General Mercury Information:
Mercury exposure limit values (action levels)
NIOSH Immediately Dangerous To Life or Health Concentration (IDLH): 10 mg/m3
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV): 0.025 mg/m3 TWA; Skin; Appendix A4 - Not Classifiable as a Human Carcinogen; BEI (Listed under Mercury (Elemental and inorganic forms))
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Recommended Exposure Limit (REL): 0.05 mg/m3 TWA; Skin (Listed under Hg Vapor)
OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_250510.html
For a comprehensive look at a regional approach to environmental issues regarding mercury, visit MERC, a program of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
http://www.mercvt.org/facts/index.htm
- Good summary of basic facts about mercury and methylmercury.
EPA Links Page on mercury
http://www.epa.gov/region5/air/mercury/reducing.html#storage
- Links to information on the EPA’s Binational Toxics Strategy mercury workgroup activities in:.
Mercury Regulation Mercury Reduction Opportunities by Sector Institutions
Mercury Storage/Retirement Households and Small Businesses Heavy Industry
- OSHA document summarizes mercury information for workers and employers as well as for physicians, industrial hygienists,and other occupational safety and health professionals
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/mercuryvapor/
Additional Resources:
Chlor-alkali Industry Issues
The Chlorine Institute’s position on the requirement that chlor-alkali plants reestablish their
continuous monitoring action levels every six months:
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)
for Mercury Emissions from Mercury Cell Chlor-Alkali Plants
http://cl2.cms-plus.com/files/PDFs/NESHAP-Aug112008.pdf
Mercury in Gold Mining
A BEST PRACTICES TOOLBOX
- A comprehensive and authoritative review of mercury control issues in gold mining.
http://www.msha.gov/S&HINFO/MERCURY/HGTBTC.HTM
Survey of mercury measuring instruments
A handy list of some of the instruments available today.
http://www.environmental-expert.com/technology
Detailed analysis of the performance of two widely used instruments.
This report summarizes the results of comparative testing of a Jerome 431X and four prototypes of Reliable Instruments’ MVA-1 mercury analyzer.
http://www.aiha.org/abs05/po105.htm
Portable “mercury sniffers” for use in general applications and spill cleanup.
http://www.reliableinstruments.com
Dental Mercury Issues
- “The Environmentally Responsible Dental Office: A Guide to Proper Waste Management in Dental Offices”. Produced by the Northeast Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation and the Vermont State Dental Society, June 1999. http://www.mercvt.org/PDF/nwfdentalguide.pdf
Fluorescent lamp recycling issues:
- What to do with a broken fluorescent lamp.
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm#flourescent
- How to dispose of a mercury waste? Check out ALMR who represents the majority of commercial processors of mercury-bearing wastes in the U.S.
http://www.almr.org/
- Proper disposal of used fluorescents? Try Lamprecycle.org , sponsored by the Lamp Section of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to encourage the recycling of spent mercury-containing lamps.
http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/
- see also EPA’s central source for lamp recycling information. Includes an excellent FAQ sheet.
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/wastetypes/universal/lamps/index.htm
Find a list of lamp recyclers here.
http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/support_files/list.html
Methylmercury
- Methyl mercury is highly toxic and created from metallic mercury by biological processes.
A very complete source of information on methyl mercury and its effects can be found here:
http://rais.ornl.gov/tox/profiles/methyl_mercury_f_V1.shtml#t24
Industrial Hygiene Career Information
Industrial Hygieneist certification:
see the American Board of Industrial Hygiene home page at http://www.ABIH.org/