On Tue, 17 Jun 2008, Apptech wrote:
> 2.    When I was very young (memories of AA Milne book title 
> flit across hind brain) I bit a thermometer and swallowed 
> the mercury. It appeared to do no harm, although some would 
> say that ... .

Luckily the biggest risk is inhaling the fumes which go right into the 
bloodstream.  Swallowing it is actually safer than breathing it, go 
figure.

Plutonium and many other radioactives are similar.  If you ate some 
plutonium you would end up dying from it's chemical toxicity but not be 
too harmed otherwise. :-)

There was a recorded case of a worker swallowing a pellet of Am-232 at a 
factory that makes smoke detectors.  Passed through intact and was just 
fine.  What I want to know is HOW do you do that by accident? 

--
Ian Smith
www.ian.org
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