Molecular Foundry Mercury Spill

1
Molecular Foundry Mercury Spill
MSD Staff Meeting August 24, 2007
2
What Happened

• Vendor technician made a mistake during the
  installation of a mercury porosimeter in Foundry
  room 6208
• Several pounds of mercury were expelled under 50
  psig pressure
• The vendor and a Foundry technician attempted to
  clean up the spill without seeking guidance
• Mercury contamination was carried on shoes to
• 6th floor hall
• West stairs and elevator
• Room 1201

3
Nobody Was Injured

• Nobody was injured during the release.
• No mercury found on staff other than on bottom of
  shoes pant cuffs of technician involved in
  cleanup.
• No airborne mercury detected in any room.

4
Cleanup Projections

• Contaminated Area Best Case Access Date
• Room 1201 Complete
• West Stairs Tuesday, Aug 28
• West Elevator Wednesday, Aug 29
• 6th Floor Offices Wednesday, Aug 29
• Other 6th Floor labs Friday, August 31
• Room 6208 Friday, Sept 7
• If no further contamination found inside 6th
  floor labs

5
Spill Response

• Lab staff may clean up a spill without asking for
  safety support if
• Nobody was contaminated or inhaled material
• Feel comfortable doing the clean up
• Appropriate spill equipment is available
• No potential for personal or environmental damage
• Clean up will take less than 2 person-hours
• 1 liter on campus
• It does not involve mercury, highly acutely toxic
  materials or materials toxic via skin absorption
  (e.g. dichloromethane, phenol)
• Small mercury spills can be cleaned up by lab
  personnel on campus
• lt100 ml of risk group 2 pathogen outside of BSC
• Does not involve radioactive materials

6
Health Effects of Mercury And Exposure
Information

• Peter Lichty, MD

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Health Hazards Of Mercury

• Inhalation of mercury vapor can cause acute and
  chronic toxic effects
• Acute toxicity with high exposures can include
  chest pain, nausea, fever, chills, confusion,
  pulmonary edema
• Long term exposure to vapor may cause
  neurological symptoms including tremors,
  insomnia, memory loss, depression, emotional
  instability, e.g. Mad as a hatter

8
Floor Contamination Levels

• Mercury vapor level in hallway, stairs lt0.003
  mg/m3
• Safe exposure limit is 0.025 mg/m3 averaged over
  day
• Floor Screening technique Wipe floor with
  Kimwipe and measure vapor evaporating from wipe
• Measured range of 0.014 - 0.58 mg/m3
• If you swabbed the floor and took 50 breaths from
  the Kimwipe you would absorb an amount of mercury
  equivalent to eating 0.6-18 ounces of carnivorous
  fish (tuna, swordfish, shark)

9
Mistakes/Lessons

• Instrument purchased through campus and did not
  undergo safety review by LBNL EHS
• ACTION-Inform Rick Kelly if you bring items of
  equipment from campus to lab. This will allow
  for identification of hazards and development of
  plans to deal with problems
• Vendor work on instrument not reported to Rick
  Kelly
• ACTION-Vendors must have written approval from
  Rick before working in MSD lab. Vendor would
  have been reminded of Hg hazard and the need for
  caution. We have had several vendor-caused
  accidents recently.

10

• Vendor technician, Foundry technician and student
  failed to immediately report spill to supervisor
  but instead attempted to clean it up themselves
  in violation of LBNL policy.
• ACTION-all non-trivial spills and accidents must
  be reported immediately to supervisor and to Rick
  Kelly or ESH and no non-emergency action may be
  taken until authorized. This would have reduced
  the exposure of the staff to mercury and the
  contamination of other areas of building. It
  would also have allowed more rapid communication
  with DOE.

11

• Above all
• Think about safety at every step in an experiment
  or procedure.
• Plan a response to mistakes
• Report problems immediately
• Report near misses

12
Emergency Numbers Contacts
Incident
Dial
Emergency Life-Threatening Substantial
Loss
7911 (On Site) 911 (Off Site) 911
(Cell Phone)
Non-Emergency Not life-threatening
6999 (On Site)
Provide
Name, Location, Situation

• Supervisor
• Rick Kelly x4088
• Health Services (730-330)x6266
• John Seabury x6547

Inform