> Is there ANYONE who has not touched or played with mercury 
> as a kid?  Even
> with all the information now I still run into people who 
> say it's
> perfectly safe to play with it in your hands.

1.    There's your source - dead fluro tubes - available for 
free all over. You could probably make an extractor that 
removes much of the powder in a single pass. Taking the ends 
off cleanly and rendering the end product safe left as an 
exercise for the student.

2.    When I was very young (memories of AA Milne book title 
flit across hind brain) I bit a thermometer and swallowed 
the mercury. It appeared to do no harm, although some would 
say that ... .

> I do think there is overreaction going on though.  Mercury 
> poisioning via
> coal plants and it building up in fish is a very nasty 
> problem, but you
> don't have to drag your house to a toxic waste dump if you 
> break a CF
> lamp.

The cleanup suggestions for a CFL breakage seem extreme to 
me.
However, as they must be written to cover all levels of 
experience and general competence I guess an "Osborne 0 of 
CFL breakage" is appropriate :-)


        Russell



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