Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Storage of Elemental Mercury

subsecret - 2-8-2013 at 18:51

I hope this is a good place to post this...

My father gave me a vial of mercury that he's had for a while. I'm not sure exactly how it was used...

I'm not an expert on the storage of mercury, but here's what I did to (hopefully) ensure safety:

I placed the original plastic vial of mercury in 3 consecutive Ziploc bags. I placed this in a glass jar with a rubber seal, added some sulfur powder, and closed it. The plastic vial sits upright inside this package. The entire thing is sitting on a shelf in my cool basement.

Is this overkill at all?

Thanks, any help is appreciated.

violet sin - 2-8-2013 at 19:32

overkill? depends on how warm and tingly it makes you feel being that wrapped up...
for me, ya that is overkill. but I don't know your skill level or living situation(siblings/neighbors/ambient temp). mine is kept in a glass vial laying down in an old jewelery box( the kind a nice chain n pendant or small watch comes in). I taped some cardboard fins in place so it won't roll and set down several layers of slightly crumpled news paper for shock absorber. I have it in a place I KNOW it wont fall OR get too hot/cold. but hey that's just me, and many may(will) say it's far too little safety. but I am careful with my things and I have been adding to this same vial, in this same box for,, oohh 12 years + now.

disclaimer* I don't wanna piss off moderators here by saying that this is a safe way of storage. so I am not recommending you do the same, *at all*. but what ever makes you feel safe is the best, as long as it is at least at a minimum safety level. you seem to have cleared the threshold there :)
-violet sin-

subsecret - 2-8-2013 at 21:18

That's comforting. Thank you.

The only person besides me who works in the basement is my older brother, and he knows not to mess with the mercury. The temperature couldn't get above 80 degrees Fahrenheit in there.

I'm never going to mess with the mercury, and I'm looking for a hazardous waste center to dispose of it properly.

bfesser - 2-8-2013 at 21:28

Quote: Originally posted by Awesomeness  
I'm never going to mess with the mercury, and I'm looking for a hazardous waste center to dispose of it properly.
That's exactly what I thought and did several years ago, and I regret it. Take my advice; keep your mercury—in fact, any you can get your hands on—you'll want it in the future.

hyfalcon - 3-8-2013 at 18:38

I've got a 2kg bottle put back for a rainy day.

testimento - 4-8-2013 at 16:34

Mercury's getting harder and harder to get. Sooner it will be illegal to import, export, sell and even possess in most contries, so think twice before getting rid of it. The mass panic around that substance is something I've never undersood - yes, it is toxic, but not even nearly on the scale it is feared of.

You can easily keep the mercury within glass bottle. It forms amalgams with aluminium and other materials, but common steel will hold well on it, as it's sold in flasks made of it. I'd be happy to keep 100kg's of bottled mercury under my bed and sleep my nights well. It won't come to your nighmaters, neither it wont jump on you when you walk past the container.

vmelkon - 24-12-2013 at 12:12

Quote: Originally posted by Awesomeness  
I hope this is a good place to post this...

My father gave me a vial of mercury that he's had for a while. I'm not sure exactly how it was used...

I'm not an expert on the storage of mercury, but here's what I did to (hopefully) ensure safety:

I placed the original plastic vial of mercury in 3 consecutive Ziploc bags. I placed this in a glass jar with a rubber seal, added some sulfur powder, and closed it. The plastic vial sits upright inside this package. The entire thing is sitting on a shelf in my cool basement.

Is this overkill at all?

Thanks, any help is appreciated.


Ziploc bags don't make a perfect seal.
What I did was to put my bottle in plastic and melted it shut. Think of "chips bags". I used thick polyethylene plastic sheet found at hardware stores.

plante1999 - 24-12-2013 at 13:15

Keep it.

Although cinnabar will probably be available forever from china, it is a long a tedious process to extract it.

Arthur Dent - 27-12-2013 at 17:02

My small stash of mercury is conveniently stored in the safest of containers... a handful of large intact glass mercury switches, individually wrapped in thin bubblewrap, in a plastic jar, on the lower shelf of my lab. If I ever need mercury (which I doubt I ever will), I have a decent quantity to work with.

I believe that if your mercury source comes from old mercury switches from thermostats (like me), best to keep the bulbs intact and store them as is.

Robert

Pyro - 27-12-2013 at 18:39

I keep mine in a 100ml glass DURAN bottle in my poisons cabinet. It can move around, but the chances of that bottle breaking are tiny.

I got the bulk of mine from Hg tilt switches, I did however keep one for every government in Belgium :D (they are good for car bombs :P)

MERCURY (Hg) Safe storage !

DetaDude - 6-1-2014 at 08:47

I collect and keep all Hg I can get my hands on. Hg is getting like gold damn hard to find and even harder to buy.

I have approx. 3 kilo's stored in a sturdy HDPE bottle with buttress threads for the lid, this bottle fits very nicely in a length of 2" steel pipe with pipe caps on both ends. VERY SAFE.

DetaDude.

Vitrian - 8-1-2014 at 19:04

I have my tiny amount of mercury in a glass bottle with a cork stopper.... Ive wondered about the cork, as the bottom is a bit gray now, but I figure as long as the bottle stays upright I should be fine

I wish I hadn't spilled some in my carpet a while back....:o

macckone - 8-1-2014 at 20:49

Quote: Originally posted by Vitrian  
I have my tiny amount of mercury in a glass bottle with a cork stopper.... Ive wondered about the cork, as the bottom is a bit gray now, but I figure as long as the bottle stays upright I should be fine

I wish I hadn't spilled some in my carpet a while back....:o


Cork is not a vapor (like mercury vapor) tight seal in most cases
unless the cork is treated. Some sealing wax however will make
it vapor tight.

Pathos - 29-1-2014 at 15:22

A friend of mine had an old fashioned Coca-Cola bottle filled to the brim with Hg and sealed shut, he kept it on his bookshelf. I have to admit it looked very cool as such, and was always a popular conversation starter. People were always amazed by the weight of it in particular :o

keep your mercury

sodium_stearate - 26-4-2014 at 20:30

Keep it. The big mercury scare is, in my opinion
way overblown.

Don't drink it.
Don't smear it all over your body.
Don't snort it.

Just keep it in a glass jar with the lid on.
Then use it with care.