Working element of mercury switch
Service is discontinued
LCS Laboratory offers an air sampling kit for testing mercury in the air of your home or office. Mercury is one of few metals that is liquid at room temperature, and the only metal that produces enough toxic vapour to harm people who are exposed to it. Many household items contain elemental (liquid) mercury. Old thermostats, mercury thermometers, fluorescent tubes, and compact fluorescent bulbs. The amount of mercury varies widely from 500 mg in thermometers, down to 2-3 mg in compact bulbs.
Mercury is perfectly safe when it is contained inside the electronic device, but when the device breaks, the liquid mercury escapes and precipitates as fine mercury droplets on the floor, in the pores of the concrete, and between fibers of the carpet. Up to 30 % of the mercury from the minor residential spills evaporates within the first 4 days. Larger spills will take weeks months and years to evaporate, which may result in significant exposure to mercury.
Our sampling kit includes portable sampling pumps, air sampling tubes, and plyers, and sampling instructions. We can detect as little as 1 μg/m³ of mercury in your house which is 25-100 fold lower than the acceptable industrial standard. The typical cost of a project is between $150 to $300, depending on the number of rooms you want to test and the desired turnaround time. To order your kit, please please email us with the following information:
- Your Name, Last Name,
Mercury Thermometer
- Shipping Address,
- Contact Phone,
- The number of samples you want to collect. The number of samples is typically equal to the number of rooms you want to test. You use a dosimeter only once, so if you want to test the basement and kitchen, you need to order 2 separate samples.
- Do you want to use a Travel Blank? Travel blank is an additional dosimeter that is used as a Quality Control reference to demonstrate that the observed mercury level is not introduced during shipping. The use of the travel blank is important if you do this test for legal purposes.
- What is the date of the sampling? We will deliver equipment by that day,
- How fast do you need the results back (same day, 1-day, 2-days….). The standard turnaround time is 7 business days. If you want results faster, we can accommodate your request but you should expect the rush service surcharge.
We will reply back to you with an electronic invoice which you need to pay online with a credit card to initiate your order. Thank you for your interest and stay safe.
