When you learned that mercury batteries were poisonous, you bought a big
supply, subjected them to extreme temperature (probably well beyond their
designed limit), then stored them with your food? Does it sound alarming
when I put it that way?
Lama
PS. By the way, guys, mercury bio-accumulates. That means that if you are
exposed to trace amounts over long periods of time, your body stashes it
away in your bone marrow. I don't endorse hoarding mercury batteries.
Mercury poisoning is a terrible way to live and die.
> When mercury batteries were about to be proscribed, I went out and bought
a lifetime supply, and keep them in the freezer. The photo magazines all
claimed that freezing batteries doesn't extend their shelf life, which is
simply incorrect. I suppose they knew better but were trying to discourage
hoarding, but I wasn't quite ready to put my best cameras and lightmeter in
landfill.
>
> How do I know that freezing helps? For one, this is a traditional
approach, applicable to all battery types; this was common knowledge in my
childhood. For another, the battery handbooks from the various
manufacturers also said that freezing helps a great deal. For example,
section 11.5.5 (on the storage of zinc/mercuric oxide batteries) of the
Handbook of Batteries (3rd edition) states that storage at down to -20
degrees centigrade will, as with other battery systems, increase storage
life. No specific numbers are given. The limit is that the barrier film
between anode and cathode eventually dissolves, but this takes many years.
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