Fort Collins Police Seek Missing Hazmat Material; Children Won't Reveal Missing Mercury Location

KMGH-TV/DT Denver ^ | 9.15.03

[mhking]

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Police searched for a half-cup of mercury Monday after it disappeared from a home over the weekend amid fears the potentially hazardous material was in the hands of children.

Neighborhood children were apparently playing with about a cup of mercury, weighing two pounds, taken from a garage on Saturday. The Poudre Fire Authority recovered about half the material the next morning.

Police interviewed the children and their parents, and notified the Poudre School District. So far, none of the fifth- and sixth-graders who played with the mercury is saying where the mercury is.

"Nobody's talking, I don't know why," said Mike Gress, director of the Office of Emergency Management for Fort Collins. "We're optimistic one of the kids will give it up. We want to be optimistic that we'll find it."

Mercury is a heavy, odorless liquid with a silver color. It can evaporate at normal temperatures -- the vapor is colorless and odorless but very toxic. Mercury can also enter the body through the skin.

Sudden high exposure to mercury vapor can cause headaches, coughing and chest pain. It can cause lung scarring and kidney damage.

Bill Franzen, executive director of operations for the school district, alerted principals at the four schools attended by the children involved in the incident. He asked for help in finding the mercury.

Gress said the missing mercury does not pose an immediate health risk, unless it is swallowed or handled extensively.

Still, health officials were concerned some of the mercury may have been spilled on one of the children's clothing or tracked into one of their homes.

"If deposits of mercury are left in the home, they begin to vaporize quickly, and it's the mercury vapors that are a concern," said Doug Bjorlo, environmental health specialist with the Larimer County health department.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Chad Fairbanks]

I remember breaking thermometers to get the mercury out when I was a kid. I won't say what I did with it though, because it was a really stupid stupid stupid stupid idea.

[jocon307]

And are these children's names Mohammed, Fatimah, and Abdul, or something similar? If so, I'd be very worried. Look at the little Palestinian schoolgirl recently quoted as saying "I'll go kill the Jews wherever they are", or words to that affect.

[Rebelbase]

Fess up!

I used to play with the stuff too whenever a thermometer broke.

[FreedomCalls]

I remember breaking thermometers to get the mercury out when I was a kid. I won't say what I did with it though, because it was a really stupid stupid stupid stupid idea.

But fun!

[Chad Fairbanks]

I guess, yeah for a few minutes anyway LOL

[Chad Fairbanks]

I used to play with the stuff too whenever a thermometer broke.

LOL. I was never that patient...

[browardchad]

We all did. I guess we're all dead from mercury poisoning, but we don't know it.

[cyborg]

With all the fillings in my mouth, I should be educable retarded.

[Chad Fairbanks]

That, and a good childhood friend with ummm less than 10 fingers. That was the stuupid part.

Oh, to be 10 again, and full of pi$$ and vinegar...

[Blood of Tyrants]

Probably not. Every kid knows that is is better to keep your mouth shut when grownups are mad, no matter what they say.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I guess we were all 'Junior Al Quada' when we were chidlren, then?

[eddie willers]

I used to make dimes real shiny.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Confession time. I played with it too. But there is a difference between that tiny ball of mercury and a cup of the stuff.

Poison is a matter of degree.

Why would some one have a cup of mercury around the house anyway?

[eXe]

I remember playing with it, My dad was a dentist and in his lab he had a huge bottle of it. I used to take some, put it in a bottle, play with it, shake it, touch it, I am still alive.. lol of course that was before it was a weapon of mass destruction :)

[Chad Fairbanks]

Why would some one have a cup of mercury around the house anyway?

I can think of several reasons - most of them very unpleasant.

[RadioAstronomer]

I had a about 1/2 a beaker full from two mercury barometers. It was cool imersing your hand in liquid metal. LOL! I wonder how we all stayed alive at times! :-)

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ummm. YEah. That's what I used to do. Yeah yeah,. that's it. :0)

[AdA$tra]

"Nobody's talking, I don't know why," said Mike Gress, director of the Office of Emergency Management for Fort Collins.

I bet nobody is talking because an adult found out and told the kids that a cup full of harmless mercury is going to cost BILLIONS to clean up. "Please, Jr. ...Last offer .....Ten thousand. All you have to do is tell 'em you spilled it in the river, not my living room. Okay?"