Heavy Metal Poisoning is a type of illness in DayZ.
Cause[]
Heavy Metal Poisoning is caused by consuming untreated snow or drinking water from hot springs on Sakhal. Using a Filtering Bottle or Chelating Tablets will allow you to consume snow without acquiring Heavy Metal Poisoning.
Symptoms[]
While suffering from a Heavy Metal Poisoning, survivors are subject to the following effects:
| Stage 1 | Hydration drain of 0.24/second (14.4/min) and frequent shivers. |
|---|---|
| Stage 2 | Hydration drain of 0.26-0.53 every second (15.6-31.7/min). Slower stamina regeneration and random moments of impaired hearing, blur and pain sounds. |
| Stage 3 | Health drain of 0.003-0.045/s (0.18-2.7/min). Intermittent vision impairment, where black, floating 'clouds' appear in the survivor's field of view. Slower stamina regeneration and constantly lowered hearing, and blurred vision and sounds caused by pain, but no hydration drain. (The effective health drain depends on the severity of the illness and the current health regeneration rate of the survivor) |
Upon reaching Stage 3, the survivor will die within approximately 40 minutes to 9 hours if the illness remains untreated.
Prevention[]
- Avoid eating snow.
- Purify water containers filled with snow or hot spring water by using Chelating Tablets on them.
- Drink the contaminated water from a Filtering Bottle.
- Take Chelating Tablets before drinking water and make sure that tablet is active throughout the digestion process.
Note that boiling water or using Chlorine Tablets on it will not remove the heavy metal pollutants.
Treatment[]
In stages 1 and 2, the Heavy Metal Poisoning will disappear by itself within 40 minutes. If the survivor's Immune System is strong enough, the recovery time is cut down to only 6 minutes. The required immunity can also be achieved by taking Multivitamin Pills. Although, the immunity effect will only be active when there's no contaminated water being digested in the survivor's stomach, so its best to take the pills only after the digestion process is completed after drinking.
In stage 3, Chelating Tablets are required to treat the illness enough to lower it to the stage 2. From there on, the survivor can either wait for it to pass naturally or continue treating it with Chelating Tablets. If the survivor has high enough immunity or access to Multivitamin Pills, it's advised to avoid using Chelating Tablets as they will slow down the recovery process.