Some time ago, we launched an article about mercury poisoning . After it was published, many readers reported that they had a better understanding of the harm of mercury poisoning, but this different message attracted our attention.
"Wearing cinnabar jewelry will cause poisoning?"
Indeed, processing cinnabar may cause poisoning, so what about wearing cinnabar jewelry? Today, we invited Lai Yan, director of the Department of Poisoning Medicine of Hunan Provincial Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Institute to answer this question.
Ask a question!
Will wearing cinnabar jewelry be poisoned?
If you want to answer this question, you must first understand: Why does cinnabar cause poisoning?
my country's cinnabar has a long history and is widely used in the fields of painting, metallurgy, etc. Among them, cinnabar produced by Xiangxi is famous all over the world for its bright color and unique cultural heritage. Most of them are used to make cultural relics and accessories today.
Lai Yan introduced that this beautiful cinnabar is a substance extracted from a red mercury sulfide mineral (HgS). Mercury sulfide is extremely difficult to dissolve, but after high temperature calcination, it will sublimate and decompose into severely toxic free mercury. If taken carelessly, inhaled, or directly exposed to free mercury, it may cause mercury poisoning, and in severe cases may even be fatal.
"Thus, cinnabar is indeed dangerous!"
"Not necessarily." Lai Yan explained that after the previous introduction, we can grasp a keyword: "high temperature". Generally speaking, the decomposition of mercury sulfide into mercury dioxide and its corresponding sulfides is about 300 degrees Celsius, while the decomposition of red mercury oxide requires 386 degrees Celsius.
In other words, when wearing cinnabar jewelry, the temperature reaches more than 300 degrees, which will make cinnabar sublimate and volatilize, and this temperature is almost impossible to encounter under normal wear.
But it is worth noting that the temperature of an ordinary lighter can reach 400-500 degrees Celsius, so if you hear something like "true cinnabar is not afraid of fire", please keep a clear mind.
Lai Yan reminds that no matter whether the content of cinnabar in the jewelry you wear is high or low, it must not be heated! At the same time, please keep the cinnabar jewelry as far as possible away from possible high temperature environments to avoid accidents.
puzzle revealed! Wearing cinnabar jewelry normally will not cause poisoning.
In addition to cinnabar jewelry, there is actually another jewelry that has been tied to "toxicity" for a long time. However, it is not that it is poisonous itself, but that everyone firmly believes that it can test the poison. Yes, it is the household name "silver jewelry".
Ask a question! Silver jewelry, can you really try the poison?
I believe you have seen it in many costume films and TV series. If it is inserted into the meal, it means that it is poisonous.
This example has also happened in daily life. Not long ago, a mother in Xi'an discovered that the silver bracelet on her baby's hand had turned black. She immediately thought of "silver needle test for poison", so she took the baby to the hospital for examination. It turned out that the baby's urine mercury really exceeded the standard several times! Now I believe in the "silver needle test poison".
But, is that really the case?
Lai Yan explained that the main reason why silver jewelry turns black is because silver will react with sulfur, resulting in black silver sulfide .
The commonly used "silver needle poison test" in ancient times was actually mostly arsenic, that is, arsenic trioxide. According to common sense, silver jewelry will not react with arsenic trioxide to form silver sulfide, but in ancient times, arsenic was mostly by-products after distillation of arsenic pyrite at high temperature, and arsenic pyrite is the sulfur arsenide of iron, which produces Most arsenic contains a large amount of sulfur or sulfide impurities. Therefore, when encountering such arsenic, it is difficult for the silver needle to remain dark.
"What's going on with the baby in Xi'an mentioned earlier?"
Lai Yan added that the sweat in the human body contains trace amounts of sulfur. If you wear silver jewelry for a long time, you will inevitably get exposed to a lot of sweat, and the silver jewelry will gradually turn black. It's right. Therefore, the mother in the previous article found that the baby was poisoned by accident, and mercury poisoning could not be detected.
puzzle revealed!
silver jewelry test poison? Can try, but only a little (sulphur).
In general, no matter whether the rumors are toxic or not, you can wear any jewelry purchased through regular channels with confidence. As for other special effects... you should choose to trust doctors, read more books, and read more newspapers. Eat less greasy and exercise more!
Xiaoxiang Morning News Reporter Xia Sheng Correspondent Wang Zhou
News clues and leaked news channel: Download the "Chen Video" client in the application market and enter the "Chenyi Help" special topic; or call the Chen Video News Hotline 0731-85571188.
