janik Loc: Rochester, NY

OK I had a model shoot in studio yesterday. The model walked right into a set of lights and they hit the floor and busted all to pieces. They are the fluorescent type and I understand there is mercury in them.. so is my studio now a toxic waste site? How about cleanup? Thanks..

ken hubert Loc: Missouri

Water, soap, mop and keep your mouth shut!

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

There is a very small amount of mercury in fluorescent tubes and an even smaller amount in compact flouresent bulbs. Just clean it up carefully, and worry not.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Hope the model was suitably injured.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Just vacuum the area.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

I wouldn't worry about it. How many home owners do you think break tubes every year? Factories? Public buildings? A good clean up and you should be good to go. Back in jr high science class we used to roll the stuff around in the palms of our hands just to see how weird it behaved. We all survived and made it to high school! Whatever you do, don't notify the EPA. They'll come in and put a tent over your studio, and then bring in a couple of tractor-trailers and about 80 people to clean it up and haul it away, and then send you the bill, and a fine of course. Not to mention the years of air quality studies and soil sampling......
Keep that model away from your hand grenade collection!

Jim Bob

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Certainly not the ideal attitude for conducting model photography. A good amount of compassion and understanding is required for any type of people photography.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

OK, this was as much your fault as the models or more so. You should have taken care to see the light stands were steady enough to stand a bump, When I had my studio All of my light stands were heavy duty and there were 10# sand bags placed on the bases to keep them from being easily tipped or knocked over.
Your lucky your model was not injured!! Can you say law suit? Did you have an assistant to help the model around the set ? sometimes its difficult to see everything around you when constant lighting is used or right after strobes fire.

whitewolfowner

You'd only have a problem if you were in a manufacturing plant were film is made. Then you would have shut the whole plant down for weeks and the employees would be scrubbing the place from the ceilings to the floor for weeks on end. You'd be very popular in a not good way. Just clean it up as usual; the worst thing you can do is leave it there. Mercury let loose in the air evaporates and everyone around is inhaling it and is increasing the mercury levels in their bodies; which is a poisoning of them.

Millismote Loc: Massachusetts

I see you got the usual useless comments. I had a serious mercury spill one time and used something called flower of sulfur, ( a power ) to trap the murcury and then swept it up and bagged it. I Googled Mercury spill and got the kit listed below.
Mercury Spill Kit
Quickly and safely absorb spilled mercury from fluorescent light bulbs, thermometers and lab equipment.

Complete kit handles all stages of
mercury cleanup.
Designed for one-time use.

Kit includes:
(270g) Amalgamation Powder
(250g) Indicator Powder
(#1) Vapor Suppressor Shaker Bottle
Aspirator Bottle
Waste Collection Bottle
Mixing Tub with Spatula
Chemical Sponge
Disposal Bag and Twist Tie
Nitrile Gloves
Goggles
Whisk on Pan
Plastic Case with Handle

whitewolfowner

Talk about idiotic replies. By the time you go to stores and get all the stuff to clean it up as you say, the mercury will have evaporated into the air to be breathed in. Now who's the dummy?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

And wait for the lawsuit.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

First: there is mercury, and then there is mercury. Elemental mercury - the liquid that we all knew and loved from high school chemistry (rolled it around in our hands even) is not very toxic. When it is compounded into mercury salts it becomes very toxic. Fluorescent bulbs contain a small amount of elemental mercury that must vaporize before the bulb emits light. When the bulb breaks, some of that vapor may get into the air - opening windows would be a useful thing. What tiny amount of mercury that may end up on the floor should only be vacuumed if you have a vacuum with HEPA filtration - otherwise you may just blow small particles into the air. The clean-up kit with amalgam can help. Remember touching mercury onto a gold ring? Mercury forms a physical bond called an amalgam. That gold ring develops a thin coating of mercury - the only way of removing it is to heat up the ring until the mercury evaporates off of it (you could probably use chemical reactions to do this, but those would create very toxic mercury salts). The old-fashioned way of mining mercury (still used by individual miners in third-world places like the Philippines) is to crush the ore, blend it with mercury, and then separate the amalgam, which when heated to drive off the mercury, leaves the gold behind. Dangerous to all!

I don't miss the old mercury tube blood pressure monitors (although there was never a question of accuracy - blood pressure is measured in terms of how high it can push a column of mercury - 120/80 means 120 mm of mercury and 80 mm of mercury - technically written as 120/80mmHg) but I do miss mercury thermometers - dirt cheap, highly accurate, and everybody had one.

janik Loc: Rochester, NY

Ok thanks for the helpful replies and of course the usual asshat responses as well.