The Blob
Here and Now's Robin Young reports that, after breaking her old mercury thermometer and spotting the blob of mercury on her counter, her call to Cambridge's 911 yielded: "3 firetrucks, several cars, ten lovely guys milling on the street, and another ten or so crowding in my bathroom trying to capture the errant blob, and an EMT..." The segment went on to report that mercury can safely be removed by anyone with tape, a card, or an eye dropper, and then taken to a hazardous waste disposal facility at some indefinite point in the future. One can only hope that the city's 911 dispatchers had their radios on this afternoon; it's the sort of information that might come in handy the next time they contemplate dispatching a full score of first responders over a broken thermometer. Because next year, when Cambridge sustains a 14-22% hit to its local aid budget, the city may find that sort of efficiency valuable.
Comments
I think we'd need to hear
I think we'd need to hear the 911 call, and then interview participants as to what really happened and their thinking at the time.
Robin Young claims that 911 was initially "flummoxed." If, for example, they couldn't get the story quickly from the reporting party, I assume they'd err on the side of caution. Beats the alternative. :)
I haven't heard complaints about emergency response in Cambridge. My own experience in the 11 years of living here has always been positive.
Why 911?
Why call 911 and not Cambridge City Hall. Or even Click and Clack those guys deal with Mercurys all the time.
More panic
This is just another example of how we have been trained to panic about things that have been around for years:
Mercury
Lead
Asbestos
Mold
What else?
Sure, these things can be harmful in certain instances. But 99% of the time they are in a form that they are not. The govt/media make it sound like just looking at these things is deadly. People with no common sense believe it.
How is a blob of mercury on a counter going to hurt you? I remember in middle school science class playing with blobs of mercury in the lab.
Walking example
Maybe your time playing with mercury in the lab explains your inability to understand dangerous substances. There is no "form" of asbestos that is safe to breath. A blob of mercury evaporates at room temperature at a rate that will give you unsafe exposures after about an hour depending on the size of the room. In fact, if you break any of the new CFL lightbulbs, due to the pressure inside you just aspirated quite a bit of mercury into your home. It's even worse if you have babies who will crawl through that space, because their breathing is closer to the carpet/floor where the mercury sits and evaporates. Tiny beads of mercury evaporating may not fill the room, but they do make the floor area acutely toxic quickly.
The point isn't that looking at these things is deadly. The point is that you should minimize your exposure to minimize the risk. Why risk permanent brain, liver, or lung damage just because you think you can, especially when there are plenty of less toxic alternatives? Mercury is toxic in small amounts and brief exposures. It resides in your body for up to 60 days continuing to do damage. There's no reason to send a brigade to clean it up, but you also shouldn't be sucking it up into a straw to get it to the trash can or tossing it back and forth in the living room now that you have some free mercury.
Tossing it back and forth in the living room
If you've got enough liquid elemental mercury to toss it back and forth in the living room, it might actually be better than the trace amount from breaking a light bulb. I remember one of my mom's friends from the physics department bringing us over a sizable blob of liquid elemental mercury to play with when I was a kid. Yes, we tossed it back and forth in the living room. No, I'm not mad as a hatter.
It was a cool fun toy. It was heavier than it seemed it should be, and so shiny. It's not quite as dangerous in the pure liquid element form, because it's hard to absorb through the skin and it hangs together vehemently. It's vaporizing it and inhaling it, or mixing it with other things, that makes it really dangerous.
You don't seem to understand
I didn't say she should suck it through a straw or play with it. I didn't say someone should breathe asbestos. I'm just saying people are being taught to overact and panic when they encounter these substances. She could have used a card to push that mercury into a jar without a problem. Asbestos in pipe insulations that isn't torn isn't a hazard. Most types of mold will not make you sick. Intact lead paint is not a hazard if you don't eat it.