggest to stop this divergence from the topic, it's not worth the hassle, cold hearts and hot heads it may generate .

[YT2095]

Learned from Yoda he did!

 

anyway, kinda back to topic, Indium is said to be nontoxic as a metal (most places state this), and yet its compounds can be, well that`s fair enough, but when you consider that handling Indium will create these compounds (oxides and chlorides) how can it be non toxic?

 

I`ve heard that Mercury is the same, you could actualy drink it, and you`re only screwed if you inhale any of the vapors.

 

any truth in this?

[woelen]

Learned from Yoda he did!

 

anyway' date=' kinda back to topic, Indium is said to be nontoxic as a metal (most places state this), and yet its compounds can be, well that`s fair enough, but when you consider that handling Indium will create these compounds (oxides and chlorides) how can it be non toxic?

 

I`ve heard that Mercury is the same, you could actualy drink it, and you`re only screwed if you inhale any of the vapors.

 

any truth in this?[/quote']

For indium I don't know, but for mercury I also read this. I can imagine that, because liquid mercury is quite inert and does not react with any of the body fluids in sufficient amounts, while inhaling of vapors results in exposure to very finely divided mercury (at atom level), which can react (e.g. with oxygen and then with salty water or with all kinds of organics). But this is just my own guess. For sure, although people tell this about mercury, I would never ever ingest some of it .

[YT2095]

I cite Wikipedia for one of the sources on the Indium material, I must admit it left me somewhat confused.

 

read all of it sure, but particularly the "Precautions" section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium

[DQW]

Yes, this is true of both indium and mercury - both of them are hardly toxic in the pure elemental form, but both form very toxic oxides.

[YT2095]

so if you were to liken Induim as a toxic metal to another toxic metal, what would it be?

[DQW]

When handling indium, you need only be careful if dealing with powder or dust. I've made a few indium o-ring seals in the course of my work, and for safety and to prevent contamination, I wear gloves, but that's as far as I go in terms of precaution.

 

I would - if at all - liken it to bismuth. Even though bismuth is toxic by itself, you need to be most careful when handling powders or dust (as the room temperature vapor pressure of both metals is way below concern levels).

 

As far as toxicity goes, indium is still something of a question mark; so it's rarely a bad move to be more careful than prescribed.

[YT2095]

this will come as a solid metal "ingot", and although I couldn`t agree more with erring on the side of caution (I have a baby daughter to think about), I`de still like to able to understand this metal and explore it. just wondered what would be a familiar metal I could compare it to for handling, I considered Lead, but am as yet unsure.

[jdurg]

Actually, Bismuth is completely non-toxic. Bismuth is a key component of Pepto Bismol in the form of Bismuth subsalicylate. So in an ionic form or metallic form, Bismuth really poses no health risk.

[weldermanx]

oops crap i hate when i make stupid mistakes

sorry YT2095 and anyone else gallium is a metaloid im just trying to emphasise the fact that too much of anything is not good just what my teacher told me last year "dont eat the elements"

[DQW]

Actually, Bismuth is completely non-toxic. Bismuth is a key component of Pepto Bismol in the form of Bismuth subsalicylate. So in an ionic form or metallic form, Bismuth really poses no health risk.

Hmm. I've been told to keep in mind that Bi is stightly toxic. Never bothered to look it up....until now :

http://www.sciencestuff.com/msds/C1309.html

http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/BI/bismuth.html

 

The first link suggests negative effects, but the second says there's no toxicity. Perhaps the reaction with gastric acid is the problem ?

[weldermanx]

how is bismuth toxic its semi pure stae is one of the ingredients of pepto bismol.. i gues you can overdose on it (nasea heartburn indigestion upset stomach diaharea! YAY PEPTO....LOL

[weldermanx]

hey if anyone here needs some bismuth or gallium i think theres a few entries on ebay

[EL]

not even noticed.