Mercury and school

[Tempest]

Quote:
Boca Ciega, Florida -- A chemistry project caused a big problem at Pinellas' Seminole High School Tuesday morning.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says students were given an assignment to bring in a substance from the Periodic Table of Elements.

One student brought in mercury -- contained within a thermometer -- and the school went into lockdown.

Deputies say the thermometer was discovered as the substances were checked before going through the school.

No one was put in harm's way, but a hazmat crew was there as a precaution.

Pinellas County Schools tell 10 News the students were told not to bring certain toxic elements from the periodic table, mercury included.



http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/285396/8/School-locked-down-over-thermometer

Where has common sense gone?

 

[Colt]

Yet compact fluorescent light bulbs have mercury and are just about everywhere.
The mercury is a compact fluorescent light bulbs turns into a vapor if broken when hot which is worse that the mercury in a thermometer.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Uh ...

Really?

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: Colt
Yet compact fluorescent light bulbs have mercury and are just about everywhere.
The mercury is a compact fluorescent light bulbs turns into a vapor if broken when hot which is worse that the mercury in a thermometer.


I read that there is more mercury in a can of tuna than there is one of the CFLs. I have no link and can't remember where I read this.

 

[HerrStig]

It's what made hatters mad.

 

[Colt]

Originally Posted By: volk06
Originally Posted By: Colt
Yet compact fluorescent light bulbs have mercury and are just about everywhere.
The mercury is a compact fluorescent light bulbs turns into a vapor if broken when hot which is worse that the mercury in a thermometer.


I read that there is more mercury in a can of tuna than there is one of the CFLs. I have no link and can't remember where I read this.


True but breathing in mercury vapor is much worse than eating it depending on the amount you eat..

 

[buster]

LOL!!!!

I remember my 6th grade teacher playing/showing the class a small ball of mercury on a piece of paper.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: buster
LOL!!!!

I remember my 6th grade teacher playing/showing the class a small ball of mercury on a piece of paper.
+1

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: buster
LOL!!!!

I remember my 6th grade teacher playing/showing the class a small ball of mercury on a piece of paper.


Me too and also in Middle school - 7th or 8th grade. We even had a Mercury barometer in science class.

 

[InhalingBullets]

i would bet most of the A/C thermostats in the building have mercury in them too! What an overreaction.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Colt
Originally Posted By: volk06
Originally Posted By: Colt
Yet compact fluorescent light bulbs have mercury and are just about everywhere.
The mercury is a compact fluorescent light bulbs turns into a vapor if broken when hot which is worse that the mercury in a thermometer.


I read that there is more mercury in a can of tuna than there is one of the CFLs. I have no link and can't remember where I read this.


True but breathing in mercury vapor is much worse than eating it depending on the amount you eat..
Right wing radio strikes again.

We had lunch with an author in NY, and she was well versed in the mantras...this one and the rest.

 

[Smokescreen]

LOL...thermometer hazardous material requiring lockdown ??!!? LOL

 

[ctrcbob]

When I was a kid, we used to take mercury and let it roll around in our hands. (we used to play with it). In later life, I worked in the photo industry, and because mercury would cause photo emulsions to go bad, if there was any kind of mercury spill, as when a thermostat broke, the whole area was shut down and special people would come out of the woodwork, to clean it up. We later removed all mercury thermometers and replaced them with red alcohol thermometers.

Another thing we used to play with, and to clean with, was benzine. Now, if you mention benzine, you would think it was the end of the world.

Another thing was "Dry Ice". We used to beg the ice-cream man for dry ice. We would roll it in our hands, place it in bottles and watch the "steam/fog come up, etc. Now, if you get hold of any dry ice, there are all kinds of warnings to use in an open area, do not breath it in, etc. funny how we already knew that without being warned.

How did we ever survive????????????????????

 

[ctrcbob]

Almost forgot. What about "mamometers" (sp). These were the mercury filled tubes we used to sync multi carburators. I had a set, but after I purchased a FI GoldWing, I gave it to a friend who still uses it to this day when he syncs motorcycle carburators. (Screw a tube into each carb port, then make adjustments on each carb so the mercury is level in each tube).

BTW, how many people remember what a Carburator is or even how they worked? (What about Dwell Meters, Points, Condensers [capaciters] etc.)

 

[PandaBear]

The science teacher and principal clearly didn't take enough chemistry and biology classes to know the differences and toxicity of different types of mercury.

 

[SaturnIonVue]

Common sense has become a rare commodity. Especially, in our schools! These days, a kid with an aspirin or Tylenol can be arrested, suspended or worse. It seems that higher education has bred more stupidity into some people.

 

[Nick R]

Seriously, they put the school in lockdown and called in hazmat over a thermometer?

 

[Rick in PA]

And to think, I use to have to put one of those in my mouth!

What the OP said.

 

[andyd]

We used to play with mercury in HS chemistry lab

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: andyd
We used to play with mercury in HS chemistry lab


We got to play with sodium and water for crying out loud.