22 Mar
2006
22 Mar
'06
8:03 p.m.
On 3/22/2006 at 9:33 PM John Foust wrote:
There's plenty on the web that describes the
various effects
of exposure. Not all of it is unbiased. Certainly the effects
of long-term low-level exposure could be different from the
effects of short-term (but probably high-level) exposure of
the average tinkering teen who played with the liquid metal.
I get the idea that most of the mercury poisoning nowadays is due to wastes
generated from burning coal, mining leachate and other industrial
sources--and that very little of it is generated by consumer end-user
disposal practices. About 2 years ago, I replaced a sump pump at home that
was installed in 1980 and it had a really nice fat mercury float switch on
it. When I worked in the steel mills as a pyrometer technician, we were
still using Weston standard cells in many of the instruments (chart
recorders, controllers, etc.) as well as the portable galvanometers we used
to calibrate instruments with. If I said "L&N Micromax", I'd really
be
showing my age, huh?
Back then you could still get the druggist to make up a calomel purgative
if you were feeling bad. I recall that we had a big American Lead Products
plant that spewed out a fair amount of pollution. The only other notable
personality I can think of right now who grew up in my home town was Jean
Shepherd, who was as looney as they come. Maybe the heavy metals explains
that...
Cheers,
Chuck