I have about a Kg of mercury. In original lab supplies bottles and never opened. My late dad bought it years ago to repair a barometer (that I still also have) and my mum banned him from doing it in the kitchen… so he never got round to it.
It’s sitting in his old shed and I want to get rid of it. Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to do so? Is there anyone out there who would want a few bottles of mercury?
its hazardous waste and theres pretty strict rules on disposal, your local council should offer a service of some sort
its also highly toxic, im not sure you can legally sell it to someone niw either
Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to do so?
It's hazardous waste and needs a licensed contractor. Most council tips will take things like old mercury thermometers, barometers etc, not sure they'd be happy about a kg of the stuff, that's well into industrial waste territory.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/controls-on-mercury
Even driving with it probably requires some sort of specialist container. A bottle of unsecured mercury rolling around inside a car that is involved in a collision is going to be a full biohazard disaster scenario, the fire brigade are unlikely to look favourably on that one.
No, you can't sell it. You can't even make or sell mercury containing equipment any longer, except for some specific exemptions
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/controls-on-mercury
I once found a similar quantity in the store cupboard of the school I was working in. A couple of emails to SSERC later and we had it safely bottled up so that kids could handle the bottles in class to feel the weight and see it flow. I was expecting to have to bin it at high cost.
If you’re in Scotland try contacting SSERC: https://www.sserc.org.uk to see if they could re-home it for you. Not sure if there’s an equivalent body elsewhere in the uk
CLEAPS in England but it more educational establishments. We found 170mercury thermometers they are £3.78 each to dispose of through a licenced disposerer. Their going to sit in a cupboard until we can afford paper and jotters and have changed left by February.
There's a place in... York I think? that resurrects barometers. They might be grateful of it.
I can't remember details, sorry.
If you live near a university with a chemistry department you could try asking them if they could help. They will have a contract for disposal of chemical waste and are usually willing to help someone in the local community dispose of materials like this. I chaired the safety committee in my department for a few years and we were asked to help with something along these lines, and we did what we could - it is surprising what can be found stashed in someone's cellar!
we had it safely bottled up so that kids could handle the bottles in class to feel the weight and see it flow
I am old enough to have been in school science lessons where dishes of mercury were brought out for us to try floating different metals in it. You can probably imagine that some of it ended up outside of the dish although we did use plastic gloves so that was obviously really safe….. I think we did it in fume cupboards but that might be me remembering something else. I also vividly remember using Geiger counters on different radioactive samples and them our physics teacher who had been an officer in the Dessert Rats bring out his old army watch that was much more impressive in terms of clicks than any of them.
Yeah, I remember school science class being passed round a 200-250ml size bottle of mercury. A very memorable lesson on material density!
I can picture the science lab in my mind, and that school would be about 1981, in 2nd year.
We used to roll mercury around the desk in science classes.
No gloves in the good old 1970s!
It was close run as to whether the asbestos in schools got you first
We used to roll mercury around the desk in science classes.
No gloves in the good old 1970s!
I remember that, lol
I remember having a good sized blob of mercury poured into my palm at primary school by the teacher. It was then passed pupil to pupil while we all prodded it with our fingers and pencil ends as it left little bits of white power behind before (most of) it was put safely back in the jar.
I'm sure we were encouraged to wash our hands before our packed lunch. I don't remember them doing so - but you've got to hope!
You could make a giant executive toy of a mercury football in a maze
I had a smaller version as a Christmas present once when I was a kid. Halcyon days
I think we did it in fume cupboards but that might be me remembering something else
I don't recall the exact details, something to do with sulphur maybe. But I do remember the fume cupboard shitting itself one time and the chemistry teacher shouting "run!"
We used to roll mercury around the desk in science classes.
No gloves in the good old 1970s!
It was close run as to whether the asbestos in schools got you first
TBF elemental mercury is poorly absorbed through the skin. a wee play isn't going to do anything. The danger is mercury vapour.
dimethylmercury on the other hand is very toxic and will go through clothing and latex gloves. couple of drops will kill you.
'Get rid of it'? What could be cooler than having a jar of mercury hanging around? Well, as long as it doesn't escape.
Maybe build an homage to this magnificent piece of art in Barcelona? https://www.fmirobcn.org/en/colection/catalog-works/11303/p-em-mercury-fountain-em-p
https://www.fmirobcn.org/en/colection/catalog-works/11303/p-em-mercury-fountain-em-p
I can remember playing with Mercury in science lessons at school, and I can also vividly remember the teacher dropping a piece of sodium or potassium into a bowl of water, whereupon it whizzed around at high speed before suddenly exploding and a burning piece went across the desk, before bouncing across the desk of one of my schoolmates and burning a hole in his tie! The marks across the desk were a permanent reminder of just how few safety precautions were taken back in the 60’s!
<tinfoilhatmode> I'm sure the vaccine industry will take it off your hands </tinfoilhatmode>
Cottage cosmetics industry?
Daughter is just finishing A level chemistry and occasionally gets to watch experiments with chemicals from a safe distance that I distinctly remember being things I was allowed to do back in the early 80s.
In which regiment would you find the Dessert Rats?
Contact a barometer restorers. They’ll likely take it off your hands and will know how to deal with it safely. I suspect they’re one of the few exceptions to handling it.
In which regiment would you find the Dessert Rats?
That would have been the tapioca regiment.
I blame predictive text on my phone, nothing to do with lack of proof reading.
For clarity he was in the Royal Engineers 8th Army
In which regiment would you find the Dessert Rats
The TRifles obviously.
I had a mercury maze as a kid, as it got older there were tiny globs of mercury stuck all round the inside of it. I'm pretty sure I dunked a mercury thermometer in a cup of tea too and it went up awful fast followed by a disappointing crack. Not sure if I drank the tea after but I was probably more worried about shards of glass (and getting caught) than the mercury jizzing out of the end of it.
How the heck have so many of us old farts managed to get through life this far? All of the above chemicals widely used in 1970s school close up no ppe or screens daughter teaches secondary science huge ppe usage
back to op they have just spent $1000 + getting rid of inherited Hg Na K etc
Most of the regs around handling mercury are for the protection of the school staff rather than the kids. A few whiffs of mercury vapour won’t do you much harm but handling it a few times a week for a couple of weeks a year means the teachers and technicians can accumulate a lot of Hg in their system.
The apocryphal story we got in teacher training was that chemistry teachers used to have a 10 year shorter lifespan than other teachers. Probably not 100% true but our teachers definitely took more risks with their health than modern teachers
<tinfoilhatmode> I'm sure the vaccine industry will take it off your hands </tinfoilhatmode>
There's no more mercury in vaccines than there is methanol in beer.
I assume you're joking, but it's not good to be giving morons ideas.
Have you considered taking up hatting?
My gran stirred her tea with a thermometer because it was handy. On day the bulb wasn't there. Loose leaf probably saved her take a slug of mercury.
My gran stirred her tea with a thermometer because it was handy. On day the bulb wasn't there. Loose leaf probably saved her take a slug of mercury.
Ah but she's (presumably) dead now, isn't she? Makes you think 🤔
it's not good to be giving morons ideas.
Unfortunately it's one of the things the antivax morons have actually latched on to
If you live near a university with a chemistry department you could try asking them if they could help. They will have a contract for disposal of chemical waste and are usually willing to help someone in the local community dispose of materials like this. I chaired the safety committee in my department for a few years and we were asked to help with something along these lines, and we did what we could - it is surprising what can be found stashed in someone's cellar!
Well I could go back to the Uni department from where it originated and say “my dad borrowed this… you better have it back?”
As for the waste bit… well it’s a new product in an unopened bottle, hasn’t yet left the chain of utility and hasn’t been discarded… yet.
I think it could be given to a barometer restorer and not be considered waste… but because it has virtually no other legal use, in any other circumstances it will probably be considered waste.
I know of a lighthouse that uses Mercury as a bearing to float 4 tons of fresnel lens but always wondered if it needed a top up. I think shipping it there might be a bit complicated tho. Hand or hold luggage?
My dad was a dentist back in the days when gold filings were still common. He must have made up thousands of gold / mercury amalgam fillings over the years. The mercury was handled quite carefully even then with dedicated glass mixing blocks and tools. No fume cabinet though.
My gran stirred her tea with a thermometer because it was handy. On day the bulb wasn't there. Loose leaf probably saved her take a slug of mercury.
Ah but she's (presumably) dead now, isn't she? Makes you think 🤔
nah - elemental mercury is poorly absorbed by the digestive tract. about 0.01%
Unfortunately it's one of the things the antivax morons have actually latched on to
Oh, I know. That was kind of my point. It's flat out wrong on two levels:
- Thiomersal is not what most people understand as "mercury." It's like comparing ethanol and methanol, one will get you blind drunk whereas the other will get you blind and dead, despite both being "alcohol."
- It hasn't been used in regular vaccines in the UK for over 20 years. And even when it was, it was only used in multi-dosage vials.
from where it originated
If it can be demonstrated that it originated or was procured through a chemistry department and was ‘borrowed’ they at the very least have a moral responsibility to help. There’s also a reputational reason they would want to (allowing people to walk off with chemicals isn’t a good look).
I would love some mercury, basically just to play around with really and do science experiments with the kids. Responsibly, of course.
I do think people go a bit OTT with dangerous substances sometimes. Yes it's dangerous and yes it should be a restricted product but really, some people need to get a grip. It's not going to poison you to death at a glance. (It should be noted I am not referring to anyone in this thread, just in general). It's like when I carried a small (well wrapped up, double bagged) sheet of asbestos to the dump to ask if they'd take it and the guy there backed off in a hurry like I was carrying a bomb 🙄
It may sound irresponsible to say I'd like some mercury to play with. But seriously, I think I am capable of looking at the stuff and handling it without feeling the need to drink it or poke my finger in it. Or spill it all over the floor, etc.
Speaking of being irresponsible... When I was younger (around 1990) the hospital actually gave us some to play with! A small blob of it in a urine sample pot, with the lid glued down. We had it for a long time but eventually it cracked and the mercury escaped...
There's no more mercury in vaccines than there is methanol in beer.
Point of order; there's quite a lot* of methanol in beer!
*relative to the zero mercury in most vaccines.
nah - elemental mercury is poorly absorbed by the digestive tract. about 0.01%
Not sure i would have picked up a 0.01% increase in old batty lady behaviour... She once put a gold fish down in the microwave.
Also this must have been thirty years ago and you only died a few. I am only just 40 🤣
Maybe she did it with ALOT of thermometers and kept on doing it.
Mercury from certain industrial process has to disposed of by mixing with sulphur and not recycled or reused. Your mercury can be used if you can find a legitimate buyer / user.
If you cannot donate it to a barometer restorer it might be worth contacting Mercury Recycling in Manchester to see if they will take it off you hands
https://mercuryrecycling.co.uk/recycling/mercury-waste
