[Archer]

This is just out of interest but can anyone tell me why powdered sulphur is used on mercury spills?

I know that the purpose is that it soaks up any fine beads but is there a chemical reaction going on (i.e. formation of HgS) or is the mercury just adsorbed on the surface of the powder?

[Borek]

I was always under impression it is a very stable HgS that the method aims at.