"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:55:55 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


clare at snyder dot ontario dot canada wrote in message
. ..
On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:00:01 -0400, "ATP*"
wrote:



Some idiot science teacher in a local middle school sprinkled a small
amount of mercury on a lab table to show the kids how the drops roll.
That episode cost the school district a few thousand dollars in
monitoring and cleanup. If a quart of mercury was dropped, there
would
be
a financial disaster.

Which of course was a knee-jerk bureaucratic reaction by some asshole.

That's today's reality, whether you agree with it or not.

Back when I was a kid, we used a mixture od asbestos and plaster of
paris as a modelling "clay".Made all sorts of electrical aparatus with
mercury.
Some people think I'm crazy - mabee the "mad as a hatter" syndrome
from the mercury?????

Yes, the stuff CAN be dangerous - but the world has gone totally
overboard - anything that could POSSIBLY hurt us is controlled to the
enth degree - while WHAT IS KILLING US is largely unaddressed. (and
when "they" get around to addressing whatever that is, they'll go
overboard again, as usual)
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

The danger of mercury lies primarily with its organic compounds. Liquid,
metallic mercury itself is not particularly toxic. The problem, of course,
is that letting it out into the environment allows the production of
organic
compounds.


I should hope not as they used to mix it with silver and poke it in
your teeth.

If you mean by "I should hope not" that metallic mercury is relatively safe,
yes, that's the example often used in explaining it.

--
Ed Huntress