Hazardous and Solid Waste

What NOT to Do When Mercury Spills

  • Never use an ordinary vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury. The vacuum will put mercury vapor into the air and increase exposure. The vacuum will be contaminated and have to be thrown away.
  • Never use a broom to clean up mercury. It will break the mercury into smaller droplets.
  • Never pour mercury down the drain. It may cause future problems with plumbing repairs, or it could contaminate the septic tank or sewage treatment plant.
  • Never wash mercury-contaminated items in a washing machine. The machine and the discharged water may become contaminated.
  • Never walk around if your shoes may be contaminated with mercury. This will spread the contamination.

What records must be kept on hand and for how long? Find out now with our Free Special Report, Recordkeeping for EHS Managers. Also receive 2 trial issues of BLR’s Environmental Manager’s Compliance Advisor! Download Your Free Report


Mercury Recycling and Disposal Options

Under RCRA, some widely generated hazardous wastes, including mercury-containing wastes like certain spent batteries, thermostats, barometers, manometers, temperature and pressure gauges, certain switches and light bulbs, are designated as "universal wastes."  Businesses and industries that qualify as universal waste handlers must follow specific requirements for storing, transporting and disposing of these wastes. Households are exempt from these regulations.

Note that some states and local jurisdictions have elected to pass regulations that are more stringent than the federal hazardous waste regulations. Several states and municipalities do not recognize the exemption for households; others regulate all fluorescent bulbs as hazardous, regardless of their mercury content. For example, Vermont bans all mercury-containing waste from landfills, including mercury-containing waste generated by households.

Why Is Mercury a Concern?

Mercury in the air eventually settles into water or onto land, where it can be washed into water. Once deposited, certain microorganisms can change it into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish, and animals that eat fish. Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methylmercury exposure to humans. Methylmercury builds up more in some types of fish and shellfish than others. The levels of methylmercury in fish and shellfish depend on what they eat, how long they live, and how high they are in the food chain.

EPA works with the FDA and with states and tribes to issue advice to women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers and parents of young children about how often they should eat certain types of commercially-caught fish and shellfish. Fish advisories are also issued for men, women, and children of all ages when appropriate. In addition, EPA releases an annual summary of information on locally-issued fish advisories and safe-eating guidelines to the public. Fish is a beneficial part of the diet, so EPA and FDA encourage people to continue to eat fish low in methylmercury.


Comply with OSHA and EPA recordkeeping requirements with our free report: Recordkeeping for EHS Managers. Also receive 2 free trial issues of BLR’s Environmental Manager’s Compliance Advisor! Download Your Free Report


Another less common exposure to mercury that can be a concern is breathing mercury vapor. These exposures can occur when elemental mercury or products that contain elemental mercury break and release mercury to the air, particularly in warm or poorly-ventilated indoor spaces.

Take a free trial of Environmental Manager’s Compliance Advisor and join the thousands of environmental professionals who have counted on the newsletter’s practical advice and best practice case studies for almost 30 years.

As part of your subscription, you will receive a quarterly insert. This added feature, EHS & Your Business, will help you inform senior management and other key decision makers in your company of business-critical developments in the field of environment, health, and safety (EHS).

Each quarterly insert will spotlight one strategic and timely issue as well as briefly highlight the most important EHS legal developments that could affect your business operations, EHS strategy, and EHS ROI.

The practical features in this twice-monthly advisor eliminate the worry that you might miss, or misunderstand, an important new regulation.

For a limited time, also receive the Free Special Report: Recordkeeping for EHS Managers.

Get 2 Free Issues.

2 thoughts on “What NOT to Do When Mercury Spills”

  1. What about all us older people that played with mercury in school. i remember the teacher spilling it on the table so we could push it around and watch how the little balls of it join back into thee large puddle. I am sure the schools never thought that 50 – 60 years later everyone would be so freaked out about the silver stuff.

  2. You eliminate larger excess weight in a quick period of time. About 30 % of the extra fat from your foods is stopped and taken out by means of bowel excretions. Quick weight loss pill. or anti-weight problems prescription drugs are absolutely nothing but unwanted fat burners and urge for food suppressants. Orlistat was approved by the US Fda in 1999 as a fat reduction medication.

    Except you point out that you snore, it might in no way manifest to your medical doctor to check out. You can go through my in-depth critique of these elements in this article. This triggers you to partially awaken to restart breathing with a gasp. Some of the richest resources of protein are animal items. Gluten is a protein element in wheat and barley.

    An natural and organic diet plan is a excellent way to enhance one’s general overall health. Capsiplex is sent in a exclusive beadlet patterns which guarantees that the throat and lining of the throat, intestines and tummy is not irritated by the capsicum extract. The exact same posting states that the mango can support velocity the breakdown of fat in the overall body and reduce the progress of body fat cells. It can be both physically and psychologically agonizing to have excess weight you want to get rid of.

    In normal, you must clean them effectively and take in the skins exactly where suitable.

    One particular of the diet tablets that does genuinely function is Capsiplex. Probably the major profit of having this variety of diet plan is that it improves the in general condition of our circulatory method simply because it fortifies the coronary heart, generating way for an enhanced blood circulation.

    Lots of physicians do not assume to look at for slumber issues. Capsiplex in addition is a Capsicum five-HTP excess weight decline combo that not only provides all of the great positive aspects of 5-HTP that we spoke about over but also helps you get rid of fat and achieve these bodyweight reduction plans quicker than you may possibly assume!

    Proof also suggests that nutrition found in orange juice, these kinds of as potassium, folic acid and vitamin C, may possibly give protection towards cardiovascular condition. Capsiplex or Capsiplex Moreover a food items health supplement created to elevate your metabolic rate and help you burn a lot more energy than you would with no having this complement.

    The elements that are identified in Capsiplex help to get ready your system for getting a fat burning equipment.

    This is due to the fact your system has a tendency to keep unwanted fat when you slumber. Gluten’s part exorphin leads to this irregular urge for food, influencing the full human body negatively. However, consuming fibroid shrinking meals is only portion of the picture. It only calls for twenty five minutes of everyday work out to make it more efficient.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.