Contributor
Last year at a local school someone broke a mercury thermometer. They had to EVACUATE the entire building, bring in a HAZMAT team, and it took several days to clean up and test before they would allow anyone back in. True story. This is what America has come to. Why?
Contributor
this story happen pretty often and in other states, a local business call the fire dept. and complain about a strange smell, the smell were caused by the computer back-up battery, a brave fireman remove the battery to a safe house, DO ALL STORAGE BATTERIES IN CARS and other vehicles give off gas when they are in good condition ? do you have a build in garage that will permit this gas to enter your home ? I drove forklifts at work for a number of years and most of the forklift drivers would smoke while driving the batteries -equipped trucks but one thing that keep the battery smell down were the open doorsOriginally Posted by Pat Barry
Member
This is a more frequent CYA move since it's known that one impact from mercury exposure is on neurological development, moreso in children. In this country, if a child is showing developmental problems and it is known that they were potentially exposed to such a chemical at school, what sort of professional do you think the parents would call first:
- School administrator
- Developmental counselor / Tutor
- Lawyer
If an incompetent user of a contractor saw bypasses and/or discards safety equipment and can still win a large settlement because the OEM didn't use overly expensive technology available on much more expensive saws, you can bet that most schools will decide that the cost and hassle of evacuations is far less than the cost and hassle of a lawsuit.
BTW, I do not necessarily agree with the action, and I am one who played with liquid mercury as a kid and don't believe that is the reason I turned out as I did. I have some CFLs in the house (with 2 young children), but prefer incandescent/halogen when it makes sense. I would love to migrate to LED bulbs, but they are too expensive for wholesale replacement at this time. (I'm in it for energy efficiency and staying off the %$@^& ladder.)
daniel
Last edited by daniel lane; 06-27-2012 at 5:39 PM.
Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.
Member
The clean up procedure is for bulbs containing vaporized mercury, not liquid mercury. Several have posted in the thread the relative harmlessness of liquid mercury, though the liquid form is probably not the best thing for children to play with.
You have oversimplified the saw blade lawsuit, and completely missed the mark. But that has been discussed in other threads. We live in a litigious society, but are you willing to surrender the means by which you and I can hold others legally responsible for their actions?
Measure twice, cut three times, start over. Repeat as necessary.
Contributor
[QUOTE=Greg Peterson;1948097]The clean up procedure is for bulbs containing vaporized mercury, not liquid mercury. Several have posted in the thread the relative harmlessness of liquid mercury, though the liquid form is probably not the best thing for children to play with.
the problem is vaporized mercury, at what temperature do liquid mercury vaporized, I saw a thermometer break when it hit the hospital floor and the quick silver roll across the floor and phew , the quick silver disappear
Member
Greg, with all due respect, I never once made any comment or suggestion about light bulbs. My response was that the opined over-reaction of evacuating a school because of a broken mercury thermometer is almost certainly due to the litigious society we've bred ourselves into being. The subsequent disclaimer that my comments were made having played with liquid mercury myself was simply to point out that I was closer to that discussion than just "bystander" and also to demonstrate that I, too, do not believe that liquid mercury is as incredibly harmful as mercury vapor.
Given the intelligence and the litigious mindset of the purported average American, I have done neither with respect to the precedent of bringing legal action. I chose to stay out of the tablesaw lawsuit discussion at the time, and will continue to do so in this thread. If it makes you happier if I change that particular example, how about "If a woman can spill hot coffee on herself and successfully sue a fast food chain for it..." or if you prefer, "If a woman can trip over her own toddler in a furniture store and successfully sue..."? That last one is actually false, but it is so widespread that even Snopes has a page decrying it. Point is, if the average American thinks it is true, it will encourage them to file their own frivolous lawsuits, and schools (and others) do not want even to deal with the legal costs and hassles of having a frivolous suit dismissed.
With regards to my willingness to surrender anything, respectfully I decline to get involved in that discussion, as I do not wish to hijack the OP's thread and it is irrelevant to my point (i.e. why a school would evacuate following the breakage of a mercury thermometer).
daniel
Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.
Member
The boiling point of elemental mercury is roughly 674ºF. However, evaporation is dependent on vapor pressure, which is temperature dependent. Someone should check my quick math, but for now, for perspective:
For elemental mercury at warm room temperature (80ºF), the vapor pressure is roughly 0.0003% that of a standard atmosphere, which is to say that in an enclosed 10'x10'x10' space with a temperature of 80ºF, at equilibrium (which takes some time after breakage) there can be no more than ~1000cu.ft.*0.0003=0.3 cu.ft. (or ~8" cube) of mercury vapor. That is about 8.5L, which is about 1/3 of a mole (ideal gas), which for mercury is 200g, so that vapor would weigh about 67g. So in a 1000cu.ft. space containing roughly 78lb of air, 67g could be mercury vapor.
daniel
Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.
Contributor
My father spoke of large pools of liquid mercury on the basement concrete floor of the building in which he sometimes visited where he was employed in the years following WWII. Some was lost as it seeped through cracks in the concrete floor and some was recaptured for use in processes conducted in the facility. I expect it took a toll on his health since he lived for only 91 years, but that was the price to pay for winning the later war, to preclude the really big one.
But seriously, today we are not willing to state an allowable impact [put a price on] to our or our childrens' health for causes from others' actions. So, hopefully our elected officials and other smart folks will do so [look up TLV etc] with responsibility, while we stuff ourselves silly and as we push the sugars down the throats of our offspring.
Such miniscule quantities of Hg vapor may cause little harm, but I can not say or will not, it's ok to dose my child....me, no sweat....I'm full of worse industale stuff by now...like meyrury...no don't affct me, n t sofarenway.
Last edited by Chris Barnett; 07-03-2012 at 9:46 AM.
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