The Postal Service is reminding customers that metallic mercury and devices containing metallic mercury are always prohibited in the mail stream. This includes antique items such as thermometers, barometers, blood pressure monitors and similar devices. However, compact fluorescent lamps, which contain small amounts of mercury in vapor form, are mailable domestically but not internationally.

Here’s what you should do:

1. Review USPS Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, & Perishable Mail, to find out if your item is mailable.

2. Follow U.S. laws and U.S. Postal Service hazmat guidelines.

3. Ship items securely with required labels and markings. Customers can take their package to a Post Office location to make sure it is labeled correctly.

Improper, undeclared or prohibited hazmat (hazardous material) shipping can have serious consequences for everyone involved.

Full responsibility rests with the mailer to comply with all Postal Service and non-Postal Service laws and regulations in the mailing of hazardous material. Anyone who mails, or causes to be mailed, a nonmailable or improperly packaged hazardous material can be subject to legal penalties (i.e., fines and/or imprisonment), including but not limited to, those specified in 18 U.S.C. The transport of hazardous materials before entry as U.S. Mail and after receipt from the Postal Service is subject to Department of Transportation regulations.

For a public service announcement on mercury, visit youtube.com/watch?v=wriu99Z01r8