Someone at another site was asking if there was any way for him to sell metallic mercury legally? "I have 20 1-pound bottles of mercury that I got at an auction back in the late 1980s. They are dental mercury, for making fillings (which I understand a lot of dentists are not doing any more). They are brand new, unopened, and each bottle in a little cardboard sleeve. Each one is about the size of a 35 mm film can. "What I would like to know is does anyone know where I could sell this? I had something in mind to do with it when I bought it, but never did do it, (and this is a lot more than I would have needed anyway), and I would just as soon sell them. I have about $200 in them and would like to get it back if possible. "Although, they all fit nicely into a .50 cal army ammunition can, and don't really take up much space." Any one have referrals on this without getting him in trouble?
Wow, $10 a pound? He got a heck of a deal, I think -- the few times I looked into getting some, it was a lot more expensive than that. It's tough to move now. It's not illegal to have, and not even "naughty" to have in the sense of "drug precursors" or other restricted materials. But it's a hazardous material, and I think it's specifically called out in a lot of shippers' prohibited or extra-cost lists. When it could still be advertised and sold on eBay, I think most people just lied about it on their packaging. There are still lots of interesting uses for mercury; find any "science for kids" book from the 1950s or earlier, and you'll see a real horror-show of tricks and projects. There are lots of people who'd love to get some; some of them might even be trusted to handle and dispose of it responsibly -- but I don't know how you'd go about finding those people. There was one website I used to visit, sciencemadness.org, where a lot of experimenters hung out. He might be able to find an interested party there. If he elects to be entirely above-board with this, he'd probably need to turn it in as a hazardous material, and he'd probably need to pay handsomely to get rid of it. The eight-year-old science enthusiast inside me would love to have it all for himself, but I don't think he could talk the forty-eight-year-old adult shell into taking on the responsibility.
The best ornate antique clocks had mercury filled pendulums. The reason was to keep the clock accurate. As the temperature changed throughout the year the mercury would expand in the glass tube(s) thus changing its center of gravity which compensated for temperature changes in the pendulum rod itself. If you have one of these clocks, invariably one of the glass tubes has been broken and even if you fix it, it's impossible to get the mercury.
Thanks for the information. I used to enjoy getting my mercury out and watching its unique properties. I just hope it didn't get into my bloodstream! A nearby city, Danbury, CT, originally known as "Swamptown", used to be home for a number of "mad hatters", when that industry was big. Mercury was used as a preservative in hats. Funny that "cinnabar" had such a long-term use as a "delicacy" when added to food.
When I was in sixth grade, I got the "uncool" science teacher. The "cool" science teacher would let kids roll mercury around in the palms of their hands. Eventually, of course, much of it ended up on the decades-old hardwood floor, where it would roll into the cracks and disappear. The school was so doggone drafty that I doubt the vapor concentration ever reached hazardous levels anyhow. But I'm quite sure those floorboards didn't get hauled off as hazardous waste when the school was torn down, even though they probably should have...
I would imagine that there should be manufacturers who would wish to purchase it. Mercury is used in the new light bulbs, and other items still. The manufacturers have to be buying the raw material from someone. I would try to get a hold of some large national metal dealers and see if anyone would have an interest. I agree with Jeff, $10 a pound is a steal for mercury. Chris
Let me assure you that proper and legal shipment will shock you. A special DOT container is required and special documents of the shipper and the recipient is needed in most states. Some states have special recycling stations where small amounts can be disposed, but not transferred. At the college I was employed a few years ago, our shipment of 35 total pounds to a disposal/recycling firm cost over $1500 plus the cost of a special truck to come 150 miles to pick it up in hazmat conditions $$$$. If you are stopped in a personal vehicle and have such, you are in very severe situation. Better to have drugs after they get through with you possibly contaminating miles of highways. IMO. Jim
I would still buy it if I were within 100 miles of the seller. Mercury is also very useful in gold panning.
One of the dangers of being a chemist is telling chemical stories. The Mad As A Hatter connection has nothing to do with metallic mercury. In the 18th and 19th centuries, hats were made from felt, which is a mush of hairs that all stick together. One of the popular felts for making hats was rabbit fur, but it was too slick and the felt it made was weak. If the rabbit hair was soaked in mercuric nitrate, some of the hairs would split and this would cause them to tangle and make a strong felt. Imagine working in one of these places, you would go to a vat of rabbit hair and mercuric nitrate and pick up a large armload to take back to your working table. This is what is supposed to have caused the workers to go "Mad As A Hatter". Metallic mercury is not particularly toxic unless it is well dispersed in air or on the skin.
I think a great deal of the regulation is nothing more than yet another example of a federal bureaucracy that is addicted to over-regulation and thus preservation and expansion of their bureaucracy. The Mercury environmental Nazis have gotten so ridiculous about it they had to pull Mercurochrome from the American market because it has trace amounts of Mercury in it. This is a cheap inexpensive antiseptic that has been used without harm for generations. The USA is the only place it can't be purchased now.
Always good to see someone else knows that mercury isn't the "instant death" that so many people seem to think it is. A library near where I live had just undergone an extensive and expensive remodeling then went through a second re-remodeling at a cost of $250,000 because someone broke a fluorescent tube that scattered some tiny droplets of Mercury. I've seen cases where houses were condemned and torn down because it was discovered that some of the kids had been playing with Mercury in one of the rooms. Recenly on local radio there was a story of a school that was evacuated because someone broke a thermometer. Absolutely. I remember once seeing pictures of a tropical ocean floor on time that had POOLS of mercury still sitting there that had come from Mercury being brought over to the new world for gold mining that had been lost when the Spanish ship went down nearly 400 years earlier. The ship had rotted away but the ocean life around the mercury pools was flourishing.
Tell him PM me if serious Edited , it is against the rules to make offers b/s/t in a regular post. They must be made in the appropriate subforum.
There is one of those clocks in a jewelry store in Covington KY. I always wondered exactly what the mercury was for.
I gave the guy the information and he may PM one of the interested posters. An interesting point was made on the closed site where the OP and owner said he had bought the mercury at a government auction many years ago. Would not they have some liability if the current owner were to be cited with current code violations?
I learned about it by reading the original sales literature for an very nice looking antique grandfather's clock made by none other than IBM. Before the computer age, clocks was one of their products and the mercury pendulum was touted as one of the reasons for the clock's very good accuracy. The literature described in detail how it worked.
