A 15-year-old student brought a small vial of liquid mercury onto a school bus and into a high school in Kentucky. A subsequent investigation revealed that mercury had been in the student’s possession for more than a year and that substantial amounts had been spilled in multiple locations. Officials assessed the student’s school and home environments and initiated clean-up procedures. The school was closed to limit the potential for exposure of children and to facilitate cleaning of the cafeteria, where approximately 15 students had been playing with liquid mercury. ApproxMercury Exposureimately 15 school buses were also tested and/or cleaned. The student’s family’s mobile home and possessions were deemed unrecoverable and were re-moved and destroyed. One vehicle belonging to the family of a friend of the student was determined unrecoverable and removed by the Environmen-tal Protection Agency.
During the cleanup pro-cess, more liquid mercury was collected than could be contained in the original vial that the student had carried to school. The student claimed that he had found the mercury in the trash of a dentist’s office during a visit. Inves-tigation revealed that the mercury was kept in a storage area at the dentist’s office that doubled as a restroom for patients. Evidence suggested that the student had mercury for several months before the school exposure. Under further questioning, the student admitted having obtained the mercury during a previous visit to the dentist. EPA personnel disposed of all remaining mercury in the dentist’s office.
(Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, August 19, 2005)
