ddsq
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Selling mercury?
I have acquired some liquid mercury (two 1 lb bottles and a small amount in a 3rd bottle, maybe .25lb on a guess, but I have no way to weigh it) from
an old dental office my office took over from a deceased dentist. I am getting a lot of conflicting info about the possibility of selling it. It is
indeed legal at least, I gather? But not legal to ship it. What is the current price of mercury and how does one go about selling it legally
assuming there is a market for it?
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gdflp
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http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=29871 This might give you an idea.
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Bert
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We can't tell you much about legality without knowing your jurisdiction...
USA?
Rapopart’s Rules for critical commentary:
1. Attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it
that way.”
2. List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
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Anatol Rapoport was a Russian-born American mathematical psychologist (1911-2007).
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ddsq
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Oh yes, sorry. USA, NY
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macckone
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Title 49 section 173.164.
Basically if you ship 1lb by ground
A plastic bottle in a heat sealed bag
With sufficient padding to prevent
Puncture inside of a sturdy cardboard
Box.
Shipping by air is more complicated
And requires special labelling.
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Dr.Bob
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You CANNOT ship it via the post office, for sure. But FedEx might be the best choice. I would try to sell it locally, which should be legal,
although not much is legal in NY anymore.
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Praxichys
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You can still eat, sleep, pay taxes, and do what the TV tells you.
I'm pretty sure you still can't ship it through FedEx unless you have taken their hazmat training course, regardless of how it is packed. You must be
registered to ship hazardous materials.
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macckone
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My post was the minimum regulations require.
Individual shippers are free to add their own requirements.
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HgDinis25
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This is a long shot but you could try to find someone with the right hazmat training and use it as a proxy to legally ship it...
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macckone
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You could also call the shipper and see what they require.
USPS will not ship it.
Per praxichys FedEx requires training.
UPS will ship but you should call their
Hazmat shipping line for info.
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ddsq
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Thanks for the info everyone. I'll try to see what UPS requires. The only person I know who has a permit to ship hazmat can only do so via rail so
that doesn't help me
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DrMario
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Whatever you do, I hope you don't just dump it into the environment. Mercury is one of the most dangerous elements as it's neurotoxic and
accumulating. There is NO safe dose of mercury in the body, unless many other toxines, which show thresholding effects.
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macckone
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I second the environmental danger.
I wouldn't recommend illegal shipping but
it would be better than illegal dumping.
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Actinium
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the problem in illegal shipping is it might and probably will make its way into the environment. I worked for one of the mail services in their
freight division which is how you have to send it Lets just say that the people who handle the packages are not the gentlest of hands. . you cannot
ship mercury by air so it must go by truck. something to do with mercury's ability to form amalgams 
As far as I understand its legal to posses mercury however selling it is another matter.. check out this about some guy trying to sell 64 LBS of it on Craigslist.. The EPA really whent out of there way to make sure it didn't get into the wrong
hands or get disposed of improperly.
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DrMario
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Quote: Originally posted by Actinium  | As far as I understand its legal to posses mercury however selling it is another matter.. check out this about some guy trying to sell 64 LBS of it on Craigslist.. The EPA really whent out of there way to make sure it didn't get into the wrong
hands or get disposed of improperly.
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I think that agency (MPCA) absolutely did the right thing there, with common sense and without getting anyone in trouble.
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Metacelsus
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Yeah, Minnesota is usually pretty reasonable when it comes to things like that.
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