Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think what they should have done with the little button cells is to ban new cameras and other devices that use them. All the old cameras would gradually fall into disuse and demand would decrease, but those of us with Rollei 35s, or Minox 35s (both of which I have) could still use the cameras. What what I understand, there is no good alternative to mercury batteries for metering applications because other types of cells change voltage gradually. This throws off the meter. Mercury cells offer full voltage until they are just about to expire, and then the voltage falls off very quickly. khmiska wrote: > > Jim, > I couldn't agree more. Be careful though, the mercury police might be lurking > fully outfitted in their shiny (silvery) boots and uniforms. > Kurt > Ann Arbor > > Jim Brick wrote: > > > At 09:34 AM 9/8/00 -0700, Chuck Albertson wrote: > > >The stuff rots your brain, especially kids' brains---take a look at the > > >back-of-the-book photos in Minimata for examples. If mercury is still being > > >used in flourescent lights, it's probably due to a lack of alternative > > >materials at the moment (or the political clout of the flourescent light > > >manufacturers). There are alternatives to its use in batts, however, which > > >is why it can and should be banned in them. In all of the contaminated > > >landfill cases I've been involved in the past 10 years, mercury is one the > > >most common (and persistent) contaminant in most of them, and it's generally > > >put down to discarded batts in household waste. > > > > > >Chuck Albertson > > >Seattle, Wash. > > > > Aa Ha! > > > > This explains why I am like I am. I played with mercury by the hours as a > > kid. We coated all of out coins, giving them that slick glossy silver look. > > Cool! I made a mercury barometer as my science project in high school. I > > still have the pound or two of mercury I used as the well. Still in the > > same container with a hole in the top for the glass tube to stick through. > > I guess I won't drink it though. > > > > I've always wondered why the many many tens of thousands of kids that grew > > up in the hundreds of years before the EPA, who played with metallic > > (liquid) mercury and grew up to be CEO's Scientists, Business moguls, etc, > > never had a rotten brain problem? > > > > Perhaps it is the form, pure liquid Hg vs a particular mercury compound > > ingested, that caused the Minimata problem. > > > > Jim Brick, ASMP > > Senior Scientist > > Agilent Technologies > > Imaging Electronics Division > > jim_brick@agilent.com