Ouch!
Posted on 03/09/2005 8:39:22 PM PST by Txshep
A mercury spill at Farrington High School sent students and a teacher to the health office.
It happened when a ninth-grader cracked a 12-inch thermometer during a science experiment.
Hazmat crews say about a teaspoon of mercury spilled onto the floor.
A handful of students were exposed before the teacher cleaned up the mess.
No one complained of itching skin or headaches -- effects of extended exposure to mercury.
But the teacher and eight students were taken to the health office as a precaution.
The classroom remained off-limits until an environmental firm did a thorough clean-up.
Farrington uses mercury thermometers in physics and science classes.
YUP
And the illusion of light in the dark age is dimming rapidly
as the flourescents dim . . .
That is . . . the pseudo comforts of hollow technology will not help . . . in the end, will darken the darkness.
How about liquid nitrogen? Poured some on my room-mates text book one day at college and when he turned the page it cracked in half. And a frozen superball is a fragmentation grenade....
Just thought I'd throw that in there....
In the mid 40's to mid 50's.
Dixie, do NOT heat liquid mercury and breathe the fumes. That is what is dangerous. You can swallow liquid mercury with no side effects.
Now if you want people to stop fishing, then you scream about the dangers of mercury in fish.
No they're not. Mercury is extremely dangerous stuff. You cannot touch it without detrimental effects, including death.
Most oral and rectal thermometers use alcohol, not mercury.
Mark Twain, "Huckleberry Finn"
From reading this thread, it seems that the greatest danger of Mercury is that it causes Republicans. It's only natural for Hawaiians to want to prevent an outbreak of Republicans.
My teacher told me a story about a kid who said the word "Mercury" in a theater. Everyone was struck dead on the spot.
We all grew up in houses with lead paint too.
Only worked on copper and silver money. The nickel was the ony coin it didn't work on.
My brothers and I had about 1/2 pint of the stuff we played with ALOT when we were young. It eventually all "got away" and, I'm sure, could be found in the corners of the drawers and closets in my parents (both of whom are about 80 and doing just fine - thank you) house (and the yard, basement, etc.).
It's not like it's plutonium or anything....
"You cannot touch it without detrimental effects, including death."
You mean to tell me everyone I knew growing up who used to do the mercury/penny look like a dime trick is going to die one day?
It depends upon the type of mercury:
"Mercury in any form is toxic. The difference lies in how it is absorbed, the clinical signs and symptoms, and the response to treatment modalities. Mercury poisoning can result from vapor inhalation, ingestion, injection, or absorption through the skin.
"Elemental mercury (Hg) is found in liquid form, which easily vaporizes at room temperature and is well absorbed (80%) through inhalation. Its lipid-soluble property allows for easy passage through the alveoli into the bloodstream and red blood cells (RBCs). Once inhaled, elemental mercury is mostly converted to an inorganic divalent or mercuric form by catalase in the erythrocytes. This inorganic form has similar properties to inorganic mercury (eg, poor lipid solubility, limited permeability to the blood brain barrier, and excretion in feces). Small amounts of nonoxidized elemental mercury continue to persist and account for central nervous system toxicity.
"Elemental mercury as a vapor has the ability to penetrate the CNS, where it is ionized and trapped, attributing to its significant toxic effects. Elemental mercury is not well absorbed by the GI tract and, therefore, when ingested (eg, thermometers), is only mildly toxic.
"Inorganic mercury, found mostly in the mercuric salt form (eg, batteries), is highly toxic and corrosive. It gains access to the body orally or dermally and is absorbed at a rate of 10% of that ingested. It has a nonuniform mode of distribution secondary to poor lipid solubility and accumulates mostly in the kidney, causing significant renal damage. Although poor lipid solubility characteristics limit CNS penetration, slow elimination and chronic exposure allow for significant CNS accumulation of mercuric ions and subsequent toxicity. Long-term dermal exposure to inorganic mercury may also lead to toxicity."
I appreciate it.
Or have respiratory damage, or mild dementia. Go to the link in post 56.
Ouch!
Nope hasn't happened to anyone I know who used to play with the stuff everytime a thermometer broke.
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