Tartan Flooring Mercury

Floor covering is a solid rubber like polymer floor covering that was developed in the 1960 s.

Tartan flooring mercury. Us epa reports that certain polyurethane flooring materials installed between 1962 and today contain mercury. 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. Bulk sampling is a method that involves testing the actual flooring material to determine if mercury is present.

In order to spread and level out the polyurethane a mercury containing catalyst was used called phenyl mercuric acetate pma. 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. Pma breaks down and releases odorless colorless mercury vapor. Sampling and data a few methods are commonly used to measure the form of mercury used in manufacturing the 3m tartan flooring.

Most of these floors seem to have been installed between the 1960s and 1990s. Track flooring and other synthetic rubber like gym floors originally marketed by other manufacturers as chemturf or tartan may contain mercury. Other manufacturers followed 3m to develop similar products.