Date: May 10, 2010 10:14:42
AM EDT
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L]
Chemical Safety headlines from Google
Since my area of (expertise? Let=92s go with
=93area of responsibility=94) is K-12 science safety, I=92d like to
address the LaGrange Middle School Hg incident.
I=92m thinking the decision to close the school had
less to do with minimizing a hazard and more to do with minimizing the
chance of litigation. The article gives no specifics, i.e. was the
vial open? How much mercury was in the vial? However, if the
county health officials recommended school closure, there=92s no way the
principal would decide against this action. Imagine the court
case: we find out (heaven forbid) that a child goes home sick, the
family lawyer determines that the child had symptoms =93consistent with
mercury poisoning,=94 and the principal had been advised by county
health officials to close the school but didn=92t. I think you can
imagine what happens next. I doubt that a single parent would
complain about the decision to close school for the day.
On the other hand=97=93sodium hydroxide, an acidic
liquid cleaning solution=85=94 as an educator, I want to
cry!
Edward J.
McGrath
Science
Supervisor
Red Clay Consolidated School
District
office: (302)
552-3768
===
From: david.iacovone**At_Symbol_Here**att.netDate: May 10, 2010 10:13:25 AM
EDT
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L]
Chemical Safety headlines from Google
Any
amount of spilled mercury is a cause for concern. I just recently
responded to a mercury spill in Oakland, Maryland, in which a 20-30 ml
vial of mercury being played with by students was enough to contaminate
14 rooms above levels acceptable to ATSDR and the local health
department. Exposure limits to non-responder personnel can be set
as low as 10 micrograms per cubic meter. Even though the volume is
small, the mass is higher than normal. I was part of the U.S. EPA
team that responded to the release (START). The school was
closed down for over a week until it was remediated to acceptable
limits.
===
Date: May 10, 2010 10:07:06
AM EDT
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L]
Chemical Safety headlines from Google - mercury spills
Re the mercury spill, please note that ATSDR=92s
Minimal Risk Level (MRL) for mercury for non-occupationally exposed
individuals is 200 ng/M^3. Studies have found tremors, impaired
cognitive skills and sleep disturbance in workers with chronic exposure
to mercury vapor near this level, and even a very small spill can exceed
it. In addition, most of us have a mercury body burden to due
environmental exposures. It is a serious problem, especially for
children. Areas where mercury spills occur need to be closed, tested and
cleaned.
Pete
Peter A. Reinhardt
Director,
Office of Environmental Health & Safety
Yale University
135
College St., Suite 100
New
Haven, CT 06510-2411
(203)
737-2123
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