Mercury Pollution

Do you know where the “Mad Hatter” got his name? Here’s a clue – vintage felt hat: 3,844 ppm MERCURY! [100 is unsafe]

Do you know where the “Mad Hatter” got his name? Here’s a clue – vintage felt hat: 3,844 ppm MERCURY! [100 is unsafe]

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I have long known the vintage and antique felt hats were (historically) made with unsafe levels of Mercury (as part of the felting process for the wool as I understand it), but I had never personally tested a vintage felt hat and found it to be positive for high levels of Mercury — until now….

From 2013: The surprising source of most mercury pollution: Gold mining

From 2013: The surprising source of most mercury pollution: Gold mining

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Please click on the image below to see the full pdf of the article. Click here to see gold items that I have tested with an XRF that were also positive for mercury. The original link to article from 2013 can be seen here. A graphic depicting sources of mercury pollution from the original article…

Gold wedding set (c. 2016): 5,527 ppm Mercury, 1,214 ppm Arsenic (+ Gold, Silver, Titanium & Copper).

Gold wedding set (c. 2016): 5,527 ppm Mercury, 1,214 ppm Arsenic (+ Gold, Silver, Titanium & Copper).

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Originally written January 14, 2017 Updated (extensively!) February 17, 2020   This is an ad-free article. To make a contribution to help us keep our most widely-read articles ad-free, click here. Thank you. For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website: Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and…