Introduction to Mercury John Hoggatt

A little Bit of History Element #80 Hydrargyrum Dates back to 1500 BC Used as pigments and vaccinations Mercury element number eighty Was named from the latin word meaning “liquid silver”.. Back then they did have the ability to process cinnabar into mercury ore, so any mercury they found was elemental mercury which occurs in a liquid form Was found in toombs dating back to 1500, the body that was found was, was found to have elevated levels of mercury Alloys were made with mercury creating a nice solid

Characteristics Liquid at room temp Rarely found in nature Mined as Cinnabar Low melting / freezing point’s Color determines grade of ore Can be transformed into other forms of mercury Elemental is liquid at room temp, but there are other kinds of mercury such as organic and methylmercury Freezzing -37 F Melting 673 least flexible metal temp wise Comprises .005 % of the earths crust

Geologic Formations Found in two places Near volcanic margins Felsic intrusive Hot springs Hydrothermal source Europe, Asia big players their deposits ranging from 7-15% mercury ore Rest of world 1-5% mercury ore present in depostion

Production Percentage in crust China Kyrgyzstan Rest of the world 0.05 mg/kg of earths crust not a lot of it China producers 880 tons 440 tons Kyrgyzstan Rest of the world produces next to nothing this is because it is being phased out due to its toxic nature

Extraction Process Hot springs Near volcanic margins Open pit / Underground Sulfur bank mine CA Near volcanic margins Underground Sulfure bank mine Would mine mercury sulfide HGS, would then treat it in a furnace. Turned the mercury into a gass and then recondense it into quicksilver. The sulfur while buring would be converted to a carbon and the waste rock was dumped near the lake shore out of the way of mining

Industrial Uses Power generation Chemical plants Artisanal mining Power plants the coal industry emits a lot of mercury into the atmosphere coal is burned, releases different forms of mercury from the coal. Depending on the form dictates what element comes next. Usually methylmercury is what's emitted and then settles into the atmosphere. Chem plants: mercury cell method produces chlorine free sodium hydroxide. Unfortunately several tones of mercury are needed and emitted due to this process. Additionally the cholirne and sodium hydroxide that was produce contains traces of mercury Artisanal mining most of the mercury that gets In contact with humans is the mercury vapor, unless you are working in an artisanal mine where the mercury is used by hand to separate gold from not gold. One study does purposed as much as 2 grams of mercury are emitted per ounce of gold retrieved. The exposer of mercury comes from the separation processes these people use by smelting mercury balls which contain gold. By doing so they release mercury vapors. People can have mercury poisoning after Globally 1350 mt of mercury are emitted into the atmosphere. Of that 1350 1000 of that is attributed to artisanal mining.

Commercial / Practical Uses Fish consumption Thermometers Barometers Fluorescent lamps Vaccinations Hat making industry 1800’s Consumption: people eat fish, shellfish and sometimes birds that have also eaten fish. Each living organism has mercury in it, the amount can vary but Prego women should be careful when eating fish due to the possibility of having a mentally disabled child. Barometers use mercury because of its density.. It allows for the atmospheric pressure to adjust the height of the mercury giving us an decent reading. If water were used in a barometer, it would be almost 14 times bigger than a barometer Trace amounts of mercury in light bulbs, it helps then run efficiently. About 4 milligrams of mercury are in each lightbulb seal within the glass tubing Vaccinations used to treat syphilis, thiomersal another type of mercury was used as a preservatives in vaccines. However in 1998 the CDC demanded vaccine makers remove the thiomersal from all vaccines immediately Mad hatters disease 1800’s mercury was the common solution used to treat fur and make it into felt… workers inside the factorys where they worked received prolonged exposed to mercury vapors due to poor ventilation in the working environments.. While the mercury built up they would get symptoms know as the hatters shakes. Slurred speech, memory loss and depression. People who were also treated for syphilis were given doses of mercury to take because doctors thought that back in the day mercury was good for you… so more workers started drinking mercury to turn out the best felt by peeing on their fur and then turning it into felt.. Since felt is the strongest natural fabric produced my man, adding a few extra drops of mercury on it would make it stronger.

Different Forms of Mercury Bituminous coal Key ingredient Elemental mercury Ionic reduction Oxidized mercury Smoke stacks Methylmercury Final product Bitumious coal buring creates all three of these forms of mercury. Elemental mercury is due to ionic reduction, taking away electrons allowing the mercury to bond with what element comes to it first, over time is will transform back into liquid Oxidized mercury is due to bonding with any avalible sulfur ion. Once bonded to the ulfur ion it then becomes methylmercury which is not good for the environment

Geoplolitics EPA measures Clean Air Act 1993 Safe Drinking Water Act Emission Standards Clean air act 1993 : The Clean Air Act 1993 controls domestic and industrial smoke emissions Safe drinking water act: Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA sets standards for drinking water that apply to public water systems. These standards protect people by limiting levels of mercury and other contaminants in drinking water. Mercury contamination in drinking water can come from erosion of natural deposits of mercury, discharges into water from refineries and factories, and runoff from landfills and cropland. U.S. states have the primary responsibility for enforcing drinking water standards. Emission standards: power plants must meet a specific deadline by reducing their mercury emissions into the atmosphere. There are 1400 coal fired plants in USA, only 600 of those have the technology to remove a significant portion of mercury that’s being emitted

Some Odd Stuff Wouldn’t You Say??? Alchemists thought of mercury as the father to all elements Only three other elements are liquid at room temp Cesium, Gallium, and Rubidium This is because alchemists wanted to fit gold, and mercury is a great extraction tool

References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)#Etymology_and_history http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/hg.html http://www.naturalnews.com/016544.html# And 28 others that wouldn’t fit