Problems Caused in School

Problems that result from incidents with mercury in schools vary.  A school incident can affect a wide variety of school personnel: not only students, but teachers, administrators, and response personnel who must handle the initial incident, deal with school closures, high cleanup costs, negative press, and upset parents.  While most incidents involve students bringing elemental mercury into schools, there are occupational risks for school personnel who handle mercury-containing products.

Specific Spills and Exposures in School

• Incidents in Washington State

• Incidents in Washington D.C.

• Incidents Across the U.S.

Occupational Risks

Personnel such as teachers, school nurses, janitors, fleet, HVAC and maintenance personnel,  are most likely to come in contact with mercury.  They face risks when removing, installing, storing, transporting, or disposing of mercury compounds or mercury-containing products.  Janitors and cleaning personnel face an additional risk from certain cleaning products (e.g. chlorine-based bleaches and soaps) which may have had mercury used in their manufacturing process with some mercury remaining in the product..  While the occupational health risk is not as high as with other products, cleaning crews should  take the same precautions as when handling any potentially toxic cleaning product (wearing gloves, masks, proper ventilation). An alternative is to order mercury-free products.

• How to properly dispose mercury-containing products

Additional Problems Mercury Spills Can Have on Schools

Health Impact
School Closures, Costs ...