I would like to comment what Craig Brougher meant about mercury dangers
in the previous digest.  We all here on the list are technically
interested, or are technicians in some way, and therefore use, or are
exposed to, likely more than "ordinary" people special materials, as
laquers, painting, different fluids as acetone, gasoline, and in this
case, mercury.

It is important to take action, not to be hurt by inproper or dangerous
use of these materials, and we really know that e.g. mercury is one of
the more dangerous materials.

It has completely NOTHING to do with communism, to make restrictions on
using these materials, it's better to talk about restriction HOW to use
these materials.

That would be more like what I suggested about mercury switches, in a
previous digest, that they shouldn't be open, but closed and covered by
a glass tube.  Then the mercury isn't forbidden, but stored in a proper
way, not allowed to give out poisonous vapour.

I once experienced the break of a fever thermometer, and was told by
elderly people that the mercury had to be collected immidiately,
because it was dangerous to breath.

I was curious, and found a medical encyclopedia, and read about
mercury. This book wasn't written by Bellona, or any communist
conspiracy, but I believe what stood in the book about how few grams
of mercury per so and so many cubic metres that was dangerous to inhale.
It was also described the symptomes on mercury poisoning.

I hope Craig and others understand that by looking at the dead forests
in the earlier East Germany, reminding on the Chernobyl Accident, the
exhaust from a Trabant [ smokey 2-stroke gasolite automobile] compared
by the exhaust by an not communist made car, they will understand that
the comparison of communism and environmental care isn't right.  Rather
one should say, communism means NO environmental care.

The pleasure by doing fun hobby at home, in our case automatic music
instruments,  must not be ruined by damages from the materials that we
have to use.  (Neither making your living by that either)

PS! As a radiology student, I can tell that radiation is one of the
many things that one first didn't know was dangerous, but later turned
out to be causing cancer, and in high doses, burns.

There are arguments that many elements like mercury are in the nature
already, (oil for instance) but then it is mainly in a form, where its
dangers are less.  We have extracted it in pure form, and brought it to
places where it may do more damage, then we must think about what we do
to make to harm!

Have a safe piano restoration!

Sincerely Thomas Henden, Norway. (The country of the whale hunting!)

 [ Editor's Note:
 [
 [ Thomas,  Thanks for taking the time to articulate (in English!) another
 [ point of view on this subject.  I think there is wisdom in the
 [ consideration of amount of exposure of a lay person versus a person
 [ who works in the trade.  Its also worth noting that differrent
 [ people have differrent sensitivities to environmental hazards.
 [ Its usually not possible to know in advance whether you are
 [ the one who is more sensitive.
 [
 [ Jody