The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deployed On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) to Libby, MT, accompanied by a contractor and a Lumex mercury vapor analyzer. The OSCs assessed residences affected by a confirmed mercury spill.
The incident occurred sometime in late October 2025 when the resident’s child’s friend brought a fruit cup filled with mercury to the home. The mercury was taken from the friend’s grandparent’s collection. The mercury was spilled onto a rug in the child’s room and played with before the friend returned home. At that point, the resident child rolled the mercury beads into the rug and placed the rug under the bed. Subsequently, the child developed symptoms that were initially diagnosed as Scarlet Fever by medical professionals. Family pets exhibited similar symptoms. On Friday, November 21, 2025, a house cleaner discovered and collected mercury beads under furniture in the child’s room, prompting the parent to alert a physician.
The family was relocated to a local hotel. EPA will follow up with mercury screening of all locations related to this incident using the Lumex MVA. The agency will contact local public health officials to inform them of the situation and seek additional support, if necessary.
EPA screened homes the children may have visited and did not see elevated concentrations of mercury throughout those homes. One home had elevated concentrations in a washing machine. At this time it appears the spread of mercury throughout the community is limited.
If you have mercury at your home that you would like to dispose of, EPA encourages you to bring the material to any of the Lincoln County landfills. You can drop off the material for free during business hours.
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- Libby Landfill, Mon - Sat, 8am - 5pm
- Troy Landfill, Mon - Sat, 10am - 6pm
- Eureka Landfill, Mon - Fri 8am - 5:30pm, Sat 9 am - 5pm
Symptoms of mercury poisoning include headaches, fever, and skin rashes. Please visit the EPA website for information about the health effects of mercury poisoning.
