[X8xScoutx8X]

Hi there,

I'm in a bit of trouble. I have a substance, specifically Mercuric Oxide, and I need to stop it from leaching into the soil when it rains. I need to somehow convert it to either Mercuric Sulfide, or some other insoluble Mercury compound.

If anyone has even a link or a little bit of information, it would be appreciated so so so much. We have very little Mercuric Oxide in the lab, so I can't just go out and start playing around with acidic reactions and such.

Thanks.

[Hunter2]

You can dissolve it in nitric acid. And then after neutralization you add sodium sulfide to it. But my question is why not give it to a special disposal. Mercury compounds should not get into the environment at all.

[Arkcon]

You've got two problems -- first mercuric oxide is pretty insoluble in water, so I don't know why you'd want to change it into another compound.  Second, you've missed something critical regarding bio-remediation of mercury compounds:  living things in the soil will always attack the insoluble compound, releasing it into the environment.  As an example, the typical way Pseudomonas species (one of the most toxin resistant species) deal with mercury compounds is to convert them to methylmercury.  That detoxifies their environment, its just too bad humans end up poisoned by breathing methylmercury.