(Topic ID: 189429)

Anyone have health concerns about having a large neon gameroom sign?

By KozMckPinball

6 years ago


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    There are 56 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 6 years ago

    Was just doing some research online about the use of mercury in neon signs, even ones for indoor use. I have a neon sign, fairly large, 20X32 inches, on order and the company confirmed that they use a small amount of mercury with the neon and argon. Just was wondering what the bright minds on Pinside thought about whether there are any health affects to worry about. I have a couple of sub-4 year old kids and the wifey might be pregnant. This did not stop me from buying the sign, I guessed that as long as the glass tubes do not break, there's nothing to worry about, but with kids I'd expect it to get broken at some point. No idea how to clean up if it does break.

    #2 6 years ago

    The buzzing would give me mental health concerns.......

    #3 6 years ago

    You likely will get more Mercury from one piece of Ahi Tuna then you ever could from a neon sign that size.

    #4 6 years ago

    It's not harmful if unbroken.

    The mercury can't get out of the sealed glass tubes (otherwise the Neon gas would escape too).

    Ask the sign shop to make you an acrylic shell like they have inside Starbucks or JJs.

    #5 6 years ago

    just dont stare directly at it too long, it will make u dizzy

    #6 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    It's not harmful if unbroken.

    Yeah the only thing that would worry me is if you have kids and they play ball in the house.

    #7 6 years ago

    If you're done having all the kids you want, don't worry about it.

    #8 6 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Yeah the only thing that would worry me is if you have kids and they play ball in the house.

    Mom always said not to play ball in the house.

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    #9 6 years ago

    There's mercury inside florescent tubes too, for pretty much the same reason as it's in neon tubes. Don't break the tube, and you're fine. If you do break it, don't lick the glass or fondle it. There, problem solved.

    #10 6 years ago

    Don't believe the hype.....

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    #11 6 years ago

    You also don't want to vacuum it if it breaks, same thing with cfl

    #12 6 years ago

    I just put this custom sign in my kids room. Plus he has three other super hero signs so I hope not.

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    #13 6 years ago
    Quoted from bangerjay:

    You also don't want to vacuum it if it breaks, same thing with cfl

    Ok well now explain how to clean it up out of carpet if you break either one.

    #14 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    The buzzing would give me mental health concerns.......

    Older magnetic transformers buzz, newer solid state transformers do not.

    I wouldn't worry about the mercury as it is sealed within the tubes as others have mentioned.

    The bigger problem you'll have is glare on your playfield glass. I have mine wired on a separate circuit so that I can turn it off when playing.

    #15 6 years ago
    Quoted from Damonator:

    Older magnetic transformers buzz, newer solid state transformers do not.
    I wouldn't worry about the mercury as it is sealed within the tubes as others have mentioned.
    The bigger problem you'll have is glare on your playfield glass. I have mine wired on a separate circuit so that I can turn it off when playing.

    What he said

    #16 6 years ago
    Quoted from Chitownpinball:

    Ok well now explain how to clean it up out of carpet if you break either one.

    They say to use tape. B/c the vacuuming action could vaporize the mercury

    #17 6 years ago

    I'd just throw the carpet out if it gets contaminated with mercury.

    Somebody, someday will try to vacuum and fill the house with mercury vapor.

    Classic from a few years ago:

    http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/24/us/teen-agers-vandalism-leads-to-mercury-crisis.html

    #18 6 years ago

    red neon..pngred neon..png

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    #19 6 years ago

    If one of my neons breaks, I am not ripping up the carpet.

    #20 6 years ago

    Damn it, if it was good enough for us to play with its good enough for my kids.

    #21 6 years ago

    Gas discharge tubes contain elemental mercury in rather small quantities, and the health risk is very minimal. Elemental mercury is not readily absorbed through the skin or GI tract, and it would require the ingestion of orders of magnitude higher quantities than is present in neon tubes/fluorescent tubes to cause any real problems. The main hazard of elemental mercury is toxicity via inhalation of vapors, but this requires a much higher vapor concentration than is possible with a single (or even several) broken tubes in a volume of air the size of a typical den or game room.

    Remember that mercury amalgam dental fillings (approximately 50% Hg, 50% Ag/Sn/Cu alloy) have been used safely for at least 100 years.

    It's only with mercury compounds that toxicity (and explosion risk!) starts getting scary, especially organic mercury compounds and water-soluble inorganic salts.

    If a tube/light bulb breaks, sweep (don't vacuum) up the debris, seal it in a freezer bag, then dispose of it in a CFL recycling bin (Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards have them).

    If you are really worried, keep a mercury spill kit on-hand: https://www.amazon.com/ADC-Mercury-Spill-Kit-980SK/dp/B000F96DHA

    -1
    #22 6 years ago

    Or from a flu shot or most vaccines as it is used as a carrier to help the vaccine do it's thing. Or so they say....

    (Thermerisol)

    Quoted from jgentry:

    You likely will get more Mercury from one piece of Ahi Tuna then you ever could from a neon sign that size.

    #23 6 years ago
    Quoted from Travish:

    Damn it, if it was good enough for us to play with its good enough for my kids.

    I know.

    I've got a couple of gallon jars of mercury that I had from back when we were experimenting with splatload ammo, and it's fun to play with. BUT I'm a lot more careful with it now than I was back then.

    #24 6 years ago

    I have twelve neon signs just in the basement alone, not to mention others scattered around. Some of them go back to the 40's and there quite as a mouse. Got's to love the old school neon look. Not worried about the mercury at all. You'll be fine.

    John

    12
    #25 6 years ago

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    #26 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    I'd just throw the carpet out if it gets contaminated with mercury.
    Somebody, someday will try to vacuum and fill the house with mercury vapor.
    Classic from a few years ago:
    http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/24/us/teen-agers-vandalism-leads-to-mercury-crisis.html

    The scariest thing in that article is the 22 year old woman with 3 children. Assuming no twins, that's an early start in life.

    #27 6 years ago
    Quoted from KozMckPinball:

    The scariest thing in that article is the 22 year old woman with 3 children. Assuming no twins, that's an early start in life.

    When Catholicism meets hormones!

    #30 6 years ago
    Quoted from bangerjay:

    They say to use tape. B/c the vacuuming action could vaporize the mercury

    Thank you!

    And I agree, no way I can rip up carpet over a neon sign. Id try the duct tape first at least. Man that would suck.

    #31 6 years ago

    Duct tape is not going to remove mercury from carpet.

    You need to roll up the carpet and dispose of it.

    Your family's health is worth more than $500 of carpet.

    #32 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Duct tape is not going to remove mercury from carpet.
    You need to roll up the carpet and dispose of it.
    Your family's health is worth more than $500 of used carpet.

    $500! Lol. I got a BIG basement bro, and its 85% carpet.

    #33 6 years ago
    Quoted from Chitownpinball:

    $500! Lol. I got a BIG basement bro, and its 85% carpet.

    What do you think you could sell that used basement full of carpet for? $100? Maybe?

    What would the co-pay be on one month in the hospital for mercury poisoning be? $10,000+ and any lost wages, permanent brain damage.

    Don't think about it, throw it out.

    #34 6 years ago
    Quoted from jgentry:

    You likely will get more Mercury from one piece of Ahi Tuna then you ever could from a neon sign that size.

    Quoted from DRDAVE:

    Or from a flu shot or most vaccines as it is used as a carrier to help the vaccine do it's thing. Or so they say....
    (Thermerisol)

    Thimerosal is a form of ethylmercury, is harmless to humans, and isn't present in most vaccines since 2001. There is no link between Thimerosal and harm from vaccines.

    Methylmercury is the type of mercury found in certain kinds of fish. At high exposure levels methylmercury can be toxic to people. In the United States, federal guidelines keep as much methylmercury as possible out of the environment and food, but over a lifetime, everyone is exposed to some methylmercury.
    https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/index.html

    #35 6 years ago

    Is there really a thread here on this?

    "Anyone have health concerns about having a large neon gameroom sign?"

    No. Next question. [/Orange Hitler]

    #36 6 years ago

    I have a small collection of broken neons from China if anyone needs one for their carpets just PM me.

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    #38 6 years ago

    Is this the misinformation thread?

    #39 6 years ago
    Quoted from yzfguy:

    Is this the misinformation thread?

    yawn

    #40 6 years ago

    I'd be more concerned about the mercury the American Dental Association says is OK to have in your teeth.

    #41 6 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    I'd be more concerned about the mercury the American Dental Association says is OK to have in your teeth.

    Already covered in the above link. Not harmful or dangerous.

    EDIT: Not covered in the above link. Appropriate link provided.
    https://www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/productsandmedicalprocedures/dentalproducts/dentalamalgam/ucm171094.htm

    #42 6 years ago
    Quoted from YeOldPinPlayer:

    Not harmful or dangerous.

    Feel free to believe what you like.

    #43 6 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    I'd be more concerned about the mercury the American Dental Association says is OK to have in your teeth.

    My dentist took all that old crap out of my mouth years ago.

    She said that anytime someone has a loose filling, she removes all the old mercury on that side and fills it in with UV epoxy. No extra charge.

    #44 6 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Feel free to believe what you like.

    Feel free to produce evidence to support your position.

    #45 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    My dentist took all that old crap out of my mouth years ago.

    Quoted from YeOldPinPlayer:

    Feel free to produce evidence to support your position.

    There's enough out there already. I don't need to convince anybody else. It is each person's own choice what kind of poisons they want in their body.

    #46 6 years ago

    I will say however when mine were removed the undersides where you couldn't see were green and corroded and breaking down. Maybe in part because of all the time I spent in the ocean, but they were definitely breaking down over time.

    The dentist used protective clothing and masks as he said upon being removed they become very toxic and the utmost care must be used when dealing with them along with disposing of the toxic metal when he is through.

    Like I said, I don't need to try to convince anybody of anything, but it is a major relief for me to have them all gone 20+ years ago. I wouldn't let them put any of that in my daughter's teeth when she was young and have so advised her now that she is an adult. There are much safer alternatives now.

    #47 6 years ago

    You know mercury fillings are dangerous, otherwise, why would your dentist remove them for free?

    My neighbor the sheriff got a root canal and they took all the mercury fillings out of that side of his mouth.

    They did not even tell him they were doing it. He said that they handed him a mirror to look at his temporary crown, and he was blown away that all his rear, left side teeth were white.

    "Welllll......we already had you numbed up on that side, so we took all that toxic heavy metal out of your mouth....."

    #48 6 years ago

    So breaking CV tubes over my knee after a bad game was ..bad?
    DAMMIT!!!

    #49 6 years ago
    Quoted from Vino:

    So breaking CV tubes over my knee after a bad game was ..bad?
    DAMMIT!!!

    Just bite the end off if you need to get high from inhaling the gas.

    #50 6 years ago

    Now dead.

    There are 56 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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