Mercury

[Thumper]

No not the planet. I could use a little advice/info from the experts. My wife broke a small mercury cooking thermometer in the kitchen today. Yes I know it's dangerous and all. But she would not let us into the house. She got on some doom and gloom websites and basically came away that it had created vapor and that causes immediate brain damage in kids. She was using bright lights, blue masking tape and double bagging all the contaminated items. She threw away a couple bowls.

My question. How bad is a minor spill? How much vapor would have been created and how bad would it have been to breathe it in?

Thanks for any help.

[Moose]

Take this with a major grain of salt, because I'm not qualified to comment authoritatively on the hazards.

But... Would mercury vaporize at all at room temp? It's far, far denser than air, and it's nowhere near its boiling point (357C).

[Ut]

Well, it can't be that bad.
Back in the 60's, I'm told, it was common practice among kids to dip pennies in mercury and try to spend them as dimes.
Both of my parents played with mercury in school; up until about 10 years ago, my high school chemistry teacher used to let her students play with the stuff. The current cafeteria at my old school is built on floors that had been completely contaminated with the stuff.

Long term, repeated exposure will cause mercury poisoning, but a few minutes or a few hours is nothing. Unless she was boiling a pot of the stuff, I wouldn't worry.

[Thumper]

Pretty much what I was thinking. I played with the stuff in high school. And I've cleaned up several thermometer breaks in my time as well. Thanks.

[TrAI]

Hmmm.. I seem to remember that metallic mercury is not that dangerous at all, though it is probably a good idea to treat it as dangerous, to minimize exposure.

This site seems to have some information on the subject (http://www.calpoison.org/public/mercury.html)

[frogesque]

She is right to junk the cooking pan though if it was aluminium. Mercury will form a eutectic alloy and also break down the protective oxide film on Al. I've seen a Jam (jelly) pan perforated right through because of this.

See also New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw547) Last Word item re: Why can't I take a themometer on an aircraft?

Edit: Glass or ceramic basins shouldn't be a problem though if they are thoroughly cleaned, kids will be more prone to danger from dental amalgam than any minute amounts inhaled as vapour from your kitchen.

[Van Rijn]

Elemental mercury is a heavy metal, and is something you don't want to be exposed to for long periods, but short exposure is no big deal. There is the issue of hot mercury vapor and some compounds are very nasty. Those aren't relevent here, however. From

http://www.calpoison.org/public/mercury.html

Of all the forms of mercury, elemental mercury is the most commonly swallowed form of mercury, usually from a broken thermometer. Fortunately, elemental mercury from a thermometer is not absorbed from the stomach and will not cause any poisoning in a healthy person. In a healthy person, the slippery swallowed mercury will roll into the stomach, out in to the bowels and will be quickly eliminated without causing any symptoms.

and

Mercury is not well absorbed across the skin so skin contact is not likely to cause mercury poisoning, especially with a brief one-time exposure. Even if a person has cuts in their skin, mercury is too heavy to be contained by a cut. Merely washing the wound well will wash the mercury out of the wound.

[AGN Fuel]

Do they still use mercury in cooking thermometers? I thought I read years ago that they were trending toward alcohol in cooking thermometers because of the risk of accidental breaks while checking how well your turkey was cooked.

[Thumper]

I was suprised as well that we have, er had, a mercury cooking thermometer. Thanks for all the opinions and links.

[zebo-the-fat]

Metalic mercury is not very toxic, I believe that it is excreated in hair and finger nails. Organic mercury is very toxic as it is absorbed by the body and can cause damage to nerve cells.

[sarongsong]

While I wouldn't be too concerned with brief liquid mercury contact, it is an element worthy of respect (http://commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/) and
concern (http://www.osc.gov/documents/press/2004/pr04_07.htm).

[beskeptical]

And, don't forget the environment. How did you clean it up? Not down the drain I hope. That's how a lot of mercury ends up in the water and then in the fish and then in you.

[Swift]

This (http://www.ilpi.com/safety/mercury.html) looks like a pretty good website for information, though it is aimed mostly at laboratory uses

[Amadeus]

And, don't forget the environment. How did you clean it up? Not down the drain I hope. That's how a lot of mercury ends up in the water and then in the fish and then in you.

How would you dispose of it? If you through it into the bin it's still going to get into the enviroment.

[sarongsong]

Safe Mercury Management (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/disposal.htm) from the EPA.