Administration can be hazardous to student health
Two Mohave County students suspended for bringing mercury to school
The Fort Mohave Elementary in the Mohave Valley School District has a peculiar method of hazardous material handling. First, hold students in a contaminated area, then suspend students, finally quarantine the contaminated area.
On January 12th, 25 sixth graders were contained in a classroom after being exposed to mercury. Fire and law enforcement authorities responded to the incident.
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It’s not clear where the boys got the mercury or how it got to school.The sixth graders returned to the classroom after it was under quarantine for six days.
The boys were suspended and faced a hearing for further punishment. If the mercury was so dangerous (dangerous enough to suspend and possibly expel 6th graders for possessing it and dangerous enough to warrant quarantining the room for six days), why were students contained within the contaminated room? I wonder if there will be any hearings over that grossly dangerous action.
(Tip credit to Jason Guth)
I guess this means I’m going to die of mercury poisoning, since I worked with it in a high school science lab back in the ’70s. Or maybe I should be retroactively suspended for having followed the course curriculum, and then forfeit my BS in physics and Navy commission because I didn’t really graduate high school.
I’m SOOOOO confused!
I don’t know what to think, this sound pretty scary. It took long term exposure to a quart of mercury to make this kid and his dog sick, and lots of money to clean up. I don’t know how much these kids had, but I don’t believe the administration was that worried. I wonder how much the cleanup will cost and where that money comes from.
http://www.epa.gov/region09/cross_pr/childhealth/mercury-nevada04.htm
Metallic mercury slowly evaporates when exposed to the air. The air in a room can reach contamination levels just from the mercury in a broken thermometer - just a few drops. When liquid mercury is spilled, it forms droplets that can accumulate in the tiniest of spaces and then emit vapors.
The admin probably handled this correctly. Hg poisoning is chronic, not acute. So, if the kids had been playing with it (and conceivably had some on their clothes and shoes), evacuating them immediately would have only spread the contamination to the whole school. Better to contain the problem, strip their clothing in place, and keep the Hg in one location.
I meant handled the Hg part correctly. The suspension is a separate issue.
The story does not tell enough information.The containment procedures were correct. Most educators react with area evacuation.How did the classroom become exposed? Were the boys boiling the mercury?
Wow! Gotta say this one really caught my attention - considering that I grew up there, and some of the folks in administration were my classmates! Let me see what I can dig up on this, to see why they suspended the boys. This school was recently built down the street from where my grandfather lived.