Teacher's Guide to Mercury Educational Videos
Region 7
Video #1: EPA Region 7 Administrator - faculty, staff, and students, 1 minute
• John B. Askew gives a brief introduction to the toolkit.
Video #2: Keep Your Paws Off Mercury - elementary, middle, and high school, 4 minutes
• This video, featuring Clancy the mercury-sniffing dog, explains what to do in the
event of a mercury spill. It also describes how people can be exposed to elemental
mercury and what health effects might occur from exposure.
• A laboratory thermometer containing mercury breaks at the beginning of this video.
An increasing number of school labs use non-mercury thermometers, which look
nearly identical to mercury thermometers but instead contain alcohol or other liquid.
Video #3: Mercury: It's Deadly - middle school, 2 minutes
• The video mentions never using a vacuum to clean up mercury spills but then shows a
person using a vacuum to clean up mercury. The vacuum being used by this person is
a specialized vacuum (very expensive).
• The video also shows mercury being swept with a broom. This should only be done
by trained mercury spill responders and not school staff. Any type of disturbance of
mercury will break up the mercury into smaller beads and allow them to migrate into
cracks and crevices.
• A list of additional common items that contain mercury can be found in the
Background for Educators, contained on this disk.
Video #4: Mission Mercury, long version - high school, 20 minutes
• This is an animated video with well-developed, likable characters who learn about
mercury during their adventure with a space traveler. All of the material can be
grasped by a general audience, although the short version of Mission Mercury (below)
might be more appropriate for younger audiences with a shorter attention span.
• The video shows children being decontaminated with a laser device. This is a
fictitious device, whereas actual decontamination is a much more intense and time
consuming process.
• The video shows a broken fluorescent bulb and a computer monitor with large
quantities of mercury coming out. In reality, these devices have only very small
amounts of mercury vapor in them. The graphics are exaggerated for visual
demonstration purposes only and are not truly representative of how mercury looks
when released into the environment. Other videos on this disk show actual mercury
for a true visual representation.
• Check with your state's Fish and Wildlife department for current fish advisories
related to mercury contamination. Further information about mercury in fish and fish
consumption can be found on EPA's Web site.
• The video shows mercury spills being cleaned up using different methods. The actual
cleanup process is very difficult and time consuming. Other videos on this disk
address the proper techniques for cleaning up small mercury spills.
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Video #5: Mission Mercury, short version - elementary, middle, and high school, 13 minutes
• This version of Mission Mercury differs from the full version by omitting certain
scenes focused on character development and mercury's fate in the environment. The
short version might be more appropriate for younger audiences with a shorter attention
span, although all of the material in the full version can be grasped by a general
audience.
• See the other notes above for the full version of Mission Mercury.
Video #6: The Magic Metal by Ohio EPA, 8 minute version - high school
• This video is meant to explain the seriousness of a mercury spill and how difficult it is
to conduct a proper cleanup. It is not intended as a training video so that school staff
can conduct their own cleanups.
• Although this video was specific to the state of Ohio, mercury collection programs are
available in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska. Information regarding collection
programs can also be found on this disk in the document titled "Disposal Assistance".
• The density experiment in the video showing a steel padlock floating in a jar of
mercury was conducted in a controlled atmosphere by trained professionals. EPA
strongly recommends not conducting any experiments similar to this that might result
in unnecessary mercury exposure to students and staff.
• The mercury vapor demonstration was conducted using specific ultraviolet lighting
conditions, so that a shadow of the invisible vapors can be seen.
• Much of the information on this video pertains to the negative health effects on
developing children. However, it should be noted that prolonged exposure to mercury
can have negative health effects on people of all ages (as well as animals).
Additionally, students should be informed that just because they might not be as
susceptible to mercury poisoning, they can be held liable for the consequences if they
are the cause of a release of mercury that endangers others, including children.
Video #7: The Magic Metal by Ohio EPA, 60 second version - middle and high school
• The video refers to contacting the State of Ohio for additional information for cleaning
up mercury spills or disposing of mercury. Information on whom to contact for your
state is included on this disk in the "How to Take Action" section (do not contact Ohio
unless the mercury spill occurs in Ohio).
• The density experiment in the video showing a steel padlock floating in a jar of
mercury was conducted in a controlled atmosphere by trained professionals. EPA
strongly recommends not conducting any experiments similar to this that might result
in unnecessary mercury exposure to students and staff.
• The mercury vapor demonstration was conducted using specific ultraviolet lighting
conditions, so that a shadow of the invisible vapors can be seen.
• Much of the information on this video pertains to the negative health effects on
developing children. However, it should be noted that prolonged exposure to mercury
can have negative health effects on people of all ages (as well as animals).
Additionally, students should be informed that just because they might not be as
susceptible to mercury poisoning, they can be held liable for the consequences if they
are the cause of a release of mercury that endangers others, including children.
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