Mercury Poisoning

"Poison! I been poison!" (cousin Janette Campos at Disneyland in 198? after sucking on the glow-in-the-dark plastic neclace.

Things to remember when your mom accidentally drops mercury from an old thermometer on the kitchen floor when Mateo is eating lunch:
1. Don't vacuum it up... especially not with the $400 Dyson vacuum. ("It's a gonner.")
2. Don't pick up the little silver balls with a wet paper towel. The mercury breaks apart into smaller little balls.
3. Pick it up w/ a piece of paper by "juntando las pelotitas". Or, just use tape, or a post-it note, like I did.
4. If you're going to call Poison Control (Cathy) tell other people the information before they start to try their own methods of ridding the poison.
5. After disposing of the mercury, double bag it and send it to the toxic waste dump. (or just tell your family you will do that, and then when they leave town, just throw it away with the other trash.)

Six things you should NEVER do: (taken from the internet)

1. Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury: The vacuum cleaner will vaporise the mercury and drastically increase exposure in the area. We did just that.
2. Never use a broom to clean up mercury: it breaks up the mercury droplets and moves them around, making it harder to decontaminate the area. We did that also.
3. Never pour mercury down the drain: it can lodge in the plumbing, and contaminate the septic tank and sludge in sewage treatment plants.
4. Never wash mercury-contaminated items in a washing machine: mercury can contaminate the sewage system and the washing machine.
5. Never continue wearing shoes and clothing that might have been contaminated in the mercury spill: this increases the wearer's exposure and helps spread contamination. We did this too.
6. Never burn shoes, clothing, fabric or anything that has been contaminated with mercury: this puts mercury into the atmosphere.