I'm an idiot

So i was housecleaning today and moved my batteries, i had a few film canisters with some 123 cells in them. Popped one open and though "what's that smell?" so i stuck my nose in it and took a whiff....when i realized it was probably something bad like lithium gas or whatever. I have a bit of a headache, but is this going to make me even dumber than i already am? Also, does that mean the batteries went bad or something?

Think before you stick your nose in things....:green:

I would suggest you contact the nearest poison control center. I do not know what the risks are for what you did, but they will. I am including a link to find the nearest center. I've had to call them a couple of times and they have always offered great advise and it's free.
http://www.aapcc.org/findyourcenter.htm

Good luck

definitely get yourself checked out as soon as possible.

what brand were they?

As has been suggested, get yourself checked out.

However, if they were just CR123a cells, then they do give off a certain odour, which is particularly noticeable when they have been sealed in a container. As far as I know, this isn't the same thing as the highly dangerous results of a CR123a type cell venting/exploding.

Hopefully all will be well

Regards,
Tempest

scottaw said:

So i was housecleaning today and moved my batteries, i had a few film canisters with some 123 cells in them. Popped one open and though "what's that smell?" so i stuck my nose in it and took a whiff....when i realized it was probably something bad like lithium gas or whatever. I have a bit of a headache, but is this going to make me even dumber than i already am? Also, does that mean the batteries went bad or something?

Think before you stick your nose in things....:green:

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Dumber, no, Sterile, maybe. :green: We've called it flashahol around here for years, and some even delight in sniffing their tailcaps when changing cells!

Larry

I vividly remember a post some time back of someone who had done the same thing, felt a bit weird for a while, then thought he was feeling better only to get severe shakes and sickness after a few hours.
Definitely go get yourself checked.

Well, i had to go to work, it's been about 9 hours and i feel perfectly normal. It wasn't a "huff" or anything, just a quick whiff, so im gonna say im good, but man did i feel dumb.:duh2:

maybee you got a headache but at least not a heatattack

as far as i can tell they give lithium to people who have a high risk of getting a heartattack.

about being dumb.

i once replaced an AC dimmer while the current was still on.

i noticed that i was screwing down the screw(which carried 220v) with one finger on the bare screwdriver.

i did not feel a thing.

stupid me, i wet my finger with my lips and then touched it again: whoha i got zapped bigtime

it was the dry skin and my rubber shoes who were avoiding the current to flow, after my finger were wet it was real easy for the curent to flow i can tell you that.

flashahol is something so far no one has managed to figure out, mixed results with different people

Last time I slept with bare cells on my bedside table I had very sweet/beautiful dreams [] but woke up early 5AM with major sinus issues:shakehead

lock cells in ziploc bags and hey....it werks:tinfoil:

the cells do release an odor whether they are in storage or during discharge, being the fact [and know for a fact by newbie's technical thread] the cells are sealed, it leads me to believe the vent cap is a semiporous membrane, rather than a plastic sheet, that ruptures at 15psi or so [:thinking:] but does release gas even when its not ruptured

The issue of 'flashahol' has come up numerous times and I think the general consensus is that the odour is of diethyl ether, it is quite pungent and sweet and used to be used as an anaesthetic, it is still used in the lab for handling drosophila. 'Ether' also used to be a recreational drug in Victorian times as well, one of the lab assistants at uni told me that after decanting the stuff back into a larger bottle he felt extremely faint and had a throbbing head for some time.

Perhaps if you are quite susceptible to volatile organics I could understand you getting a headache from it. I smell it on my CR123s but have never experienced symptoms from odour.

Andrew

You should tell your wife to keep you under observation for a few hours. If she notices anything unusual, she should give you a piece of cheese and a glass of water.

Give your local crackhead a whiff. You WILL get a surprise response from him or her.

cdosrun said:

'Ether' also used to be a recreational drug in Victorian times as well..

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didn't know that....only thing I've used ether for [well, back then] was to take out frogs for dissection purposes

gravtyz said:

as far as i can tell they give lithium to people who have a high risk of getting a heartattack.

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So, because they put chlorine in drinking water then it is OK to open a bottle of pool chlorine and take a big whiff?:shakehead

Grow some balls!

You will be fine, no need for a checkout. Its not like you took a wiff of nitrogen dioxide.

a safety checkup is still recommended though...
sure a small dose wont kill you, but on the long term it may be more detrimental than preliminary speculations....especially with what lithium chemistry has to offer

WarezWally said:

Grow some balls!

You will be fine, no need for a checkout. Its not like you took a wiff of nitrogen dioxide.

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WarezWally said:

Grow some balls!

You will be fine, no need for a checkout.

Click to expand...

And what if he did get "checked out?" I mean, what if they were inclined to spend a few grand on brain scans and all that and finally came to the conclusion that, "Sorry, boy you really F-ed up your brain on that one!" What's the cure, anyway? Amputation?

Well, it's beena few days, i felt fine after a few hours, so im calling it good. Maybe next time i'll think first....but probably not.