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Re: Help! Poss. Mercury Contamination



In another life, I worked for a chemical company. One of the things set up
in the R&D area were mercury (Hg) spill kits as well as acid spill kits.
They were mounted on walls and marked in letters large enough that the blind
could see. The Hg spill kit was in a large grey (appropriate color) plastic
bin, the other in red. Hg is nothing to mess with. It is a liquid at room
temp and can slither off in little beads to just about anywhere. Sorry to
hear, in your case, that this breakage of the vessel (whatever it was) went
undetected for a period of time. If this were in a chem lab (and I imagine
it was), was there sufficient informative signs about the fact that the item
contained Hg? I recall that such potentially dangerous chemicals were
sequestered and treated differently from the more run of the mill stuff.
Also, EPA/OSHA require labels on jars of reagents, etc. You say this was an
instrument?  Any Hg-containing instruments should have been cared for in
such a manner that if damage occurred to this vessel (whatever it was), it
would have been noticed earlier on, and at least the spill contained. If it
had happened in a closed off cupboard area or something, evaporation might
have been fairly well limited to that small confine.  Might not hurt to
consider that dept having a periodic check of such reagents or  instruments
in its possession. One of the continual topics of us at that R&D site was
the lack of control and stewardship in academic settings for chemicals.
Industry was really made to tow the line on this stuff, and it seemed that
in academic institutions there was far less emphasis on this. We always
scratched out heads and wondered what was lurking on the back shelves of
high school and college chem lab shelves....
I hope your matter can be resolved. It is a serious one and someone
somewhere was very remiss in practicing good stewardship on this instrument
and its contents. I would hope this prompts a serious evaluation of storage
and maintenance of items in that department. 
I remember vividly some years ago a "Life Magazine" photo of a Japanese
girl, with irreversible neurological damage, because a factory upstream
dumped out Hg in a river. Many people downstream were affected by this
dumping. Hg is also a contaminant in many fish. Although I love wall-eye
from Lake Erie, I eat it in moderation....heavy metals contamination. 

Sharon Lee Butcher
Reference Librarian
AEDC Technical Library
100 Kindel Drive, Ste C212
Arnold AFB, TN  37389-3212
931-454-4430
Fax:  931-454-5421
sharon.butcher@arnold.af.mil

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joan E. Denman [SMTP:jdenman@WW2.FSU.EDU]
> Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2001 12:32 PM
> To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject:      Help! Poss. Mercury Contamination
> 
> Dear List Serve Members:
> 
> This week, during the process of moving our Department of History (of
> which
> our archives is a part) and other offices, into another building on
> campus,
> an instrument (from another department) that contained 1 ½-2 pounds of
> mercury, was broken. The mercury was leaked throughout our new building.
> To
> complicate matters, this leakage was not immediately known, and the usual
> nightly cleaning crews unknowingly vaporized the mercury, spreading it
> into
> the air, which was then distributed throughout the building via the air
> conditioning system. Upon notification of the leakage, the building was
> evacuated and roped off. Although our collections are in a secure area,
> they are possibly contaminated, as everything has potentially been, by the
> AC system.
> 
> Currently, the building is being cleaned by a company experienced in the
> removal of toxic materials. Additionally, federal officials are monitoring
> and testing the building and materials and no one will be allowed to
> return
> to work until the mercury levels are below federal standards for health.
> Our department chairman and the Institute's Director have informed those
> in
> charge of the irreplaceable World War II materials that our archives
> contains. We are being assured that everything possible is being done to
> protect our materials and to safeguard everyone's health. In the
> meanwhile,
> we are hearing various reports and opinions regarding how effective this
> or
> any de-contamination may be.
> 
> Does anyone on the listserv have any experience with mercury contamination
> and/or similar experiences that might be helpful to us? We do not want to
> overlook any area of concern, either regarding personal health, or the
> well-being of our collections. Thank you, in advance, for your assistance.
> 
> Joan E. Denman
> Archival Manager
> & Senior Archivist
> Institute on World War II
> & the Human Experience
> Department of History
> Florida State University
> Tallahassee, FL 32306-2200
> Phone: 850-644-9033
> Institute email: ww2@ww2.fsu.edu
> website: www.fsu.edu/~ww2
> 
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
> 
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> 
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>