FL-HS freaks out and goes into "lockdown" over a thermometer.

[Anti Federalist]

SMH...



Seminole High School locked down after student brings mercury-filled thermometer to class for chemistry project

12:42 PM, Dec 4, 2012

Boca Ciega, Florida -- A chemistry project caused a big problem at Pinellas' Seminole High School Tuesday morning.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says students were given an assignment to bring in a substance from the Periodic Table of Elements.

One student brought in mercury -- contained within a thermometer -- and the school went into lockdown.

Deputies say the thermometer was discovered as the substances were checked before going through the school.

No one was put in harm's way, but a hazmat crew was there as a precaution.

(You're fucking kidding me, right? - AF)

Pinellas County Schools tell 10 News the students were told not to bring certain toxic elements from the periodic table, mercury included.

[BSU kid]

...blanked because I can't remember what I meant to say...

[specsaregood]

was it actually a mercury filled thermometer?

[Anti Federalist]

was it actually a mercury filled thermometer?

Probably not.

What if it was?

I'd wager the light switches and thermostats in the classroom have mercury in them, not to mention the CFL bulbs.

[amy31416]

He should have carried a backpack full of those CFL's in instead.

[madengr]

We used to squirt mercury in our pencil grooves at the top of the desks, then roll it back and forth with the pencils. I still have the 1 LB bottle I played with when I was 7.

Of course we'd smelt and cast D&D figures out of lead too, and bring those to school.

[specsaregood]

Probably not.
What if it was?
I'd wager the light switches and thermostats in the classroom have mercury in them, not to mention the CFL bulbs.

If it wasn't, that makes it even more stupid.

[pcosmar]

See,, the stupidity of idiots can still elicit a WTF.

[Carson]

He should have carried a backpack full of those CFL's in instead.

The Environmental Protection Agency had some pretty heavy duty rules about what to do after one of the Compact Fluorescent Lamp's busted.

They have since revised their plan.

New rules;

http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html

The old rules had something about removing flooring. I don't see them with a Google search.

[amy31416]

The Environmental Protection Agency had some pretty heavy duty rules about what to do after one of the Compact Fluorescent Lamp's busted.

They have since revised their plan.

New rules;

http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html

The old rules had something about removing flooring. I don't see them with a Google search.

I've seen that cleanup instruction before, but hadn't heard about the floor removal instruction. That would have been plenty fun with a jackhammer considering that the only surface I've ever broken a bulb on was tarazzo.

[FindLiberty]

A modern "silver liquid" glass thermometer contains no mercury at all... http://www.rgmd.com/msds/msds.pdf

...unlke those old amalgam fillings in the teacher's teeth.

+++++++++++++++++++

BTW, mercury does react with aluminum!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ilxsu-JlY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbUPjHHml1E

[Brian4Liberty]

...blanked because I can't remember what I meant to say...

Can't remember much either. Other than the fact that we rolled the mercury from broken thermometers around in the palms of our hands until it disappeared.

[FindLiberty]

Bonus tips for identifying that glass and shiny mess on the floor or bathroom sink counter top:

That shiny silvery (not-mercury) stuff from the shattered modern oral thermometer looks and acts just like ink or paint does when spilled/smeared. It eventually dries out like paint would. It won't roll about and must be scrubbed off with any water based cleaner from the kitchen. (Another notable feature was its questionable +/- 2 degree accuracy observed just before it was thrown onto the ground in anger/frustration.) BE CAREFUL WITH THE BROKEN GLASS - AVOID SKIN LACERATIONS, DON'T CHEW OR EAT BROKEN GLASS!

Real mercury (old oral thermometer or old HVAC wall thermostat) spatters into tiny tiny micro-blob droplets after impact. Those blobs of mercury are eager to join together to form bigger heavier blobs. They will roll around and head downhill possibly forming a little river. It can get dull after picking up dust and dirt, but it does not dry out unless it's done reacting after contact with silver (amalgam tooth filling) or "eating up" aluminum metal, etc. (It has a very high surface tension and density.) AVOID SKIN CONTACT, DON'T BREATH IT OR INGEST IT!

Don't just throw it in the trash, bottle it up instead and research its proper disposal... DON'T JUST TAKE IT TO SCHOOL.

[FindLiberty]

...plenty fun with a jackhammer...

...fun 'till the EPA panic resumes after they hit that old asbestos floor tile that had been safely (but illegally) sealed over by the newer layer of vinyl floor tile.

'you' can never have too much government if it involves their future tax slaves.

[tod evans]

...fun 'till the EPA panic resumes after they hit that old asbestos floor tile that had been safely (but illegally) sealed over by the newer layer of vinyl floor tile.

'you' can never have too much government if it involves their future tax slaves.

It'd be cheaper to bury the government agents right along side the asbestos and mercury...

[nobody's_hero]

It would have been funny if another kid brought in some uranium and they were to busy being worried about the mercury.


I would have been a smart ass and brought an empty jar. 'I brought some nitrogen!'

[amy31416]

...fun 'till the EPA panic resumes after they hit that old asbestos floor tile that had been safely (but illegally) sealed over by the newer layer of vinyl floor tile.

'you' can never have too much government if it involves their future tax slaves.

Well I tell you what, I'd be the first person to turn myself in if I ever safely removed asbestos tile flooring. The first.

[Dr.3D]

LOL, kids used to bite the end off of those old thermometers and it didn't hurt them in the least.

Edit: Either that or if I hadn't done it, I would have an IQ of over 200. LOL

[AFPVet]

Probably not.

What if it was?

I'd wager the light switches and thermostats in the classroom have mercury in them, not to mention the CFL bulbs.

That's what I was thinking... why would they freak out about a little thermometer when the florescent lights have MANY times the amount of mercury in them. I remember a couple of guys on my flight broke a couple of the bulbs and just swept them up one time lol. Your body does wash small amounts of heavy metals like mercury and lead out with enough water or other chelation methods, but if the mercury vaporizes and you breathe that crap, you're probably done.

[Brian4Liberty]

LOL, kids used to bite the end off of those old thermometers and it didn't hurt them in the least.

Edit: Either that or if I hadn't done it, I would have an IQ of over 200. LOL

Consider this. If you had siblings too young to use the thermometer orally, where did they put it? And then your mom put it in your mouth! :eek:

[Dr.3D]

Consider this. If you had siblings too young to use the thermometer orally, where did they put it? And then your mom put it in your mouth! :eek:

LOL didn't you ever hear the joke about how to tell the difference between an oral and rectal thermometer?

Answer: The rectal tastes like shit.

Oh... I was the youngest.

[Dr.3D]

When I heard they were doing away with the mercury filled oral thermometers, I bought a box of em while I could.

[donnay]

A modern "silver liquid" glass thermometer contains no mercury at all... http://www.rgmd.com/msds/msds.pdf

...unlke those old amalgam fillings in the teacher's teeth.

+++++++++++++++++++

BTW, mercury does react with aluminum!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ilxsu-JlY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbUPjHHml1E


Image that...and there is mercury and aluminum in vaccines! :mad:

[Tod]

When I was in high school, the physics class (all five of us) went to see a show (video clips and slides) put on by a professor at Cleveland State U. about physics. One small part of it was a video clip of a guy in a rubber suit climbing out into a big vat of mercury and sitting on/in it. It was pretty cool.

We had a lot of fun in that class, including etching glass with hydroflouric acid and putting potassium in water (we even took a pill capsule, emptied the contents - don't recall what they were - and stuffed it with potassium and then dropped that in water. A while later the reaction happened. One student put some potassium on a model glider and tossed it out the 4th floor window during a rainstorm, but there wasn't enough rain to react. He was hoping the glider would go down in flames.

[alucard13mmfmj]

I was in Chemistry Class (organic chem A) at my community college. We were doing an assignment on purifying an unknown substance and determining its melting point. All pure substance has a unique melting point.

Half the thermometers were alcohol and other half was mecury. We gotta heat up the substance, usually a pure crystal, slowly and make note of when it melts. Sometimes melt at 70C sometimes at 200C. Then we gotta wait for thermometer to cool down, which takes forever, to use for the next unknown.

This girl took a mercury thermometer out of the heating apparatus to cool it. When she pulled the mercury thermometer out, it broke. Releasing mercury vapors. Everyone GTFO of there and left everything there. Altnough one person went against the crowd to get his lab notebook... which kidna impeded the evacuation of the room.

The room's air vaccuum was activated and that was that. No police, No hazmat and nothing serious.

[LibForestPaul]

He should have carried a backpack full of those CFL's in instead.

Bingo!

[paulbot24]

I'm surprised they actually still teach chemistry in most colleges, considering how "dangerous" it is in the classroom and the fact that you look suspicious as f*ck if you know a lot about chemistry. Not just to the feds, but almost everybody gives you a really long inquisitive look if you know how complete a reaction that is just slightly more advanced than watching vinegar and baking powder turn into a "volcano."

[presence]

The room's air vaccuum was activated and that was that. No police, No hazmat and nothing serious.

My grandfather was a plumber and had a small jar full of mercury from old thermostats...

He used to let me play with a small handful when I was still kneeling on the kitchen chair age.

[osan]

Deputies say...

America... it is a silly place.

[Carson]

I've seen that cleanup instruction before, but hadn't heard about the floor removal instruction. That would have been plenty fun with a jackhammer considering that the only surface I've ever broken a bulb on was tarazzo.

I took another look for the old rules. It wasn't that many years ago the EPA changed them. I remember some good threads (http://www.fark.com/comments/6053026/Government-releases-HAZMAT-level-instructions-for-cleaning-up-dangerous-chemicals-Er-cleaning-up-after-a-broken-CFL-bulb) on Fark.com on the topic (http://www.fark.com/comments/2804109/30368075#c30368075). While I was looking I did come across the rules for cleaning up the old style bulbs.

EPA 3 PAGE GUIDELINE TO CFL CLEANUP: Official 8+-hour cleanup
vs. 5 second cleanup for Edison bulbs.

Edison bulb cleanup instruction manual:
1. Sweep up broken bulb.
2. Toss in trashcan

[matt0611]

Probably not.

What if it was?

I'd wager the light switches and thermostats in the classroom have mercury in them, not to mention the CFL bulbs.

Yeah really. So what even if it was? Didn't we as a society use those things for generations? How bad could they possibly be? Definitely not enough to bring in a damn hazmat team, my god.

What is wrong with our society?

[alucard13mmfmj]

chemistry lab was quite useless because there is minimum teaching by instructors on lab techniques. You gotta learn by your own by reading off of a lab manual. And you get penalized if you mess up something. you cant redo it because often times, you only have one oppurtunity to do it.

yeah... let's get penalized and get points docked off for doing something for the first time and having only the manual to go off of!

what happened to professors doing a demo first just so EVERYONE in the lab knows exactly what to do. Time consuming to learn by yourself AND you often do do something wrong.

but i suppose it is to promote and develope critical thinking skills and problem solving.

anyways, i digress.

[LibertyEagle]

America has become the land of wussies.

[presence]

//

[KCIndy]

America has become the land of wussies.


Probably caused by several generations being exposed to mercury thermometers! :D ;) :D

[Dr.3D]

Probably caused by several generations being exposed to mercury thermometers! :D ;) :D
More like several generations being exposed to media propaganda.

Edit: I'm sure glad I don't live in California. I keep reading on a lot of packages where it says, "This item contains a substance known in the state of California to cause cancer."

[Anti Federalist]

What is wrong with our society?

Q


America has become the land of wussies.

A

[KCIndy]

More like several generations being exposed to media propaganda.


You've got a good point there. I was (obviously, I hope) joking about the exposure to mercury. But for anyone whose knowledge of lead, mercury, etc. is limited to what's on government PSAs and the occasional TV show would be quite likely to call in a hazmat unit at the drop of a hat.

Like the others who have posted here, I have childhood memories of playing with mercury... rolling it across my palm, watching it ball up on a hard, impermeable surface.

As a kid, I spent innumerable hours fishing. We used "split shot" sinkers a lot back then. These were small, roundish balls of lead with a split in the middle, allowing the ball to be pulled open, then re-closed around the fishing line.

Most often, I would open and close these lead sinkers by biting them with my teeth.

Gosh. One would expect I would be dead by now.

:D :D

[Brian4Liberty]

There was a bottle of dihydrogen monoxide at school. I got a laywer and sued. It gave me cancer.

[Dr.3D]

There was a bottle of dihydrogen monoxide at school. I got a laywer and sued. It gave me cancer.
Wow, do you live in California? There are so many things that give people cancer in California, I'm afraid to even visit that state.

[AFPVet]

LOL @ dihydrogen monoxide... water lol.

[KCIndy]

There was a bottle of dihydrogen monoxide at school. I got a laywer and sued. It gave me cancer.

Oh, no! Not THAT stuff!!

The pipes in my house are absolutely full of the stuff. There's no escaping it... hell, I may as well be bathing in the stuff.