How do I dispose of a jar of mercury safely and cheaply?

[megalithic 10]

It's seriously toxic to the environment so don't even think about dumping it, 2 kilo's of the stuff will absolutely decimate a large area and you'll be in very serious trouble (think national news kinda trouble)

 

Talk to the council, or even the police - both should be super eager to take it off your hands and make sure it's properly disposed of.

 

Haha. I doubt Nagel is the type to tip it in Ladybower.

[Nagel 10]

It's seriously toxic to the environment so don't even think about dumping it, 2 kilo's of the stuff will absolutely decimate a large area and you'll be in very serious trouble (think national news kinda trouble)

 

Talk to the council, or even the police - both should be super eager to take it off your hands and make sure it's properly disposed of.

 

Don't worry, I've got no intention of dumping it and I've stored it safely for a long time already. I've looked at the regulations and households are allowed to keep mercury. For instance many people have old barometers which contain quite a lot of mercury and the government has no intention of banning them.

 

What I don't want is to end up in a situation where I am forced to pay for its disposal.

[caparo 10]

Don't worry, I've got no intention of dumping it and I've stored it safely for a long time already. I've looked at the regulations and households are allowed to keep mercury. For instance many people have old barometers which contain quite a lot of mercury and the government has no intention of banning them.

 

What I don't want is to end up in a situation where I am forced to pay for its disposal.

 

Mercury has a value of around £30-100/kilo. There are folk around who buy it. You occasionally find it for sale on Ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=mercury&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1311.R7.TR8.TRC0.A0&_nkw=liquid+mercury&_sacat=0

Edited September 21, 2013 by caparo

[ccit 10]

Hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you come to have such a large amount of the stuff? What did you use it for? As for disposal, I suppose you should contact the environment department of the local council.

[andrejuan 10]

When I was at school they had a jar full in the science lab and the teacher would pour some on to our hands to show how it felt.:(

 

Me too !!!

 

It nearly always ended up on the floor and gone forever.

[Nagel 10]

Hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you come to have such a large amount of the stuff? What did you use it for? As for disposal, I suppose you should contact the environment department of the local council.

 

The thing is it's not "such a large quantity of the stuff", except in weight. It weighs nearly 4kg, but it's actually only a small jar.

 

I needed some for testing an antique Faraday Motor (look it up) and advertised locally, perhaps on SF. I was contacted quickly by someone who had quite a lot to get rid of, I only took a small amount. He was a retired physician/surgeon and had used it in his work. They used it previously to expand patient's gullets by pouring it into a long rubber condom-like tube that had been inserted down their throats.

 

Different times...

[davyboy 19]

Ask Sheffield's environmental health department for advice.

 

oops.. just seen post 16

[Maxtor 10]

It's seriously toxic to the environment so don't even think about dumping it, 2 kilo's of the stuff will absolutely decimate a large area and you'll be in very serious trouble (think national news kinda trouble)

 

Talk to the council, or even the police - both should be super eager to take it off your hands and make sure it's properly disposed of.

 

:hihi:

[mickey finn 12]

It's seriously toxic to the environment so don't even think about dumping it, 2 kilo's of the stuff will absolutely decimate a large area and you'll be in very serious trouble (think national news kinda trouble)

 

Talk to the council, or even the police - both should be super eager to take it off your hands and make sure it's properly disposed of.

 

He said mercury not uranium.

[geared 318]

Slight exageration, but Mercury is nasty stuff.

 

Big problems with it in third world countrys where it's used in gold Mining.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24127661

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24128854

 

It doesn't break down in the environment, just sticks around poisoning everything - it's a pretty bad neurotoxin, and it's effects are irreversible

[mickey finn 12]

Slight exageration, but Mercury is nasty stuff.

 

Big problems with it in third world countrys where it's used in gold Mining.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24127661

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24128854

 

It doesn't break down in the environment, just sticks around poisoning everything - it's a pretty bad neurotoxin, and it's effects are irreversible

 

When I was a kid I had a little tablet bottle with some in, I used to pour it in my hands and play with the stuff

[Nagel 10]

When I was a kid I had a little tablet bottle with some in, I used to pour it in my hands and play with the stuff

 

I think everyone over a certain age played with mercury. I also had a friend who had to go to hospital to have his stomach pumped after he'd bitten into a mercury fever thermometer.

 

My understanding is that it's not the metal itself that is likely to poison people, rather the vapour and organic mercury compounds when they enter the food chain as in the horrific Minamata poisoning in Japan where a whole village had their fish supply contaminated by a factory over many years and suffered horrible mental and physical degradation.