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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury Diffusion Pump

Date: Apr 20, 2022 16:17 UTC

Author: Joseph DiVerdi <joseph.diverdi**At_Symbol_Here**ColoState.EDU>

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Subject: [DCHAS-L] Ventilation Requirements for Acid Cabinets

Date: Apr 20, 2022 19:40 UTC

Author: Leach, Patricia <Patricia.Leach**At_Symbol_Here**UTDALLAS.EDU>

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From: Jeffrey Lewin <jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**MTU.EDU>

Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury Diffusion Pump

Date: Apr 20, 2022 18:23 UTC

Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety

In-Reply-To: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury Diffusion Pump

Demystify: 

Todd,

I'll try not to beat the dead horse but I'll chime in one more time.

- The cost to clean up a significant mercury spill is likely much more expensive than bringing in an outside contractor. All I'm saying is please make sure anyone that tries to disassemble the unit knows exactly what they are doing, knows how to contain any spilled mercury and knows how to protect themselves from mercury exposure.
- I strongly encourage you (or whoever manages your campus hazardous waste) to talk to your disposal contractor before you start. In particular, if you have people competent of disassembling the pump, once completed does the mercury need to be removed from the glassware or can it be lab packed as is.
- Even if you separate it from the glass, you will likely find very little cost savings in trying to clean it and creating an additional hazardous waste (I would be surprised if it was more expensive).

If you are looking for suggestions for regional contractors shoot me a direct email and I'll try to connect you with a couple of veteran hazardous waste managers in the Pacific Northwest region.

Jeff

jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**mtu.edu

On Wed, Apr 20, 2022 at 12:24 PM Todd Melgreen <tmelgreen**At_Symbol_Here**willamette.edu> wrote:
All-

Thank you all for your advice and careful consideration of the best approach to deal with this issue. I appreciate everyone's comments. Based on what I have heard and since we do not plan to keep the pump, we will more than likely treat the whole unit as one hazardous waste disposal. One of the professors wanted to keep the mercury so they could use it in a demo to show density concepts. However, I have been trying to convince them that it is probably not the best way to go. We already have an amazing demo in house that demonstrates this better in my humble opinion.

Have a great rest of your week and thanks again.

Todd

On Wed, Apr 20, 2022 at 7:33 AM Kolodziej, Christopher <ckolodziej**At_Symbol_Here**ehs.ucla.edu> wrote:

A few years back, we had a mercury thermometer break inside a drying oven. Rather than deal with the headache of trying to disassemble and decontaminate the whole thing, we disposed of the entire oven as hazardous waste. I don=E2=80™t know if that was the most economical choice we could have made, but it was a straightforward solution that minimized risk of exposure and allowed us to quickly move forward.

________________________________

Christopher M. Kolodziej, Ph.D.
Chemical Hygiene Officer

UCLA Environment, Health & Safety | Chemical Safety

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