Tartan Flooring Mercury

Pma breaks down and releases odorless colorless mercury vapor.

Tartan flooring mercury.

Floor covering is a solid rubber like polymer floor covering that was developed in the 1960 s. In order to spread and level out the polyurethane a mercury containing catalyst was used called phenyl mercuric acetate pma. Track flooring and other synthetic rubber like gym floors originally marketed by other manufacturers as chemturf or tartan may contain mercury. Us epa reports that certain polyurethane flooring materials installed between 1962 and today contain mercury.

The type of flooring that may have mercury in it is a synthetic rubber like type of floor composed of polyurethane. The mercury floor problem and health effects rubber like polyurethane floors using 1 000 to 2 000 parts per million ppm of phenyl cercuric acetate pma catalyst have been installed in schools and elsewhere since the 1960s. Most of these floors seem to have been installed between the 1960s and 1990s. According to the epa elemental mercury and all of its components are toxic exposure to excessive levels can permanently damage or fatally injure the brain and kid neys pathways are through inha lation absorption and ingestion.

Concerns related to gym floors are mostly related to airborne vapors. Sampling and data a few methods are commonly used to measure the form of mercury used in manufacturing the 3m tartan flooring. History of mercury in gym floors in the 1960s 3m introduced a gym flooring material called tartan that was touted as an improvement over old wood floors for gymnasiums as well as outdoor track and field facilities.