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[GreenYes] mercury in buildings



I'd like to see this too. There was a lot of talk about mercury dispersed into the environment after the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. To my knowledge there has been no tallying of the mercury in the buildings, though numerous sources have been discussed:
Fluorescent bulbs (50 mg each?)
Thermostats and thermometers
in latex paint
switches in cars in the garage
batteries
There may have been others, but I don't recall just now.

I've always wanted to see a tally of how much mercury was released by this event. Most people don't realize this was Not Only 110 floors times 2 buildings - and we are talking very large footprints, a block on a side for each. There was also WTC 7 which was 47 floors, but somewhat smaller footprint in one direction, plus a hotel of similar footprint that was something like 50 floors plus another four 6-story buildings. Though Only the first two plus WTC 7 collapsed, the others burned thoroughly. I'd love to know what fraction escaped as mercury vapor, and what percent adhered in what form to the surfaces of the fine particulate in the smoldering ruins. Some of this fine particulate still remains in the HVAC and other nooks and crannies of downtown and Brooklyn and I was on a couple of field trips where we measured elevated levels of mercury vapor emanating from collections of undisturbed dusts within a year of 9/11 (in air filters, under refrigerators, near sewers, and ductwork open to the air). The plume was visible from space for months, and some particulate undoubtedly fell over Manhattan, Brooklyn and other places during that time.


Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
mclarke@no.address
Environmental Scientist and Educator
http://geography.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/index.html
New York City





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