Mercury...Who Needs It?
By Jim Foley

I have posted on this subject on other forums many times. There are a lot of people who tend to minimize the dangers of Hg (Mercury) Unfortunately, they will only learn of the dangers of mercury after it is too late. While it is true that there are some things that will remove it from your system, the damage that it has done up to the point that you noticed something was wrong, cannot be reversed. This means, in simple language, by the time you find out something is wrong, it is too late! Who would want to take the risk? The results are not worth the risk. Now, in case someone thinks that I don't know what I am talking about, let me qualify my advice. I am a research Tech. working for the University of California here in Alaska. One of my projects is the maintenance, care, and cleaning of 475lbs of mercury in a condition that is open to the air. I work with mercury on a daily basis and have gone through extensive training to be able to handle it properly.   
                         Liquid Mercury Telescope
Some people think that mercury has to be heated to be dangerous...WRONG! Mercury can and does vaporize at ROOM TEMP. and below. It only freezes at -45F The advice from well meaning people, who say that you should use it only outside with the wind blowing away from you, is not good advise. The wind can and does shift, meaning that you can get a very big dose in a very short time. Hg in your lungs is the quickest way to get it into your body. A respirator with special mercury filters is the only safe way to be around it. But, the best way is to leave it alone. Let those who think it is not dangerous have the chance to prove it. The only way to see how bad it is, or how it clings to everything is to have to take daily readings with a calibrated Hg. sniffer. That will make a believer out of you. 

U.S. Govt. regs. specify .04ppm as a safe level for an 8 hr. period. Do you have any idea how small an amount that is? It is also very insidious in that, you can bring it into your house on your shoes and clothes. Would you want to be responsible for tracking it onto your rug where your kids can roll in it? Or worse still, putting your contaminated clothes in the washing machine to contaminate the rest of your family’s clothes? We have to send our protective clothes, such as rubber gloves, disposable booties and lab coats to a special disposal facility. They never leave the area where the mercury is stored while in our lab. Even with the extreme precautions that we take, we still have to deal with contamination. The best advise I can give is, leave mercury alone! 

Unless you are a large mining outfit there is no need to use it to recover your fines. You just don't have enough to make it worth the risk. If you compare what gold you will recover to your life, or loss of your health is it worth it? I am a fanatic gold dredger, but, any gold that is locked in my black sand goes right back into the river. Any free gold that is larger than microscopic, I can get by other methods. There will be some who will try to make light of this information and accuse me of being an "old lady", but that is o.k. If this saves one person from the debilitating affects of Hg. poisoning it will be worth it. I am not going to comment on the methods of removing it from your body because I consider the damage already done at this point. Remember, you who think Hg. is not dangerous, that it is also cumulative, that means that your body cannot eliminate it and it builds up until it makes itself known.

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