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Author: Subject: Mercury in Canada
MidLifeChemist
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[*] posted on 12-10-2020 at 19:02


Quote: Originally posted by Morue  
Isn't mercury regulated in Canada? I'm not sure you can legally import mercury into Canada, and even if you can, taxes and duty will probably be very high.


taxes and duties shipping into canada are generally 10%
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 13-10-2020 at 06:19


Quote: Originally posted by MidLifeChemist  
Quote: Originally posted by Morue  
Isn't mercury regulated in Canada? I'm not sure you can legally import mercury into Canada, and even if you can, taxes and duty will probably be very high.


taxes and duties shipping into canada are generally 10%


Depends on what it is and where it's coming from. I've had it where it was 35% on importing an oscilloscope from the UK
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 13-10-2020 at 07:09


Quote: Originally posted by Morue  
Isn't mercury regulated in Canada? I'm not sure you can legally import mercury into Canada, and even if you can, taxes and duty will probably be very high. You should have a look at CBSA website first, I wouldn't be surprised if that 200$ ended up being 300$.

There's this company : https://alphachem.ca/ which apparently sells chemicals to individual. I've never order from them, I don't know if they sell mercury metal, but maybe you could give them a call and ask. They appear to be based in Ontario, but they mention on their website "no dangerous goods surchage".


I emailed them, they don't sell mercury metal
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Mateo_swe
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[*] posted on 18-10-2020 at 08:39


I was looking for some mercury some time ago and found another older thread about it.
There was a link to a Spanish trade site where mercury was offered in quantities from a gram to many kilos.
Most are quite expensive but i have seen some cheaper offers as well.
Its in spanish language though.
Here is the link
https://www.milanuncios.com/minerales-de-coleccion/mercurio....
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Alphachem
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[*] posted on 18-10-2020 at 14:58


You are unable to buy or sell mercury in Canada anymore.



Alphachem Limited
2485 Milltower Court
Mississauga, ON
L5N 5Z6
www.alphachem.ca
info@alphachem.ca
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 25-2-2021 at 16:18


Quote: Originally posted by B(a)P  
I get 3 mm ones and they have about 0.5 g.
The ones in the link I posted claim to be 5 mm, so they might have around 1 g per switch.


I've just ordered 100 5mm switches, and I'll see how much mercury is in them. I found an eBay listing for 100 for $15




Nuclear physics is neat. It's a shame it's so regulated...

Now that I think about it, that's probably a good thing. Still annoying though.
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mr_bovinejony
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[*] posted on 25-2-2021 at 16:56


Breaking the switches are annoying. I got about 20 grams from 100 switches. Maybe they're not the same size, I think I only paid 10 for mine
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B(a)P
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[*] posted on 25-2-2021 at 16:57


Quote: Originally posted by itsallgoodjames  
Quote: Originally posted by B(a)P  
I get 3 mm ones and they have about 0.5 g.
The ones in the link I posted claim to be 5 mm, so they might have around 1 g per switch.


I've just ordered 100 5mm switches, and I'll see how much mercury is in them. I found an eBay listing for 100 for $15


Best of luck with it. For what it is worth, my approach for the removal of mercury from the switches is as follows.
I start with three 250 mL beakers, the first is for emptying the switches into, the second is for opening the switches over and the third is for the waste glass/contacts.
I use small side cutters to carefully remove the tip of the switches (they are like a little glass bead at the top of the switches that I get) while holding the switch over beaker two.
After snipping off the tip check to make sure there is no loose glass fragments then pour the contents into beaker one and discard the waste glass ect into beaker three.

You should end up with nearly glass free mercury in beaker one, some glass shards and a little mercury in beaker two that you can carefully decant into beaker one and a bunch of lightly contaminated waste. I wash my waste with nitric acid to extract the last of the mercury before disposal.

For PPE I use a lab coat, long cuff PVC gloves and a face shield.


These are the side cutters I was referring to.
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 25-2-2021 at 18:51


Quote: Originally posted by B(a)P  
Quote: Originally posted by itsallgoodjames  
Quote: Originally posted by B(a)P  
I get 3 mm ones and they have about 0.5 g.
The ones in the link I posted claim to be 5 mm, so they might have around 1 g per switch.


I've just ordered 100 5mm switches, and I'll see how much mercury is in them. I found an eBay listing for 100 for $15


Best of luck with it. For what it is worth, my approach for the removal of mercury from the switches is as follows.
I start with three 250 mL beakers, the first is for emptying the switches into, the second is for opening the switches over and the third is for the waste glass/contacts.
I use small side cutters to carefully remove the tip of the switches (they are like a little glass bead at the top of the switches that I get) while holding the switch over beaker two.
After snipping off the tip check to make sure there is no loose glass fragments then pour the contents into beaker one and discard the waste glass ect into beaker three.

You should end up with nearly glass free mercury in beaker one, some glass shards and a little mercury in beaker two that you can carefully decant into beaker one and a bunch of lightly contaminated waste. I wash my waste with nitric acid to extract the last of the mercury before disposal.

For PPE I use a lab coat, long cuff PVC gloves and a face shield.


These are the side cutters I was referring to.


Thanks for the information. I've had better luck using wire strippers to open small light bulbs (should be fairly similar). I find side cutters just crush the bulb, rather than nicely open it. I imagine that wire strippers might be better for the tilt switches as well. Using the three beakers is a good idea. I have a mercury contaminated glass (sealed so no mercury vapor gets out) bin, so I'll just put the remainder of the glass in there. I may or may not recover the mercury in the future.

If this goes well, I intend to buy a kilogram of mercury worth of tilt switches, as a kilo of mercury for $150 is a steal for Canada mercury prices.




Nuclear physics is neat. It's a shame it's so regulated...

Now that I think about it, that's probably a good thing. Still annoying though.
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Fyndium
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[*] posted on 26-2-2021 at 04:16


Havent measured, but I got those same switches ages ago and I'd dare to say it's far from 1g per switch. The droplet is about 2mm big. Even with 3mm diameter it'd weight 180mg if d=13kg/L.

So for 100 switches one would get 18g of mercury and current cost with shipping is 35$. 150$/kg isn't so bad after all, but for market bulk price for a flask, it's a robbery.

[Edited on 26-2-2021 by Fyndium]
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 28-2-2021 at 17:57


Quote: Originally posted by Fyndium  
150$/kg isn't so bad after all, but for market bulk price for a flask, it's a robbery.

[Edited on 26-2-2021 by Fyndium]

But I can't buy a flask of mercury in Canada, or else I would




Nuclear physics is neat. It's a shame it's so regulated...

Now that I think about it, that's probably a good thing. Still annoying though.
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XeonTheMGPony
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[*] posted on 1-3-2021 at 08:55


Mercury is about 200 dollars a pound in Canada
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 15-3-2021 at 13:17


The switches arrived. When I finish cutting them open I report back with the weight of Hg

20210315_171241.jpg - 2.8MB




Nuclear physics is neat. It's a shame it's so regulated...

Now that I think about it, that's probably a good thing. Still annoying though.
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itsallgoodjames
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[*] posted on 15-3-2021 at 14:08


So umm, the mercury is turning yellow...

20210315_180704.jpg - 2.6MB




Nuclear physics is neat. It's a shame it's so regulated...

Now that I think about it, that's probably a good thing. Still annoying though.
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