Purchasing of mercury-containing instruments must be avoided.

• A. Avoid purchasing them
• B. Purchase freely
• C. Only use if cheap
• D. Store them separately

Answer: (A)

Mercury-containing instruments pose significant health and environmental hazards because mercury can vaporize at room temperature and spills are hard to clean up, risking exposure to workers and contamination of the workspace. To protect people and the environment, it’s best to avoid purchasing devices that contain mercury and instead use safer, mercury-free alternatives whenever possible. This makes avoiding purchasing them the strongest choice, because it prevents introducing a hazardous material into the lab in the first place. Storing them separately would still leave the hazard present and requires extra handling and containment; buying them freely would increase risk; using them only if they’re cheap ignores safety and long-term costs. In practice, labs replace mercury devices with digital or alcohol-based instruments and implement proper waste management for any remaining items.