Re:Germany lays out a path to quit coal by 2038
by DoctorOetker on Monday January 28, 2019 @07:28PM
(#19022583)
>The total amount of mercury released by mankind in 2010 was estimated to be 1,960 metric tons.
When I was in high school, there were of course multiple classrooms, and there was a relatively new chemistry lab. One of the other classrooms was in fact the old chemistry lab room, with a monolithic row of water taps and sinks along the middle of the room splitting the room in two, with school benches on the left and right of the sinks.
We had mathematics, biology and technical education in this room. Under the sinks were cabinets with wooden sliding doors, some of them were left open, others closed... One day something in the cabinets catches my attention: a brilliant reflecting puddle, with characteristic contact angle, so I realize I am seeing a puddle of mercury. About 15cl. I interrupt the class to point this out to the math teacher, who comes to check, and realizes I am right. We discuss how it ended up there, and we conclude it must have been there for many years, back when this was still the chemistry lab, and that someone wanted to get rid of the mercury and tried to drain it in the sink. The mercury being heavier than water probably refused to flush through the siphon ( U shape ) right above the puddle and over time leaked out somehow. The teacher was quite pissed he had been giving so many hours of class in this room, and didn't really feel like finishing class so we all just sat there bummed out... this was about year 2000.
About 3 years ago, I had a long fluorescent lamp in a rented house die, I knew there was mercury inside and that the shops that sells lamps are obliged to take these from the customer, so I very carefully take out the lamp from its housing, carry it carefully to the nearby hardware store, and give it to an employee at the check-out before shopping, I emphasize that they should handle the lamp carefully. I go buy a LED lamp in the same form factor, and when I check out to pay, the cashier tells me the lamp broke accidentally. I tell her that's not good, she says she knows, I ask how often these fluorescent tubes break in the shop, she says all the time, I ask how often is that: multiple times per day!
When I was in high school, there were of course multiple classrooms, and there was a relatively new chemistry lab. One of the other classrooms was in fact the old chemistry lab room, with a monolithic row of water taps and sinks along the middle of the room splitting the room in two, with school benches on the left and right of the sinks.
We had mathematics, biology and technical education in this room. Under the sinks were cabinets with wooden sliding doors, some of them were left open, others closed... One day something in the cabinets catches my attention: a brilliant reflecting puddle, with characteristic contact angle, so I realize I am seeing a puddle of mercury. About 15cl. I interrupt the class to point this out to the math teacher, who comes to check, and realizes I am right. We discuss how it ended up there, and we conclude it must have been there for many years, back when this was still the chemistry lab, and that someone wanted to get rid of the mercury and tried to drain it in the sink. The mercury being heavier than water probably refused to flush through the siphon ( U shape ) right above the puddle and over time leaked out somehow. The teacher was quite pissed he had been giving so many hours of class in this room, and didn't really feel like finishing class so we all just sat there bummed out... this was about year 2000.
About 3 years ago, I had a long fluorescent lamp in a rented house die, I knew there was mercury inside and that the shops that sells lamps are obliged to take these from the customer, so I very carefully take out the lamp from its housing, carry it carefully to the nearby hardware store, and give it to an employee at the check-out before shopping, I emphasize that they should handle the lamp carefully. I go buy a LED lamp in the same form factor, and when I check out to pay, the cashier tells me the lamp broke accidentally. I tell her that's not good, she says she knows, I ask how often these fluorescent tubes break in the shop, she says all the time, I ask how often is that: multiple times per day!