Environmental Progress - Fall 2000

Mercury Spills Produced News, Inspections, Cleanups

Investigation spurred public interest in quirky, but risky element

Director's Viewpoint

Earlier this fall, a dominant news story in the Chicago metropolitan area was the discovery that elemental mercury from old gas meter regulator devices had been spilled in some residences while the devices were being removed.

Nicor Inc., the major natural gas supplier for most of suburban Chicago and much of Northern and East Central Illinois, ended up having to launch a massive inspection and in some cases, cleanup, of hundreds of thousands of homes, as well as factories, schools, and other buildings where mercury-containing devices were potentially present.

Illinois EPA also sprang into action. Several teams of Illinois EPA investigators, sometimes working on holidays and weekends and each armed with meters to register mercury vapor levels in the air, spent several weeks verifying whether mercury had been completely removed from schools, colleges, hospitals, factories and other facilities. Demonstrating the difficulty of working with mercury, in some cases multiple cleanups were required before we gave the "all clear."

The gas regulator problem focused public attention on the potential hazards for mercury and the need for careful handling and safe disposal of other mercury-containing items, such as thermometers, barometers and mercury switches in children's light-up sneakers.

We saw an increase of mercury-containing items brought to our regularly scheduled Household Hazardous Waste Collection events this fall, but also a few disturbing incidents of containers of mercury apparently being abandoned on the street. We were especially concerned about an incident in Stickney where mercury dumped in an alley was spread around by vehicles and pedestrians, impacting the alley, an adjacent parking lot, and several apartment buildings.

To discourage such potential irresponsible disposal, Illinois EPA worked with other agencies to develop a special mercury collection program. From mid-November to mid-December, several firehouses in the Chicago suburban area and four recycling centers in the city of Chicago accepted mercury waste from households, which was in turn collected by an Illinois EPA contractor for recycling and other responsible disposal. All of this has greatly raised public awareness about mercury. Many of us recall playing with small amounts of elemental mercury, fascinated by the shiny, rubbery blobs.

We have learned to take mercury exposure seriously, however, since breathing the vapors has been linked to potentially serious health problems. The recent news media attention including a recounting of the origin of the phrase "Mad as a Hatter" -- traced to the time many years ago when hatmakers used mercury in hat making and in some cases became mentally disturbed as a result of neurological damage. Exposure to small amounts of mercury over a long period may cause health effects including damage to the brain, kidney, lungs and a developing fetus. Brief contact with levels of mercury can cause immediate loss of appetite, fatigue, insomnia and changes in behavior or personality.

Even before the recent concern over gas regulators, scattered incidents of mercury spills have been responded to by Illinois EPA staff and other agencies. They include a few incidents where mercury was spilled in school science rooms, and in one case a pound jar was passed on to classmates in two rooms. Each incident required that an environmental firm be brought in to perform a cleanup and conduct medical screenings for potentially exposed students and teachers.

Yet there is also no reason to panic as long as proper procedures are followed. These procedures include not attempting to clean up or vacuum any spilled mercury in your home, which potentially could spread the substance into additional areas. Mercury contained in a well-sealed container should not pose a hazard, but as a precaution the container should be placed in a larger container before being moved.

The Agency's Office of Pollution Prevention has also worked with 22 hospitals around the state to reduce their use of mercury-containing items, where substitutions are now available. More stringent regulations on incinerators at hospitals also will reduce mercury emissions into the air.

Mercury has been with us for many years in various forms. As we continue to take the material out of circulation, we all need to take care in how it is handled. If mercury is spilled in your home, the Illinois Department of Public Health can be contacted at 888-222-1282 to provide assistance on residential cleanup procedures. If mercury is spilled outside or in non-residential facilities, Illinois EPA can be contacted at 217-782-3637.