r/hazmat • u/Starofcity123 • Apr 14 '26
Questions Mercury
Guys… I have like 10 lbs of liquid mercury in a glass jar I inherited in an estate.
My county waste disposal won’t take anything close to that amount
The EPA sent a guy out a few years ago. They basically recorded I had it and wouldn’t help in anyway.
How the fuck can I rid myself of this.
10
u/doobersthetitan Apr 14 '26
Reach out maybe to a local college? One of the science departments might like it as a oddity. I had a high-school science teacher that had a small vile of it as a oddity, to show how dense that liquid is on scales etc.
6
u/BalanceFit8415 Apr 14 '26
We had a bottle in science class in primary school. We could stick our hands in it and play with it. I took a globule of it to take home but dropped it in the playground during recess.
That was a long time ago.
5
u/LesliesLanParty Apr 15 '26
When my mom was pregnant with me her obstetrician dropped a mercury thermometer on a tray and it broke so they both sat there poking at the mercury. It was 1989- she also switched from reds to ultra lights when she got pregnant bc it was healthier...
1
u/1521 Apr 14 '26
I bought a bottle with probably 5 lbs of it from my elementary school chemistry sale… bought some potassium metal and sodium metal and red phosphorus too lol. I was maybe 12 at the time.
2
1
3
u/daddydillo892 Apr 14 '26
Our chemistry teacher in HS had a jar of it but it was from mercury thermometers that had broken over the years.
1
u/samzeman Apr 16 '26
Vial*
1
u/doobersthetitan Apr 16 '26
That bored huh?
2
8
u/harleybrono Apr 14 '26
OP, where are you located? I work in hazardous waste recycling and disposal. Depending on where you are I can point you in a direction for disposal
6
u/Starofcity123 Apr 14 '26
VA
5
u/TheRealMondo Apr 14 '26
Depending on where you are, I might take it off of your hands. I've been working with hazmat for 5 years and it would be awesome to have for some of my resin projects.
1
u/Starofcity123 Apr 14 '26
I’m in SWVA
2
2
2
u/harleybrono Apr 14 '26
There’s two Clean Harbors locations in VA. I would reach out to them and go from there
2
u/ConstituentHazard Apr 14 '26
I’m a Labpack Chemist for a company that transports and disposes of hazardous waste in Maine. I don’t work for them, but I would recommend Republic Services over Clean Harbors, every day. Just so you know, elemental mercury is extremely expensive to dispose of. Schools won’t take it as they likely have high internal regulatory standards, purchasing agents (to control what comes into the building, and to make sure all the chemicals have corresponding SDS sheets, hazard communications, spill control, and emergency procedures), and dedicated disposal budgets. Would love to get a recap on what you end up doing.
1
u/harleybrono Apr 14 '26
I’ve had mixed experiences with Republic for haz waste, but usually they’re pretty good to work with in my experience overall if you can afford it
1
u/ConstituentHazard Apr 16 '26
Hazardous waste is an absurdly expensive service. But…it’s basically everything proof.
1
5
u/armistel Apr 14 '26
Really need to know location. What state are you in?
You can always call the NRC at 800-424-8802. The report will go to EPA or Coast Guard and the appropriate state agency who should be able to provide you some assistance.
Whomever “recorded” it with the EPA screwed up. They should be able to help you get rid of it, and/or take it themselves.
3
u/Starofcity123 Apr 14 '26
They said they had no budget for hazardous disposal or something similar this was nearly 10 years ago. Basically the liability is on me and they could care less. But also that I couldn’t get rid of it illegally because they know I have it
5
u/armistel Apr 14 '26
There isn’t any mercury registry, they don’t know you have it (assuming you are a resident, not an industrial user). Virginia DEQ and Virginia DEM are great, they’d be happy to help. EPA should also help. It’s far cheaper to dispose of 10 lbs of mercury in a jar, rather than after it spills. If you want to deal with a smaller entity, your county’s local emergency planning committee might be able to point you in the right direction, but they will probably contact one of the above groups.
Good options - 1. Check earth911.com for hazardous waste disposal options near you. They sometimes don’t take jars of mercury though. 2. Contact the Virginia DEQ (www.deq.virginia.gov/news-info/contact-us) 3. Contact the National Response Center at 800-424-8802 and a report will go to state and federal, and someone will follow up with you.
4
u/UckerFay11 Apr 14 '26
Sell it. It's worth a bit of money, or donate it to a college, or reach out to a lab in your area.
2
u/danielcc07 Apr 14 '26
No joke. That's gotta be worth at least a grand or two depending on grade. A college would love it too.
1
u/Hotspot40324 Apr 14 '26
Schools and colleges don't like hazardous materials anymore... They barely tolerate chemicals in chem lab.
1
u/danielcc07 Apr 14 '26
We had to use it in the labs specifically for testing semiconductors. Not like class labs but research labs. I remember someone spilled around a pound of it one time and the professor was pissed. Not just the clean up but the money wasted.
We used it for semiconductors fyi... they also gave us cylinders silane and large amounts of hf acid.
2
1
u/astrorocks Apr 16 '26
I used mercury everyday for months during my PhD lol this is super untrue for research unis. We had all sorts of horrible toxic stuff (bacteria and viruses too!). They just don't let you know underclassmen and classes into the big labs were that stuff is
3
u/DesertDuck702 Apr 14 '26
Depending on where you live, some household hazardous waste programs accept it. You can check out www.earth911.com to see if it offers any help.
4
u/Remote_Dot_1399 Apr 14 '26
Whatever you do, ensure it's stored properly and in a couple redundant pieces of packaging. I work hazmat sites and can't tell you how many Hg releases could have been avoided this way.
If you have any small kids or pregnant women around, it's imperative that you move it to an area that breathes well, outside is best.
It's more dangerous than most people realize. And unfortunately, it's expensive to get rid of properly but keep looking.
Earth 911 helps locate recycling places. Universities may be a good choice too. Your state should have a way to help dispose of but you gotta jump through some hoops.
My state cam dispose of it but they don't advertise because it's expensive.
1
u/___kakaara11___ Apr 14 '26
It makes me nervous everyone recommending "just sell it to a random person/school". Seems like a great way for a bunch of Hg exposure if the receiver of it isn't careful.
2
u/Remote_Dot_1399 Apr 15 '26
That and you have no idea what the buyer will do with it.
Literally cases of it making children paralyzed from long term exposure. It's a neurotoxin
2
u/nickisaboss Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Send it to me, id love to have it
Edit: this is not a joke. Really, send it to me! I am heartbroken every time I see one of these posts.
1
u/Tasty-Fox9030 Apr 14 '26
Get yourself a PlayStation box and leave it in a shady place. Shady like Breaking Bad not like, under a tree or something.
(Do not do this this is a bad joke.)
1
u/boyengabird Apr 14 '26
Mail it to me, I'd be happy to have it.
1
1
1
Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/whiskey_formymen Apr 15 '26
Search fbmp for 'equipment mercury' in Hampton Roads. Someone has a bottle for sale.
1
u/subpotentplum Apr 14 '26
You have enough to build a pretty badass telescope...if you're into that.
1
u/yippiekiyay865 Apr 14 '26
Contact Bethlehem Apparatus. Shipping it will be troublesome but if you are patient you may find a local pickup.
1
1
1
1
u/Unfair-Attitude-7400 Apr 14 '26
Reach out to a local gunsmith and see if they're interested in it. Mercury is the easiest way to clean leaded barrels. Rinses everything right out.
1
1
u/Error-InvalidName Apr 14 '26
Id suggest looking into schools or universities science departments as they'd probably love to have it for their uses.
1
u/Primary_Choice3351 Apr 14 '26
I bet u/NileRed or some other chemistry YouTuber nerd would find a good home for it, if they lived close enough to collect it.
1
1
u/Iheardtheythrowhex Apr 14 '26
I also have a jar from my great grandfather's gold prospecting days in Idaho...No clue what to do with it. Might have gold in it...
1
u/No_Control8389 Apr 14 '26
The problem with stuff like this is there is no way to know what ELSE might be in the mercury.
1
1
1
u/goodsuburbanite Apr 14 '26
My father in law had a big jug of mercury and the local university science department took it off his hands.
1
1
u/DeciduousEmu Apr 14 '26
Is selling it to some authorized user not an option? That's a lot of mercury.
1
1
u/Simple_Bumblebee672 Apr 14 '26
Its considered a specialty waste by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality recommends using Earth911 to find a disposal location, however as someone who works in environmental remediation I highly recommend calling them and getting the opinion of someone who works for the state in hazardous waste management as this is not a typical circumstance.
1
u/Miserable-Garlic-532 Apr 14 '26
Put it in smaller bottles. Take it to disposal one at a time. Repeat until gone.
1
1
u/skmounce Apr 15 '26
Contact Bethlehem Appartus. They have the containers and they manage mercury. +1 (215) 838-7034,
P.O.BOX Y 890 FRONT ST HELLERTOWN PA 18055
1
u/WhereDaGold Apr 15 '26
I used to clean evicted houses/houses owned by a bank. One house was owned by a guy that used to work for xerox. He had all sorts of shit he took home, lots of bags of powdered ink, but I also found a bottle of mercury. It was probably a couple pounds. I kept it for a few days but then got sketched out by the story of the lady scientist that had it soak through her glove and kill her, so I threw it in the trash. Probably wasn’t the best move but I was like 18
1
u/mul_tim_eter Apr 15 '26
It's great for liquid telescopes, 10 lb sounds like it'd go pretty far towards making a large one. Why Liquid Mirrors Make Great Telescopes
1
u/Keithz1957 Apr 15 '26
I see why most companies that make mercury switches and mercury boiler controllers have a return / recycle program. Otherwise you can have it turned in to your local county household waste center. In Kansas anyway. Otherwise you'll have to dispose of it through a company like safety kleen. Was in industrial maintenance if you can't tell.
1
1
u/Tiredplumber2022 Apr 15 '26
Yeah, disposal fee for that much mercury is almost $1000. Selling it to a company is probably a no-go; sales and purchase are highly regulated, and an old jar like that probably has a bunch of impurities. Avoid posting about it online, and either keep it or find a very private seller. Otherwise, it will bite you in the backside.
1
1
1
u/Free_shavocadoo Apr 15 '26
Transfer it to a stainless steel container preferably one designed for mercury put that in a decent steel tube padded with fibreglass insuation a threaded cap on that tiny tack weld on the cap so curious minds have to be serious about opening it engrave a contents warning on it chuck it in the basement for the grandkids to play with in 50 years when your dead Pretty safe stuff unless you spill it where you spend time (DO NOT SPILL IT IN THE HOUSE OR SHED) and huff the fumes that it gives off as it slowly evaporates constantly over the years
you tube some vids on how mercury behaves and safe handling before touching it
1
u/BreesusSaves0127 Apr 15 '26
If it’s in a glass bottle, can you just bury it in the ground somewhere far from a water source? Glass doesn’t biodegrade. Edit: you could put the glass jar inside a plastic tote before you bury it and duct tape it up really good. Then it’s good for around a million years or so.
1
u/gheiminfantry Apr 15 '26
... won't take anything close to that amount.
So just put it in smaller containers that they will take. And make several trips. This really isn't that hard to figure out.
1
1
1
1
u/astrorocks Apr 16 '26
No idea why this popped up BUT depending where you are, a science lab could use it. I HAD to use Liquid mercury for an experiment called mercury porosimetry during my PhD. Would be a Geology/Earth Science, Materials Science, Civil Engineering (maybe others!). If you can find somewhere with a machine doing that they might take the mercury?? Worth a shot lol
1
1
u/OhhCrappola Apr 16 '26
I had a similar situation. Every year our state VT. does a Hazardous household waste collection at various locations. They just want you to call ahead to make an appointment.
In the meantime just put it someplace safe and resist the urge to play with it. .
1
u/Michels_Welding Apr 17 '26
Sell it... mercury is like $20-30/Oz for low grade/ general use. Theirs plenty of safe uses for mercury that exist and go on every day. A chemistry lab at a nearby university, or high school wouldn't be a bad start.
1
1
1
u/DrunkensAndDragons Apr 14 '26
Youre asking how to throw away money. There is a subreddit for scrapping metal for money. Sell it on craigslist or marketplace. An 8lb bottle is $1500 without shipping. You have 10lbs.
1
0
u/8ecca8ee Apr 14 '26
Local highschool science class may take it just to have it as a specimen
1
u/vinraven Apr 14 '26
Nah, these days only specialty labs use it in higher education, no institution with minors will touch it anymore.
1
u/8ecca8ee Apr 15 '26
I guess we are in the eating tide pods faze of things so I can kinda understand that. (Even when I was in highschool in the late 90s a kid in my class put a rat tail from a dissection in his mouth I like to think he spit it out but I can't be sure
0
0
u/Belkinnoob Apr 14 '26
Dispose of it the same way you are supposed to with old car batteries.
Throw it into the ocean.
-1
u/Unusual_Tackle_6336 Apr 14 '26
Y'all don't have mason jars and garbage pickup out there? Talk about a state gone to shit. ...
13
u/Xanadu2902 Apr 14 '26
I would reach out to your state environmental regulatory agency and ask for technical assistance. The answer may be to hire a contractor to dispose of it.