This study presents a novel and safe laboratory exercise designed to actively involve students in simulating and managing a mercury spill without the toxic risks associated with elemental mercury. Addressing the limitations of passive multimedia demonstrations, this hands-on approach uses silver-colored plastic beads as a nonhazardous visual surrogate for illustrating dispersed droplets or particles during a simulated spill scenario. Students engage directly in containment and cleanup procedures using a commercially available Chemizorb Hg Mercury Absorbent Kit, learning standardized protocols for spill response, neutralization, and waste handling. Through multiple pilot sessions and outreach implementations, the 15–20 min protocol demonstrated high procedural fidelity (up to 95%), improved efficiency (25% reduction in completion time), strong knowledge retention (92% correct 1 week after training), and robust transfer-readiness for understanding professional spill-response procedures. By combining tactile simulation with authentic spill-response tools, this exercise promotes active learning, procedural memory, and risk awareness, supporting practical training in chemical safety and laboratory spill-response procedures. This easily replicable model offers educators an accessible way to teach chemical safety and toxicology while fostering critical thinking and environmental responsibility across diverse educational contexts.
Jurowski et al. (Thu,) studied this question.