Minnesota law means schools must find mercury alternatives

When I was in high school I thought chemistry was fascinating, even though I wasn't very skilled in it. One of the things I thought was cool, was the way mercury would ball up and roll around in the palm of my hand. It could be quickly separated into smaller balls, rolled on a desktop, and just as quickly put back together again when the teacher made me put it away. It was shiny silver. It was surprisingly heavy.

Maybe that explains something about how my brain works these days. Maybe not.

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But last week the Star Tribune reported:
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A new state law requires that all K-12 schools in Minnesota

must stop buying mercury by the end of this year

and get rid of it and instruments containing the toxic material by the end of 2009.

When a student carrying an old barometer accidentally dropped it in a high school classroom in December, "all hell broke loose," according to Larry Peterson, superintendent of the Eden Valley-Watkins School District near St. Cloud.

The mercury that spilled out of the barometer brought state pollution control workers and a hazardous waste crew. School was canceled for a few days, an older spill of mercury was detected and, before it was over, the district had a $126,000 cleanup bill.