October 15, 2009 · 9:59 pm

Oh, the humanity!

Wisconsin now requires a prescription to buy a mercury thermometer.(hat tip, Overlawyered.com). In fairness to the Cheeseheads, it should be remembered that here in Greenwich, land of the intelligent, Eastern Junior High was shut down for a day while haz-mat drones cleaned up the wreckage of a single thermometer dropped in the science lab. Truly we are become a nation of fools.

9 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

9 responses to “Oh, the humanity!”

  1. mwfinkbeiner
    October 16, 2009 at 6:57 am

    This was unlike my chemistry class, back in oh 1964, when the teacher poured a little liquid mercury into our palms, so we could “feel” its liquid metal feel, and pass it around the class.

    Oddly, that teacher died a premature death.

  2. Peg
    October 16, 2009 at 8:16 am

    Let’s see. They force us to purchase lightbulbs with mercury in them – but require us to have a doc’s prescription for a thermometer with mercury.

    Please; someone let me out of the insane asylum.

  3. DB
    October 16, 2009 at 8:31 am

    I also worked in a chemistry class, mercury is deadly in even small amounts. The reason it has been relatively banned for use in consumer stuff is that if a child sees a small amounts they may taste it.

    You can lookup what happens if a child does, but it isn’t pretty.

  4. Louise
    October 16, 2009 at 8:50 am

    and, the new lightbulbs with mercury are to become law?

  5. DB
    October 16, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    The amount of mercury in lightbulbs is small, though having one break isn’t the best thing. Manufacturers are also reducing the trace amounts.

    In the case of a thermometer, the mercury is visible and to a child, nothing looks like more fun then liquid metal. If you think about it a bit, you can see the end result of a child seeing a shiny metal blob they can play with and eat.

  6. DB
    October 16, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    Just to add, the following is an interesting read on CFL’s and mercury:

    http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/ask_treehugger_14.php

  7. Lorin
    October 16, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    And what happens in an earthquake when all the cfl’s break all over and we survive the earthquake only to die from mercury poisening…lol.

  8. DB
    October 16, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    If there are earthquakes that cause CFL’s to pop, pretty sure that would be the least of the issues in the NE.

    Better discussion for the original blog post is related to lead paint. Many may consider lead paint a non issue, but have friends that had a parrot they owned ingest some paint in a 100+ year old house they owned. The parrot become completely lackadaisical and clueless. After a Vet diagnosed the issue it took weeks and thousands (this is a parrot) to cure (fully is unknown).

    If you are a parent, the discovery that leaving old paint or a mercury thermometer, both items that are easily replaced, around your house and injuring or killing your child is a something beyond belief IMO.