Mercury Tips
Liquid mercury emits vapors into the air which are odorless, colorless and toxic. Even tiny mercury spills require great care. Most household spills come from mercury thermometers and broken fluorescent bulbs.
Get everyone away from the area. If you stepped in it, take off your shoes. Do not walk around and spread the mercury. If a child spilled the mercury, assume their clothes are contaminated. Remove the clothes and put in a zip lock bag. If possible, keep the temperature below 70 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce the speed by which mercury enters the air. Close any vents near the spill and turn off systems that circulate air around the house such as heating or air conditioning. Contact your local health department or your local fire department for proper disposal in accordance with local, state and federal laws. If it is a small amount of mercury (less than a thermometer) and your local health department says it is okay, you can clean up the mercury yourself. If it is more than that, call the fire department. If you have it, use powdered sulfur which makes the mercury easier to see and keeps the mercury from volatizing. If you sprinkle the spill area, and it turns brown, then there is mercury left. If you sprinkle it and it stays yellow, there is no mercury left. However, this sulfur will stain fabric. Powdered sulfur is available at gardening stores. If there is broken glass, carefully pick this up using a glove to avoid cutting yourself. Put into a sealable hard-sided container. Use a squeegee, cardboard or an eyedropper to gather mercury beads. Be careful and go slow. Use a flash light to look for any additional mercury beads that may be sticking to the surface or in small cracked areas of the surface. Put the collected mercury in a zip lock bag with a paper towel. Dispose of it at the household hazardous waste disposal facility. If you have mercury-containing products in your home, it is helpful to have a mercury clean-up kit which contains chemicals that will bind with any remaining mercury. Open the windows for a day to air out the area. Keep people away from the area. Monitor family members to see if they get sick. If they do, get medical attention immediately. If the spill happens on carpet, you will have to cut out the affected carpet and throw it away. If the mercury spills down the drain, take apart the plumbing. If you don't it will slowly leak into your home. Look in the "J" or "S" traps for the liquid mercury. Never vacuum mercury or it will "volatilize" or go into the air where people can breathe it in. Never use a broom or it will contaminate the broom and break up the mercury droplets. Do not put mercury down the drain or in the washing machine or it will pollute waterways. Do not pick up mercury, even with latex gloves. Mercury penetrates latex and other materials. Replace the broken device with a mercury-free alternative!
Tips For Fish Eaters and Anglers:
When you do eat fish, choose younger and smaller fish which contain lower levels of chemicals like mercury. You might have heard that you can avoid pollutants in fish by removing all skin and fatty tissue before cooking, or by grilling so the fat can drip away. This does remove PCBs, but it doesn't remove mercury, which exists in the flesh of the fish.
Tips for Pregnant and Nursing Women:
Avoiding mercury is important for everyone, but it is especially important for women who are pregnant or nursing because even small amounts of mercury can hinder brain development in infants.
The Food and Drug Administration advises pregnant and nursing women to avoid king mackerel, shark, tilefish and swordfish due to mercury contamination. Find out about fish advisories in your area to see which fish you should avoid. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency keeps a national list of fish advisories. It is very dangerous to use a mercury thermometer with an infant because they can bump things and break them. Dispose of your mercury thermometer at your hazardouse waste disposal center and buy a digital one.
For Hospitals:
Establish an environmentally-friendly purchasing policy. There are effective mercury-free alternatives to many items used in the health professions. Properly dispose of products containing mercury. Use alternatives to waste incineration such as autoclaving and microwave technologies. Visit the Health Care Without Harm website for a complete list of ideas.
For Dentists:
Use amalgam substitutes if possible. Convert to single use amalgam capsules. This will help minimize the chance of an accidental mercury spill. In the event of a mercury spill, put on nitrile gloves and clean it up immediately. Do not use latex gloves because mercury penetrates latex. Get mercury spill kits and train staff on proper clean-up. Never clean up mercury with a vacuum cleaner as it will go into the air. Audit your office with equipment that detects mercury vapor, which can be rented. Recycle as much amalgam as possible. When removing an existing amalgam, try to remove it in chunks rather than dust so it will be caught in the chairside trap. Never put scrap amalgam in a sharps container. These are usually incinerated, which would spread mercury through the air. Never remove amalgam with high speed suction (the vacuum line). Never put mercury down the sink or in a garbage can. Use non-hazardous or biodegradable detergents for clean-up. Use non-chromium containing X-ray developer system cleaners. Use a finer mesh on your traps (100 versus 40) if your suction system can handle it. It requires more cleaning but allows less pollution to go through. Consider purchasing an amalgam separator, which is a device that can remove amalgam from dental wastewater.
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