Light bulbs, electrical switches, thermometers and barometers all have to go as part of an extensive cleanup effort to remove mercury from Concord University's campus science building.

Students at the university returned to classes last week to find the building closed for the semester because of mercury contamination.

Some beads of mercury had been found behind molding on the third floor of the campus's science building, said Stephen Rowe, interim vice president and academic dean.

It's not clear how long the mercury has been in the building, Rowe said. The science building was built in the 1950s, when mercury was commonly used in experiments, he said.

"We're looking at every way we use mercury and replacing that material," Rowe said.

Earlier this month, the school in Athens, Mercer County, contracted with Clean Harbor, an environmental and hazardous waste management company based in Norwell, Mass., to dispose of the mercury, Rowe said.

"It's mostly low levels, but it's detectable. When you detect it, you have to clean it," he said. "The levels we are finding are about one microgram or less ... [the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] recommends that the residential cleanup level be one microgram or less."

Mercury, a liquid in its natural state, gives off a poisonous vapor. Short-term exposure to mercury is not considered dangerous, but exposure to the vapors over a long period of time is a health risk. If allowed to build up in the body, it can affect the nervous system and it has been linked with deformities and retardation.

Concord is not the first state educational facility to deal with mercury contamination.

Glenville State College discovered about a teaspoon of elemental mercury in its campus science building in 2006, said Annette Barnette, director of marketing and public relations at Glenville.

In 2006, the mercury was discovered by construction crews at the start of an extensive renovation project to the building, which was built in 1941, said Joe Evans, a professor and former chair of Glenville's science department.

The Gilmer County college contracted with Pinnacle Environmental Consultants Inc. of Cincinnati to dispose of the mercury, Evans said.

It took cleanup crews about four months to remove the mercury, which had slipped under tiling on the floor, he said. He did not know how long the mercury had been under the floor.

Light bulbs, electrical switches, thermometers and barometers all have to go as part of an extensive cleanup effort to remove mercury from Concord University's campus science building.

Students at the university returned to classes last week to find the building closed for the semester because of mercury contamination.

Some beads of mercury had been found behind molding on the third floor of the campus's science building, said Stephen Rowe, interim vice president and academic dean.

It's not clear how long the mercury has been in the building, Rowe said. The science building was built in the 1950s, when mercury was commonly used in experiments, he said.

"We're looking at every way we use mercury and replacing that material," Rowe said.

Earlier this month, the school in Athens, Mercer County, contracted with Clean Harbor, an environmental and hazardous waste management company based in Norwell, Mass., to dispose of the mercury, Rowe said.

"It's mostly low levels, but it's detectable. When you detect it, you have to clean it," he said. "The levels we are finding are about one microgram or less ... [the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] recommends that the residential cleanup level be one microgram or less."

Mercury, a liquid in its natural state, gives off a poisonous vapor. Short-term exposure to mercury is not considered dangerous, but exposure to the vapors over a long period of time is a health risk. If allowed to build up in the body, it can affect the nervous system and it has been linked with deformities and retardation.

Concord is not the first state educational facility to deal with mercury contamination.

Glenville State College discovered about a teaspoon of elemental mercury in its campus science building in 2006, said Annette Barnette, director of marketing and public relations at Glenville.

In 2006, the mercury was discovered by construction crews at the start of an extensive renovation project to the building, which was built in 1941, said Joe Evans, a professor and former chair of Glenville's science department.

The Gilmer County college contracted with Pinnacle Environmental Consultants Inc. of Cincinnati to dispose of the mercury, Evans said.

It took cleanup crews about four months to remove the mercury, which had slipped under tiling on the floor, he said. He did not know how long the mercury had been under the floor.

The building reopened earlier this month for the start of the spring semester.

Students who attend classes in college science buildings dating back to the 1960s or earlier stand a good chance of being exposed to mercury, Evans said. During that time, mercury was commonly used in experiments and was not treated as a hazardous chemical, he said.

Scott Hurst, associate provost at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, said at the start of renovation projects to older buildings, it is a fairly common practice for construction crews to measure the air quality.

For their own protection, crews usually test for asbestos and other chemicals before they start tearing up floorboards and walls, he said. If an older science building has been recently renovated, there is a good chance it was tested for mercury, he said.

WVU Tech built a new science facility in 1992, and outfitted it with equipment to handle mercury and other hazardous chemical spills, Hurst said. The school uses mercury in a number of its lab experiments, he said.

Craig Lefevre, assistant director of environmental health and safety at West Virginia University, said there are no federal or state regulations for regular monitoring of mercury levels within campus buildings.

Lefevre said Clark Hall, which houses WVU's chemistry department, never has been extensively tested for mercury. He estimates the building dates back to the 1930s and was renovated in the 1980s.

WVU has taken a number of steps to prevent mercury contamination within the building, he said. It is replacing all lab equipment that contains mercury and has set up mercury cleanup kits, in addition to training faculty to handle the material if it is spilled, he said.

"We're trying to take preventive measures in each laboratory with employee training, and we've purchased the big expensive equipment to do vacuuming [of hazardous material] and to measure the air," Lefevre said.

In 2006, Marshall University removed all mercury-containing lab equipment and "any other known source of mercury was removed," Brian Carrico, director of safety and health at Marshall University, said in a written statement.

In the release, he said Marshall's science building was built in two parts in 1984 and 1993.

To contact staff writer Veronica Nett, use e-mail or call 348-5113.