I was an Environmental Police Officer for 15 years. I won't have a CFL in my house. I've seen the effects of Mercury on people and animals, it is not good. It's also kinda sad when people show the effects of Heavy Metal Poisoning and don't know it. They used to use mercury in the hat making industry, that where the term 'Mad as a Hatter' came from. BTW, Mercury lingers, use it in your house and everyone who then comes into the house is exposed.

How about all those millions of people who died or went crazy from their mercury-silver amalgam tooth fillings?

I don't know about anybody dying or going crazy but there has been lots of evidence from studies that seem to point to amalgam fillings causing health issues for some people. Most commonly a supressed immune system response.

I know it is anecdotal, but my wife used to have a whole mouth full of amalgam and was always sick. Caught every cold, flu, or other bug that came along. About 15 years ago she had them all replaced with plastic fillings and her day to day health has improved dramatically. She's hardly ever sick any more, and when she does catch something it doesn't decimate her like it used to.

And FWIW, not only is she older (not as strong as when she was younger) but we also have two kids in the house. They are aged 12 and 16, so if anything you'd think she'd be MORE likely to get sick with all the crud the kids have been bringing home from school these last 10 years or so. But that isn't the case.

Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think so, but like I said it's purely anecdotal.

DON'T USE MERCURY PERIOD! IT IS JUST NOT WORTH THE RISK!!

I just thought of an analogy for the OP and others arguing in favor of using Mercury for de-leading. Agent Orange is one of the most effective herbicides ever invented. Do you want to use it to get rid of the weeds in your back yard?

No? Why not?

There isn't any real proof that it has had any bad effects on the health of the 'Nam vets who got exposed to it. Or at least there is no more conclusive evidence of its harmful effects than there is for the long-range effects of mercury exposure.

Lots of vets exposed to Agent Orange never suffered any illnesses that could be directly linked to it...

You must be really old.

That's my whole problem, tooth fillings; no wonder I crave the aroma of mercury. LOL

I'm prone to exaggeration . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Thanks for all your input; I'll keep it in mind when I find some mercury and get my cylinders lead free for sure.

To the paranoid ones on this thread, NEVER fire you gun in an enclosed area and NEVER have the wind or a breeze blowing towards you when firing a gun. The fumes cause serious cumulative harm to your body and can make you crazy enough to be paranoid about carefully using mercury. Get a blood test to detect the heavy meals in your blood to see if this is why you act this way.

Just to beat another horse, lead poisoning from constant use of an indoor range is also a significant health risk. We used to get that heavy metal test (it's urine, not blood, and you get to keep a big jug of pee in your refrigerator for the weekend) every year courtesy of the government . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I stand corrected; pee test; thank you.

Well.... this indeed is an old thread and so am i. I use mercury to clean my LEAD barrels all the time and have been since the 70's. Yes..back then, all of us 'hippies' did smoke pot and used mercury on our barrels. Most are now Senators and congressmen and we all have kids that did NOT come out looking like salamanders. So..where are we here with MERCURY. Well, don't drink it, feed it to your kids or pets, keep it in a close glass bottle and don't spill it and you and guns and kids will be fine. I have a bottle from the manometers we used at work,,,say about 60 to 70 of them in the field in a refinery, and just don't be stupid with it and you'll be fine. I smelt alot of lead and corruption and make about 4000 to 3k lead boolits every year (and for the past 30 or so years) and 'don't sniff the fumes, don't eat the lead, and don't drink the mercury' and I am still alive and cognizant. Have 2 upper division degrees awarded by state universities and really believe drinking DDT, bathing in Mercury, soaking ones feet in pesticides and other available chemicals from Home Depot is not good for anyone's general health. I too 'plug and soak' my old leaded barrels in mercury over night, scrub with brass cloth and save and keep for disposal all materials used via my towns 'hazzard' waste service. simply...'bag and tag' and take it to them. I have the same one pound bottle of mercury i had from the refinery from the 70's. it is a few ounces lighter from my responsible use and disposal. So...here...my opinion is... well... "Being stupid is being stupid'. Use your head...keep things 'clean and straight' and you won't have any $50K house cleaning issues as described above. Oh yea.... and if you want to toke some pot...(as most of us did in the 60-70's) well ...can now go to Colorado and toke up and not get thrown in the slammer. So..where are we here with being stupid?
Nose Dive....
Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly Pick two

While mercury may work here's something to consider. What about the tiny bit that you don't get out of the gun? When you fire the revolver that bit gets atomized and blown out the tube. Then it becomes a serious inhalation hazard. There's many good lead solvents on the market that if you use them properly will cut the lead out without using mercury. Some are even labeled as non toxic.

Never thought of that, but it makes sense.
So you're not just exposing yourself, you're exposing others too.
You may be OK with the risks, but maybe they aren't.
Seems to me like that would be one more good reason not to do it.

BTW, like with just about anything else, no two people have exactly the same susceptibility or tolerance levels. What doesn't bother you might make me sick - like pollen, or hay fever, or cigarette smoke or allergies. People with extreme sensitivities might be severely affected by levels that wouldn't have any negative effects on someone else.

I'd be the first to agree with the hazards of mercury but back
in the 70s(when I was really dumb). I used it to clean out the
barrel of a M27 with an 8-3/8" barrel that was almost
plugged from lead. I mean it cleaned it quick and it cleaned
it thoroughly! This was from hi velocity cast lead bullets that
we're too soft. I was new to reloading,also

__________________
NRA LIFE 1974

It may have been a urine test at one time, but I can guarantee you it's a blood test now. I get one every year as part of my annual physical and I can watch my serum (blood) lead level change based on how much time I've spent in the indoor range and how good I've been about wearing a respirator when I'm there. The CDC issues guidelines in terms of serum lead level, not urine (it's currently <10 mcg/dl for adults, less for children).

There's quite a lot of information online regarding the inhalation (vapor) risk from elemental ("quick silver") mercury.

PubMed abstract on treating family for inhalation ingestion of elemental mercury:

Mercury vapor inhalation and poisoning of a family. - PubMed - NCBI

Numerous cites for inhalation of elemental mercury, on this
wiki page:

Mercury poisoning - Wikipedia

Yeah, there is no question about it being effective. It is for sure.
The big question is whether or not you feel the risk level is acceptable.

My biggest concern is based on the fact that you don't see the effects now or tomorrow or next week. The effects happen years after the exposure and by then it is WAY too late to do anything about it.

How does one dispose of a bottle of mercury. I have a pint.

I'd check with the local landfill to see if they have a haz-mat collection & disposal site. Most do - they'd rather give people a way to safely dispose of haz-mats - instead of having them just dump them in with the regular trash.

I'd call city hall and see if your town or one nearby has a hazardous waste disposal site

If you live in Jersey, you may already have this angle covered.

Two words just leap into my mind when I read comments like this. Darwin Award!

For the life of me, I don't understand why anybody would dink around with Mercury or the infamous vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution when completely safe and relatively easy solutions to lead fouling problems exist. Either the age old Lewis Lead Remover or a Chore Boy wrapped bronze brush will work just fine. You can make things even easier for the latter method by soaking the bore overnight in Kroil.

Bruce

LOL, I know what you mean.

Kinda reminds me of my dad who swore up-and-down right up til the day he died - at 63 years young - that smoking a pack a day wasn't really that bad for his health!

He died of congestive heart failure and lymphoma two months before his 64th birthday...