Potential Toxic Injuries at New York Universities

As colleges and universities offer more hands-on research environments, the chance for toxic injuries in labs has increased. New York universities and campus communities are responding in different ways. Some are spending time and money to train personnel on how to immediately respond, so there are fewer chances of broader exposure and toxic injuries. Others are informing their personnel to isolate area and contact their office of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) for counsel and cleanup. Here we look at New York mercury spills and what not to do and what to do after a spill.

Mercury is a very toxic chemical that can cause toxic fumes and subsequent toxic injuries. Exposure to mercury vapor—even from the break of a thermometer—can cause damage to the human nervous system. If a spill occurs, it is important to clean up all mercury completely to avoid prolonged toxic fumes and toxic injuries.
  • Never walk around an area that is contaminated with mercury. Mercury is easily spread and the spill area may not be easily identified. Contaminated clothing can also spread mercury toxic fumes around.
  • Never use an ordinary vacuum cleaner to clean up a mercury spill. The vacuum will put mercury toxic fumes into the air and increase exposure and toxic injuries. The vacuum cleaner will be contaminated and will have to be disposed of as hazardous waste.
  • Never use a broom to cleanup mercury. It will break the mercury into smaller droplets and spread them.
  • Never wash mercury-contaminated items in a washing machine. Mercury may contaminate the machine or pollute the water system.
Here’s what to do when experiencing a New York mercury spill:
  1. Keep everyone away from incident room to prevent the spread and toxic injuries. Before sending anyone out of incident room, check for mercury on their clothing and the bottom of their shoes. If mercury spill toxic fumes and droplets are visible, remove articles and keep the articles in the incident room.
  2. Close any doors to help to isolate the incident room as long as you can to prevent toxic injuries.
  3. Contact your New York campus EH&S office.
If properly trained on cleanup, follow these steps:
  1. Put on rubber, nitrile, or latex gloves.
  2. Put on disposable, non-porous shoe covers (plastic bags may work for this).
  3. Use a flashlight to look for mercury beads. Shine the flashlight at many low, different angles on the spill area.
  4. Contain the mercury spill to as small of an area as possible. Prevent the mercury beads from spreading into drains, cracks or crevices.
  5. Work from the outside of the spill area to the center of the spill area. Push the mercury beads together with a 3 X 5 index card or stiff paper to form larger droplets. You can also use tape to pick up the little beads of mercury. Collect all mercury into a sealable plastic bag.
  6. Place all broken glass on a small paper towel. Fold up the paper towel and place it in the same sealable plastic bag as the mercury droplets. Seal this bag into another bag and seal.
  7. Shine a flashlight on the area to help find any remaining mercury beads or glass.
  8. Wash hands and shower or bathe if other parts of your body came in contact with mercury spill.

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