system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I've looked everywhere and I can't find an answer. Can the shamwow absorb mercury?
gpt
From personal experience, no. Mercury spills cannot be cleaned up with absorbents designed for water and aqueous systems. These rely on adhesion (sticking to a surface) to create capillary action, but mercury has much stronger cohesion (sticking together) than adhesion. Mercury spills cannot be cleaned up with towels or spill pads. If you have a large spill, your best bet is to have it cleaned professionally. They have special shop vacs with mercury traps (to be clear, do NOT try to use a normal shop vac).