[philonossis]

Not sure where this post goes but it might be classified as household chemistry problems.

A friend of mine accidentally spilled mercury into the toilet bowl and now cannot seem to remove it. It does not seem to flush.

Can anyone suggest a method, either chemical or physical?

[Dan]

How much Hg are we talking here? If the toilet can't flush it sounds like it's stuck in the U bend and is too dense to get out - that suggests a lot of Hg...

Anyway, I do not under any circumstances recommend that you try the procedure in the diagram below. It would be very dangerous.

Mercury should not be disposed of down drains

[philonossis]

How much Hg are we talking here? If the toilet can't flush it sounds like it's stuck in the U bend and is too dense to get out - that suggests a lot of Hg...

Anyway, I do not under any circumstances recommend that you try the procedure in the diagram below. It would be very dangerous.

Mercury should not be disposed of down drains

two questions:

1. what is the website for Henry?

2. Why would this procedure be dangerous?

the problem is that a thermometer broke. That is all the mercury that is in the bowl.

[Arctic-Nation]

Looks to me like Henry is an ordinary vacuum cleaner. The danger with the procedure would be that if the pressure is a bit off, the whole thing might just blow mercury all over the bathroom and its occupants. Or suck everything, water and mercury, right into poor Henry, creating a fire hazard.

My idea would be to try a wide-tipped pipette, if you have one. Drain most of the water first, though. And whatever you do, don't use your mouth to suck.

[skyjumper]

A pipette , almost any pipette/ syringe. Make sure you have a pump. DONT USE YOUR MOUTH! or use something to \create a more soluble mercury compound (danger!)

[Borek]

Zinc dust, but no idea where to get it from. It should amalgam with mercury converting it into solid which will be muach easier to deal with.

[nj_bartel]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190353593264&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WVI7&GUID=7be7a03c1260a040b102f752fffc0d7f&itemid=190353593264&ff4=263602_263622

[Dan]

For a very mall amount of Hg from a broken thermometer, the suction method is overkill.

converting it into solid which will be muach easier to deal with.

Or (elemental) sulfur perhaps? HgS is insoluble in water - this is how we deal with Hg in the lab. Sulfur is also available on ebay - look for sulfur powder or sulfur flowers.

[Borek]

I was thinking about sulfur as well, however, I feel like zinc will be easier to deal with - it is heavy so it will easily sunk, as far as I remember sulfur is not well wettable, so it it will tend to lie on the water surface.

[408]

My idea would be to try a wide-tipped pipette, if you have one. Drain most of the water first, though. And whatever you do, don't use your mouth to suck.

Hg runs out of even small-tipped pipettes because of its density.  The thinner the better.  Use a long needle attached to a syringe, and invert it once it leaves the water to be needle up.  Otherwise you will spill some.

Or add a whole bunch of TP to the toilet and see if that knocks it down when flushed.

[Dan]

sulfur is not well wettable, so it it will tend to lie on the water surface.

Yeah, good point, I hadn't thought of that. Do you think bleach might oxidise it to give a salt that can be handled? Only danger there I suppose is HgCl₂ or other fairly water soluble Hg salts (for which the exposure risk is much greater than the insolubles).

[Borek]

Once it gets oxidized to salt it will run with flush, so it is no longer your problem - but it becomes a problem at wastewater treatment plant.

[Borek]

Hg runs out of even small-tipped pipettes because of its density.  The thinner the better.  Use a long needle attached to a syringe, and invert it once it leaves the water to be needle up.  Otherwise you will spill some.

I wonder if it will work, you may need insane pressure to suck mercury up a thin needle. It would be not surprising for me if you would create a vacuum in a syringe and mercury would not move up.

[408]

Hg runs out of even small-tipped pipettes because of its density.  The thinner the better.  Use a long needle attached to a syringe, and invert it once it leaves the water to be needle up.  Otherwise you will spill some.

I wonder if it will work, you may need insane pressure to suck mercury up a thin needle. It would be not surprising for me if you would create a vacuum in a syringe and mercury would not move up.

You do initially create a vaccuum faster than the Hg can flow up, but as long as you maintain or increase the vaccuum by pulling the plunger, the Hg will slowly fill the syringe. Slowly.  Perhaps 2-5 min to get 1mL into a 5mL syringe?  It is how I have filled ampules prior to flame sealing.

[philonossis]

My common sense is telling me to use sulphur rather than zinc. If zinc + merc makes a compound heavier than water, it will sink into the toilet making extraction harder and possibly be lost down the drain. It it preferable not to put mercury into the water supply.

If a sulphur compound floats on the surface of the toilet water, it will be easier to scoop out.

How can one be assured of combining all the mercury with the sulphur? 
Saturating the toilet boil with it?
Or repeating the process until no more compound is produced?
Or until no more mercury can be seen?

Would removal of sulphur present any additional problems?