Importance of Minimizing the Spread of Contamination

There are two examples that show the importance of minimizing the spread of contamination.

In the first example, children played with a medical device as a sword. This device had a pound of mercury, or about 3 tablespoons. The children broke the device, splattering a crib, a wall, and carpeting. The father assumed that the children did not get mercury on them, but otherwise did everything else right. The father put plastic on the floor of the spill room, changed his shoes upon leaving the spill room, kept his family out of the spill room, and got his family out of the home within two hours. However, within those two hours, their five children spread the mercury to every room. They ultimately lost about 80% of the personal property in their home, including all the carpeting and almost all the furniture. If the children had not spread the mercury, the cleanup would have been necessary in just one room, personal property loss would have been minimal, the cleanup would have been much shorter than 2+ months, the family could have returned to their home much sooner, and the cleanup costs would have been minimal. If the mercury is spread throughout a home, the cleanup costs can exceed the cost of a home. Consequently, minimizing the spread of the mercury and never assuming that a child who played with mercury is uncontaminated are very important.

The second example involved someone using a conventional vacuum cleaner in an attempt to clean up mercury. Vacuuming blows the mercury into the air and heats it, increasing airborne concentrations. It also spreads fine droplets of mercury everywhere. The vacuum cleaner becomes permanently contaminated, requiring its disposal. The spill occurred because a jar with 13 pounds of mercury fell off a kitchen pantry shelf and broke on the kitchen carpeting. The homeowner called the fire department. Unfortunately, instead of calling the Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) team, the fire department vacuumed the mercury. Several proper cleanup attempts failed because the vacuum cleaner had contaminated all surfaces in the kitchen. The cleanup eventually required taking the kitchen ceiling, floor, and walls down to the studs. All the appliances and cabinets were discarded. Fortunately, two closed doors protected the rest of the home from serious contamination; otherwise, the cleanup costs probably would have exceeded the cost of the home.