[Noisebridge-discuss] Mercury vapor analyzer rental

[Ani Niow]

I did a quick google of mercury analysers to see how much they actually cost
given the price you quoted was $150 for a day rental and wow are they
expensive. $12.5k for a single analyser. Although the first one I found
looked rather cute (http://www.asapstl.com/tek9.asp?pg=mercvapor) with a
full colour touch screen and all.

I'm sure given the ingenuity of the crowd we could build something much
cheaper with open source software and hardware. A similar idea was put forth
when we had the CPR class and the instructor brought in a portable set of
paddles. They were ridiculously expensive by themselves though the tech
wasn't that complicated. I for one would be happy to participate in such a
project, though only if we can have it connected to Noisedoor (
https://twitter.com/noisedoor) to have it forced open when mercury is
detected.

I'm no chemist but as someone that was actually there during the discovery
and subsequent first round of cleanups, the dispersal pattern of something
that small would seem to indicate that the chances are close to nil of any
other mercury being anywhere in the space. Of course if you want to hire an
entire hazmat team be my guest, though it may be more cost effective to
convince the first group of people you find sleeping outside that there's
drugs in the space and the only way to get them is to put on these
ridiculous suits and wave the detector around until/if they find anything.
Rest assured if there's mercury somewhere in the space and you utilise their
resources, they can certainly find it for you.


-Ani



OH GODOHGOD WE'RE ALLGONNA DIE


2009/6/30 Sai Emrys <noisebridge at saizai.com>

> Looks like I just got myself nominated to coordinate this.
>
> So: per info I found online, it should cost around $150 to rent an
> actual mercury vapor analyzer for a day. This should give us the
> ability to test for sure to see whether the space is within acceptable
> levels now, especially considering that we do not know where it came
> from (and thus don't know whether we captured all of it).
>
> Depending on how it works and mercury vapor dispersal patterns (which
> I don't know - chemists in the audience?), this should also mean that
> if there's any left, we can track it down.
>
> If you would like to chip in towards this, please add to the ziploc
> baggy in the kitchen cabinet (next to the drink money can) labeled
> "money for Hg analysis". Currently it has $70.
>
> Those of you with google-fu: please figure out & tell me what 3rd
> party companies around here do professional hazmat cleanup, so I can
> contact them for a quote to finish the job. I was unable to find
> something that seemed appropriate.
>
> Thanks,
>  Sai
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