INSIDE FLAP



|CAUTION! | | |

|What NEVER to Do |This brochure is based on: | |

|When Cleaning Up |EPA/ATSDR fact sheet | |

|a Mercury Spill |Mercury Quick Facts: Cleaning up Mercury Spills in Your House, online| |

| |at: |

|Never use a vacuum cleaner or broom to clean up the spill |with waste storage recommendations from: |How to Clean Up a Small Mercury Spill |

|This will spread the mercury over a larger area and will put mercury vapors |Maine Department of Environmental Protection Maine Compact | |

|into the air and increase your change of breathing high levels of mercury |Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Study (February 2008), online at: |This guidance is taken from the U.S. EPA and ATSDR fact sheet “Mercury |

|vapor. | |Quick Facts: Cleaning up Mercury Spills in Your House”. |

|Never pour mercury down the drain | | |

|The mercury can become lodged in the “p” traps and may continue to vaporize | |Please refer to the online fact sheet for the full text. |

|into the room. Mercury can also pollute septic tanks or wastewater-treatment| | |

|plants. |Prepared by: | |

|Never allow people who are wearing mercury contaminated shoes or clothing to|The University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A. | |

|walk around | | |

|This will help limit the spread of spilled mercury. |The Institute for Development of Production and the Work Environment | |

|Never use a washing machine to launder clothing or other items that may have|(IFA) Quito, Ecuador | |

|come in contact with mercury | | |

|Mercury can contaminate the washer and/or pollute sewage. Throw all clothing|The University of Sonora (UNISON), Hermosillo, Mexico | |

|that came in contact with liquid mercury in the trash. | | |

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| |For more information about mercury reduction, please visit our | |

| |website | |

|Reference: | |

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| |Funding was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | |

| |(EPA) | |

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| |Spring 2010 | |

|How to Clean up a Small Mercury Spill |

|References: & |

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| | |Step 5. Remove mercury from shoes, clothing, and skin. |

|Step 1. Isolate the spill and ventilate the area right away. | |If mercury had touched your skin, shoes or clothing, remain still and have |

|The person who will clean up the spill should have everyone else leave the | |someone bring you a plastic trash bag and wet paper towels. Wipe off any |

|spill area. Don’t let anyone walk through the mercury on their way out. | |visible beads or mercury with the wet paper towels and then put them in the|

|Open all windows and doors that open to the outside. |Step 3. Cleanup instructions |trash bag. Remove contaminated shoes and clothing and place them in a trash|

|Close all doors between the room where the mercury was spilled and the rest |Put on rubber, nitrile or latex gloves |bag. Seal that bag and place it in another bag. |

|of the house/hospital. |Pick up any broken pieces of glass and place them on a paper towel. | |

|Use fans to blow mercury-contaminated air outside. Turn off fans that do not|Fold the paper towel, place it in a zipper-top bag and seal the bag. | |

|blow air to the outside. |Clean up the beads of mercury. Use a squeegee or cardboard to slowly | |

| |roll the beads onto a sheet of paper. An eye dropper can also be used| |

| |to collect the beads. Slowly squeeze mercury from the eye dropper | |

| |onto a damp paper towel. Put the paper towel, paper, eye dropper, or | |

| |anything else that has mercury on it, into a zipper-top bag, and seal| |

| |the bag. |Step 6. Properly dispose of contaminated cleanup materials |

| |You can also use duct tape or masking tape to collect smaller |Place all materials used in the cleanup, including gloves, in a trash bag. |

| |hard-to-see beads. Place the tape into a zipper-top bag. |Place the zipper-top bags that contain mercury and other objects into the |

| | |trash bag. Close and seal the trash bag. |

| | |Trash bag with mercury waste should be placed and tightly sealed in glass |

| | |jar or HDPE container. (Per recommendation of Maine CFL study) Label |

|Step 2. Get the items needed to clean up a small mercury spill | |container and put in a safe place for storage. |

|You will need the following items: | | |

|zipper-top plastic bags |Step 4. Look for mercury that may have been missed during the cleanup| |

|trash bags |Take a flashlight, hold it at a low angle close to the floor in a | |

|rubber, nitrile or latex gloves |darkened room, and look for additional glistening beads of mercury | |

|paper towels |that may be sticking to the surface or in small cracks. NOTE: Mercury| |

|cardboard or squeegee |can move surprising distances on hard and flat surfaces, so be sure | |

|eye dropper |to carefully inspect the entire room when you are searching. | |

|duct tape | |Step 7. Following the spill. |

|flashlight | |Keep the area well ventilated to the outside. |

|powdered sulfur (optional) | | |

|glass jar with metal screw lid and gum seal (preferred), or high density | | |

|polyethylene (#2 plastic) containers with screw caps or pressure fit seals | | |

|(Per recommendation of Maine CFL study) | | |

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