Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number eighty. A heavy, silvery d-block metal, mercury is one of six chemical elements that are liquid at or near room temperature and pressure,[1][2] the others being caesium, francium, gallium, bromine, and rubidium. Mercury element is the sole metal that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure. When products containing mercury are broken, or thrown in the trash, out of doors, or down drains, the mercury can pollute our environment and contaminate many kinds of fish. You and your family can be exposed to mercury by breathing its smoke, eating mercury poisoned fish or touching spilled mercury. Follow these tips to protect the environment and scale back your exposure to mercury.
learn what items in your house contain mercury. Mercury is in many common products such as thermometers, thermostats, fluorescent bulbs and switches. The button batteries found in your calculators, watches and hearing aids may contain mercury. It's also found in cylindrical batteries made before 1990. Never put mercury-containing items in the trash, outside or down drains. When products that contain mercury are thrown away, they end up at landfills, incinerators or waste water treatment plants where the mercury can enter the environment. Many cities and towns collect mercury-containing items at their household unsafe waste collection centers or one-day events. Never touch or vacuum spilled mercury. For cleanup and disposal ideas.
Mercury occurs in deposits all around the world mostly as cinnabar ( mercuric sulfide ), which source of the red pigment vermilion, and is generally obtained by reduction from cinnabar.
Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, and other scientific apparatus, though concerns about the component's toxicity have led on to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being principally retired in clinical environments in favor of alcohol-filled, digital, or thermostat-based instruments. It remains in use in a number of alternative ways in scientific and scientific research applications, and in amalgam material for dental restoration. It is used in lighting ; electricity passed through mercury vapor in a phosphor tube produces short-wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor to fluoresce, making plain light.
never put mercury-containing items in the trash, outside or down drains. When products that contain mercury are thrown away, they end up at landfills, incinerators or waste water treatment plants where the mercury can enter the environment. Many cities and towns collect mercury-containing items at their household hazardous waste collection centers or one-day events. If you spill mercury or break a mercury-containing item, don't touch the mercury. Keep all folks and pets out of the area and open windows to ventilate the area. For cleanup and disposal suggestions. Never vacuum or sweep the spill.
In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued advisories for some saltwater fish.
Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world often as cinnabar ( mercuric sulfide ), which source of the red pigment vermilion, and is generally obtained by reduction from cinnabar. Cinnabar is highly poisonous by ingestion or inhalation of the dust, and mercury poisoning can also result from exposure to soluble forms ( such as mercuric chloride or methyl mercury ), inhalation of mercury vapor, or eating fish polluted with mercury.
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