Sciencemadness Discussion Board

I'm scared

tahallium - 28-2-2020 at 17:36

I'm really sorry but please I need to post this
I opened a lead-acid car battery last week and I used a kitchen axe to open the battery I didn't remember if I touched the lead with it or not but my stupid sister used the axe for cutting an omelette and I'm really angry cuz she didn't even wash it what should I do? I took a blood test but it's just about the red blood cells and anemia and I was okay
How can I know if we're poisoned

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

B(a)P - 28-2-2020 at 17:49

A lethal dose of lead is about 450 mg/kg body weight. So multiple that out for you and your family and think about how much lead that is that would have needed to have been stuck to your axe, then have been transferred to you food. I think you should also be angry at yourself for using kitchen utensils for chemistry. Most important lesson here is make some changes so that you have clear separation between your hobby and dinner plate.

Tacticalnuke101 - 28-2-2020 at 17:54

It is unlikely that whatever lead residue resided on the axe would be dangerous. However you should watch out for symptoms of lead poisoning in the next few months.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisonin...

If any symptoms show up, get medical attention immediately

Additionally you should always ensure laboratory equipment is kept away from food and drink and inform anyone who might even has a fraction of a chance to accidentally use it.

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by Tacticalnuke101]

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by Tacticalnuke101]

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by Tacticalnuke101]

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by Tacticalnuke101]

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by Tacticalnuke101]

tahallium - 28-2-2020 at 18:08

I'm really sorry I know what I did was wrong and I'm scared if there's arsenic or thallium or cadmium not just lead the axe btw doesn't have Sharp edges I'm just so nervous right now
Can I give everyone EDTA?

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

Abromination - 28-2-2020 at 18:42

Quote: Originally posted by tahallium  
I'm really sorry I know what I did was wrong and I'm scared if there's arsenic or thallium or cadmium not just lead the axe btw doesn't have Sharp edges I'm just so nervous right now
Can I give everyone EDTA?

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

Although it was stupid to use kitchen tools, its even stupider to panic. You arent helping yourself by doing that. Besides, you will probably be fine anyways.

Texium - 28-2-2020 at 18:51

First of all... kitchen axe? You know what, no, never mind.

As others have pointed out, there wouldn’t be enough lead transferred even in the worst case scenario for it to be harmful. I wouldn’t worry about it. Don’t go eating EDTA or giving it to your family. Given your obvious incompetence with chemicals you’d probably just hurt yourself somehow.

Seems like the only condition you have is chemical hypochondria, based on everything you’ve posted so far between this thread and the other one, where clearly the multiple assurances that you received about there not being any arsenic in car batteries hasn’t sunk in at all.

Based on your username, your current mood, and your posts so far, it looks like you are overly interested in the most toxic elements and you’re pretending to be afraid when really you relish the “thrill” of potentially exposing yourself, and the attention that it can get you here.

If you want to prove that you actually care about chemistry, ditch the car battery and learn to work with some more benign compounds like those of copper and iron before you touch anything with lead in it again.

j_sum1 - 28-2-2020 at 19:08

Lead acetate used to be used by the Romans to sweeten wine. Dumb idea with what we know now but it wasn't instant death either.

I avoid working with lead and I take precautions when I do. But I am not scared of it either.

Tex is right. Until you get you skill and knowledge levels up, you should try a different beginner project. If only for your sanity rather than to mitigate any actual risk. Copper is a wonderful start and a lot more interesting than lead too. Or get hold of some Al powder and try your hand at some thermite reactions like I did. Maybe do some electrolysis. I made my own sulfuric acid for a year. Or switch to a carbon zinc batter and make it a challenge to isolate as many pure compounds as you can from it. Or disassemble some fireworks and isolate the components. Or distill some hardware store products for solvents. Or isolate acetylsalicylic acid from aspirin. Ir perform extractions on plant materials. Or create and test your own indicators from fruits, vegetables and flowers. Or just about anything except savaging a car battery with kitchen utensils.

Velzee - 28-2-2020 at 21:21

Please don’t go using easily mistaken kitchen components for chemical experiments. You’ll destroy them more than likely, and can do things like this; contaminating yourself or others.

DraconicAcid - 28-2-2020 at 23:33

Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)  
First of all... kitchen axe? You know what, no, never mind.


What else would you use to cut an omelette? You can't make an omelette without chopping down a few eggs.

(Actually, I can see there being an axe in the kitchen if they have a wood-fired stove, like my grandmother used for many years.)

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by DraconicAcid]

tahallium - 29-2-2020 at 04:28

Thanks everybody
((((First of all I USED TAHALLIUM just because my real name is TAHA ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯))) find me on Instagram and you'll understand (DON'T FOLLOW ME)
maybe I overreacted a little but I started doing chemistry two years ago I just ask about toxic substances not to make them or get them I just want to make sure I'm not doing something really dangerous (I really don't want to work with arsenic compounds)

I melted some zinc from a carbon zinc battery and I'm nervous even though there's 0% cadmium Mercury

IMG_20191221_162829_563.jpg - 72kB

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

fusso - 29-2-2020 at 07:30

Use an AXE to cut omelette?! dont u have any knives?

GreenJames - 29-2-2020 at 09:06

I think the biggest take away from this is to NEVER let your chemistry and your food cross. Always use separate equipment for your hobby. Beakers, stir rods, lab spatulas, etc. aren't just for aesthetics (although they are pretty aesthetic), their design is distinct from kitchen and other utensils to avoid cross contamination (as well as just being much better for chemistry). My advice is: Pick up some lab utensils online, they aren't overly expensive if you know where to look, and NEVER and I repeat NEVER EVER use anything from your kitchen for your chemistry and vice versa. Your health is worth some money spent on specialized tools.

PS: An axe seems a bit excessive for an omelette, but that could just be me. :P

[Edited on 2-29-2020 by GreenJames]

Abromination - 29-2-2020 at 09:29

Quote: Originally posted by tahallium  
Thanks everybody
((((First of all I USED TAHALLIUM just because my real name is TAHA ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯))) find me on Instagram and you'll understand (DON'T FOLLOW ME)
maybe I overreacted a little but I started doing chemistry two years ago I just ask about toxic substances not to make them or get them I just want to make sure I'm not doing something really dangerous (I really don't want to work with arsenic compounds)

I melted some zinc from a carbon zinc battery and I'm nervous even though there's 0% cadmium Mercury



[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by tahallium]

If you are nervous about melting zinc, maybe you should choose a different hobby. Thats one of the most benign things I can think of, and even if there was some amounts of a heavy metal it wouldn't be a problem. Most of us hobbies work with toxic substances all the time, and are never scared of it because we know there is no reason to and we know what we are doing.
You arent going to kill yourself by melting pennies.

wg48temp9 - 29-2-2020 at 10:12

Quote: Originally posted by GreenJames  
I think the biggest take away from this is to NEVER let your chemistry and your food cross. Always use separate equipment for your hobby. Beakers, stir rods, lab spatulas, etc. aren't just for aesthetics (although they are pretty aesthetic), their design is distinct from kitchen and other utensils to avoid cross contamination (as well as just being much better for chemistry). My advice is: Pick up some lab utensils online, they aren't overly expensive if you know where to look, and NEVER and I repeat NEVER EVER use anything from your kitchen for your chemistry and vice versa. Your health is worth some money spent on specialized tools.

PS: An axe seems a bit excessive for an omelette, but that could just be me. :P

[Edited on 2-29-2020 by GreenJames]


That is excellent advice. But if you do use somthing from your kitchen in your chemistry hobby you should clean it before placing in back in the kitchen or better yet do not return it to kitchen use and store it in a safe place so that it can not be used by anyone else in the kitchen.

Though I hesitate to mention it melting zinc to a high temperature can produce zinc vapour or zinc oxide dust which if inhaled can give you metal fume fever

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever

"Metal fume fever is a condition in which the sufferer has influenza type symptoms - a raised temperature, chills, aches and pains, nausea and dizziness. It is caused by exposure to the fume of certain metals - commonly zinc. ... The symptoms start to appear several hours after exposure."

Scary Stuff

sodium_stearate - 29-2-2020 at 10:29

I am scared too. All of this talk about kitchen axes
and cutting omlettes. Very scary!:o

Syn the Sizer - 29-2-2020 at 11:31

Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)  
First of all... kitchen axe? You know what, no, never mind.


It says they are from Tunisia, probably just a local term for kitchen knife.

arkoma - 29-2-2020 at 13:43

probably not much to worry about anyone following YOU

tahallium - 29-2-2020 at 13:46

Yes it was an axe and yes she used it for the first time to cut an omelette and it makes me angry I don't know how her brain works
I used the axe to cut the battery case cuz it's so hard
She didn't wash it
I put it outside for now and it's much dirtier in the picture

Screenshot_2020-02-29-22-46-07.png - 2.5MB

DraconicAcid - 29-2-2020 at 14:09

That would be a cleaver in English. But that's really overkill for an omelette.

tahallium - 29-2-2020 at 14:09

I KNOW RIGHT??

andy1988 - 29-2-2020 at 15:21

Unlikely any lead residue remained on your axe.

Sounds like you already saw a doctor given you took tests. No EDTA. Too much of the wrong form of EDTA may stop your heart by chelating calcium.

If it would make you feel better, purchase and consume a handful of Brazil nuts. I see Tunisia exports them. Brazil nuts are usually rich in Selenium, which is antagonistic against lead... allowing your body to better excrete. Your body also handles trace amounts of heavy/toxic metals via enzymes all the time, you'll be fine.

tahallium - 29-2-2020 at 16:46

Thanks Andy you've been so helpful

Herr Haber - 2-3-2020 at 04:57

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)  
First of all... kitchen axe? You know what, no, never mind.


What else would you use to cut an omelette? You can't make an omelette without chopping down a few eggs.

(Actually, I can see there being an axe in the kitchen if they have a wood-fired stove, like my grandmother used for many years.)

[Edited on 29-2-2020 by DraconicAcid]


To chop eggs ok.
But if you need an axe to cut an omelette you probably made it wrong anyway :)

Chemi Pharma - 4-3-2020 at 07:11

Quote: Originally posted by sodium_stearate  
I am scared too. All of this talk about kitchen axes
and cutting omlettes. Very scary!:o


I'm scared too. Never seen so much imbecility! Cut an omlet with an axe already demonstrates what you do with chemicals. Be careful to not explode yourself!

sodium_stearate - 4-3-2020 at 08:08

Quote: Originally posted by Chemi Pharma  
Quote: Originally posted by sodium_stearate  
I am scared too. All of this talk about kitchen axes
and cutting omlettes. Very scary!:o


I'm scared too. Never seen so much imbecility! Cut an omlet with an axe already demonstrates what you do with chemicals. Be careful to not explode yourself!



Never seen such imbecility? Oh come on now!
We have seen much worse. We see it all the time.
One positive thing we can all learn from this thread
is not to use kitchen utensils for chemistry.

And, if you do use kitchen utensils for chemistry,
please by all means thoroughly clean them before
using them again for anything food related.

And before you start mouthing off in regards to
my methods, just try making what I make some time
and getting it right. If you ever bother to try that,
that will serve to quiet you up real good!

outer_limits - 4-3-2020 at 11:25

My girlfriend always complains that I've took something from the kitchen and it haven't returned... There are some rules that have to be set. Otherwise you risk that some day you will get sure that you hadn't clean the stuff as good, as you thought

XeonTheMGPony - 8-3-2020 at 05:44

whiew, makes me feel better at using a Bangalore torpedo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_torpedo) to cut my steak with! if some one is using an "axe" to cut a simple omelet!

I handle lead, and mercury a lot, the trace amounts you dealing with there are of zero concern.

You need to learn more, fear is the resualt of ignorance, correct that ignorance and the fear is replaced with respect.

I have a good many absolute lethal things with death a s a certainty if they are miss handled they are respected but I do not fear them in the least, because fear makes you a dangerous person in handling materials.

IMO There is no such thing as a dangerous substance or object, only a dangerous person!


On a serious side note, where I am from a large machete is considered a kitchen aid!

[Edited on 8-3-2020 by XeonTheMGPony]

tahallium - 8-3-2020 at 09:12

Quote: Originally posted by XeonTheMGPony  
whiew, makes me feel better at using a Bangalore torpedo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_torpedo) to cut my steak with! if some one is using an "axe" to cut a simple omelet!

I handle lead, and mercury a lot, the trace amounts you dealing with there are of zero concern.

You need to learn more, fear is the resualt of ignorance, correct that ignorance and the fear is replaced with respect.



I have a good many absolute lethal things with death a s a certainty if they are miss handled they are respected but I do not fear them in the least, because fear makes you a dangerous person in handling materials.

IMO There is no such thing as a dangerous substance or object, only a dangerous person!


On a serious side note, where I am from a large machete is considered a kitchen aid!

[Edited on 8-3-2020 by XeonTheMGPony]





Thank you so much xeon you really don't know how much I was freaking out and your text calmed me down so much

[Edited on 8-3-2020 by tahallium]

XeonTheMGPony - 9-3-2020 at 16:29

As others have said, simply be diligent in cleaning tools right away, and short of chewing a chunk of lead every day the trace amounts will be of no issue.

Sadly now days the world has become hysterical over things like lead, mercury, and other chemicals.

When I was young we'd be allowed to play with mercury in school chem class, and make lead frames for stained glass in arts, now days a drip of mercury they'd evacuate the school and send in hazmat, mercury is the same then as it is now, but people in general have become dumber!

But it is still wise to avoid handling these compounds too much unnecessarily, as lots of exposure continuously is what will give you troubles in the long run.

tahallium - 9-3-2020 at 18:32

I KNOW RIGHT?
I read in Wikipedia that The main use of arsenic is in alloying with lead. Lead components in car batteries are strengthened by the presence of a very small percentage of arsenic. and that's why I freaked out, but what you said is right
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic?wprov=sfla1


‘A century ago, if you had a laboratory at home you weren’t a terrorist or making drugs, you were an innovator – someone who was exceptional in the pursuit of knowledge,’ says Lou Britton, who started doing chemistry at home in the US state of Ohio at the age of 13. ‘We’ve gone from creators to destroyers, and chemistry has been villainised.’ (I don't know what I posted this)

[Edited on 10-3-2020 by tahallium]

Chemi Pharma - 13-3-2020 at 06:21

Oh! :o I'm so scared:o Do you know an ugly man tried to break into my laboratory early this morning saying that since today is Friday the 13th he would cut me with an axe soaked with the liquid from an old battery containing lead and arsenic? I don't know if I should be more scared by tetanus that I can be contaminated for by the rusty axe or by the liquid from the old battery that lead and arsenic has almost nothing.

Moral of the story: Be afraid of what can really hurt you, otherwise your imagination and your fears could actually kill you!

Herr Haber - 13-3-2020 at 07:52

Well, I'll be in Tunis next week for work.

I'll be bringing back some minerals and leaving the lead and arsenic if I can.

XeonTheMGPony - 15-3-2020 at 04:40

I'll take the lead please! My largest regret moving is I left 100 pounds of my lead stock to a friend, and my ultra pure lead back in BC when I moved.

Man do I miss the ultra pure for making lead salts. I hope that friend enjoyed the quality of bullet he got from that!!!!!!!

He made old style muskets and cast pure lead rounds for them to mimic ye olden days

Going to have to buy a few dozen buckets of tire weights and refine it to lead of moderate purity, that is going to be tedious when it comes.

BTY High velocity lead poisoning is very acute and dangerous! all ways avoid that form at all costs! Usually can be don by being vigilant of surroundings and paying attention to the world around you.

tahallium - 16-3-2020 at 16:26

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber  
Well, I'll be in Tunis next week for work.

I'll be bringing back some minerals and leaving the lead and arsenic if I can.


It'll be amazing to meet a chemist in rl! Can we meet?

Herr Haber - 21-3-2020 at 00:25

Unfortunately I was supposed to land on the 16th...
So the trip was cancelled !!