Southern Union appeals mercury storage conviction

Much like lead, mercury is a heavy metal and can be harmful even lethal with very high doses of a particular type of mercury.  Like lead, however, the level at which harm can occur is debated.  In spills mercury vapor is the culprit and what levels in the air are safe is the issue.  Government agencies tend to enforce extremely conservative lower levels on the premise that it is better safe than sorry.  These very low threshold levels, however, can backfire on the industrial side where enforcement of these extremely conservative levels can result in unreasonable lawsuits.  In my neighborhood as a kid we all played with bottles of mercury indoors and out and made rivers of silver on cardboard cutouts on the dining room table.  Mercury came in the Gilbert Chemistry set at Christmas.  I know that the present “toxic levels” for lead are extrememly low (all adults over forty had levels above this magnitude for most of their childhood with no apparent harm to those generations).  I don’t know very much about mercury but suspect that the levels are similarly set far below the scientifically proven threshold.  It is unfortunate that these industries, when a spill occurs, have to foot the bill for the unnecessary evacuation of neighborhood and other rather hysterical enforcement measures.  How did any child of the fifties survive?  By today’s standards we should all be addled and/or dead.