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rcr2f
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Trying to find a home for a glass jar of ~13 kg of mercury
I am located in the St. Louis area. The mercury was found in my grandpa's garage after he passed. I'm not certain how he obtained it, but it hasn't
been opened in probably 20 years.
As a last resort, I will call a hazardous waste removal agency to come take it away. I would prefer to see it go to a university or somewhere else.
I am new to this site, so I hope my post is ok!
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plante1999
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I would like it, but I'm in Canada. Hopefully someone will get it and care for it!
13Kg of Hg is not nothing!
I never asked for this.
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sbbspartan
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Mood: DEAD (diethyl azodicarboxylate)
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Would this be pick up only???
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rcr2f
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I think it is illegal to ship, so yes. From my understanding, we could get heavily fined and even arrested for shipping this much of a toxic
substance.
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sbbspartan
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That's too bad. 13 kg of mercury would be fun...
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Pyro
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You could put small amounts (20g, 1oz,...) into vials and sell them as samples on ebay.
don't give it to waste companies! they will charge you for it, while you have over 600$ worth of Hg there!
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro.  |
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Endimion17
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Glass jar with 13 kilos? That's almost 1 litre.
What does this jar look like? I'd be quite afraid to pick it up, constantly thinking about its bottom falling off, creating a huge splash across the
room.
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rcr2f
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It's just an old glass jar. I doubt it would break at the bottom, however I do not recommend picking it up by the lid. That would most likely fail.
Also I'm not sure for sure of the exact weight, 30 lbs was a guess. If anyone needs, we could weigh it to find out for sure.
http://i.imgur.com/hAOtbYX.jpg
close up:
http://i.imgur.com/P1uU7zc.jpg
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IrC
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I looked up PUB52 and USPS prohibits mailing it even ORM-D. That Hg looks very dirty, the lid has not been sealing well for a long time and Oxygen has
been getting in while beads of Mercury have been coming out. Also evident from the visible beads of Mercury in the image. You might consider packing
some Sulfur dust around it since it is very obviously giving off vapors. I would put it inside a bag with Sulfur powder and seal it while you consider
what to do with it. The Sulfur will convert the leaked metal into a much safer Sulfide. Wherever in the garage it was stored you might consider a
liberal dusting of Sulfur powder as well. If they still carry it many drug stores had it labeled as Flowers of Sulfur so you may be able to get it
without ordering and waiting for it. The lid on that jar is absolutely not designed for safe storage of Hg.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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Endimion17
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I thought it'll be a thickwalled special jar, but it's a coffee jar.
The bottom is on a verge of dislodging, trust me.
Seriously, do not lift that thing from its bucket.
I also see some beads around. Keep that thing in a ventilated area. That rag is probably sprinkled with it.
My honest recommendation is to buy ten 100ml sturdy plastic containers and to start transferring the metal. Put on latex gloves, remove the crud on
the top and, using a tiny glass beaker or comething convenient nonmetallic, start picking up the metal like you pick water from a well, and start
filling the containers. Sell it.
Do it outside and don't be afraid, you won't get sick from it.
Put the rag into the empty jar, add few handfuls of sulphur, shake it up, wrap it in lots of plastic bags and throw it away, unless you want to give
the rag and the jar to a waste disposal company.
But seriously, that bottom is just waiting to break off. What a sight would that be, lol.
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chemcam
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If you decide to sell it you should at least filter it, that can be done by using a very large syringe with a cotton ball inside I could filter about
a pound before having to get new cotton ball. I used to sell mercury on eBay a few years ago and actually made very very good money so i suggest you
do that. I salvaged it from medical equipment and other industrial/weather equipment. At one time I had just about 200lbs, little under 2 gallons. You
can go to junk yards and garbage dumps and ask around also, somebody collects mercury guaranteed.
My goal was to build a mercury fountain like the one in Spain but it was going to cost a lot more than I could afford at the time for a custom glass
enclosure.
[Edited on 4-13-2013 by chemcam]
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rcr2f
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Thank you for the warning, Endimion17! It is a really old jar too. If I can break it apart and sell it for money, I will try that route.
Chemcam, when you would sell it on ebay, did you ship through usps? I always thought any amount of mercury was illegal to ship.
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chemcam
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Given it was four years ago the last time I shipped any when I had checked I think it just said it needs to be packaged extremely well. People ship
mercury thermometers and gauges all the time legally. What I did was enclose the mercury in a plastic cylinder, hot glue the lid and slide it into a
glass vial then into double ziplocks. I never shipped more than 6oz at one time. But generally sold by the oz. Never had a problem.
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IrC
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Quote: Originally posted by chemcam  | | Given it was four years ago the last time I shipped any when I had checked I think it just said it needs to be packaged extremely well. People ship
mercury thermometers and gauges all the time legally. What I did was enclose the mercury in a plastic cylinder, hot glue the lid and slide it into a
glass vial then into double ziplocks. I never shipped more than 6oz at one time. But generally sold by the oz. Never had a problem.
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I used to get it in the mail years ago no problem. But I just looked at PUB52 to find:
Hazardous Material Mercury
Hazard Class 8
ID Number UN2809
DOT PG III
USPS Mailability Prohibited
http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52apxa.htm
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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chemcam
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Wow things have really changed over the years.
www.ups.com/media/en/49CFR_chemical_table_04012013v4.pdf
That link is for UPS it has conflicting data on mercury shipments. See what you think. Says its not regulated by ground and gives weight limit but
next to that says not accepted. It may be saying no for air transport. I'm on my phone so I can't view PDF files very well.
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rcr2f
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If I'm reading it correctly, there's a max limit of 25 kg, but it is allowed for UPS. That's good to know! thanks.
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Fantasma4500
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more than 600$? back in time my chemistry teacher showed our class he had something he wasnt allowed to have: 2kg mercury..
fun stuff to play around with.. so heavy liquid..
we did some calculations on it and found it to be.. not very sure, but just the 2kg's he had was +600$ worth so i doubt 13kg mercury would be just
600$ worth..
http://www.mcssl.com/store/gallium-source/025---mercury-meta...
this site sells many metals, and when i calculated it abit (13000 / 454 = 28.9 28.9 x 189 = 5411) i found it that you have ... abit more than 600$
mercury..
you could probably contact the owner of the site, im pretty sure he would be in for trading some mercury.. putting this into smaller vials would mean
you would have the container open, meaning some mercury would evaporate which isnt really healthy, perhaps divide it 13 times, so you dont handle it
too much without lid on
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watson.fawkes
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From FedEx Ground Hazardous Materials Shipping Guide
| Quote: | Mercury (Class -8- Corrosive) may not be regulated as a hazardous material if packaged and prepared under certain conditions. 49 CFR allows an
exception to the hazardous material regulations. Mercury, when packaged and prepared under 49 CFR 173.164, do not require hazardous material shipping
papers, certification forms, marking or labeling of the package when:
•The mercury is contained in instruments or articles (i.e. thermometers, barometers or fluorescent lights
or
•The package does not contain more than 1lb. (.45kg) net quantity of mercury per package |
So go look up 49
CFR 173.164 and ship by Fedex Ground. USPS and UPS don't want to deal with it, apparently.
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Pok
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| Quote: Originally posted by Antiswat | more than 600$?...
http://www.mcssl.com/store/gallium-source/025---mercury-meta...
...
this site sells many metals, and when i calculated it abit (13000 / 454 = 28.9 28.9 x 189 = 5411) i found it that you have ... abit more than 600$
mercury..
you could probably contact the owner of the site, im pretty sure he would be in for trading some mercury.. putting this into smaller vials would mean
you would have the container open, meaning some mercury would evaporate which isnt really healthy, perhaps divide it 13 times, so you dont handle it
too much without lid on
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This site isn't really a good standard to have an idea of the price of mercury. They buy their stuff for 10 to 90 % cheaper than they offer it. Taxes
and hazmat shipping is included in this price. This site is better: http://www.metal-pages.com/metals/mercury/metal-prices-news-...
1 "flask" of mercury is 34.473 kg. So 1kg of 99.99% pure Hg costs about 100$.
These 13 kg mercury also have an unknown purity (surely < 99.99% pure), so it will cost much less than 1300 $. Only 3 years ago this amount would
have costed just ca. 270 $ (the price has risen fivefold since then!).
[Edited on 13-4-2013 by Pok]
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Pyro
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I got an offer from a chinese seller for 70USD/kg. so it depends where you buy it
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro. |
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ElizabethGreene
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Hello.
Are you still looking to get rid of this? I'm not that far away and can drive up to get it.
Answering the unasked question, No, I don't have an immediate use for it. Plan A is to get it out of that glass jar and into some sealed ampoules.
Then I'll get that jar, blanket, and bucket off to proper disposal. From there one small amp will will go into my element collection, the rest will
go in a well padded box on a shelf. If other SciMadders want some I can look into what the shipping costs would be.
Thanks!
Elizabeth
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hyfalcon
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I live about 3 hrs. from you and would be willing also.
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Variscite
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I love mercury, such a beautiful element. Scares the crap out of me though for some reason  .
Must be some underlying fear of it poisoning me, no matter how much.
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hyfalcon
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As long as it's properly contained, I would rather work with mercury than something like K2CrO7 or even elemental P.
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annaandherdad
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My biggest fear of mercury is that it will spill, splattering a million tiny balls all over my garage and then at some time in the future I won't be
able to sell the house without some $100,000 hazmat cleanup job.
Any other SF Bay chemists?
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