Staff evacuated a computer lab in the basement of the Science Center after a student spilled mercury on a desktop at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The student immediately reported the spill of the mercury—a chemical element that is liquid at room temperature—and the lab, room B14, was evacuated quickly thereafter, according to Assistant Director of the Science Center John B. Mathers.

The student had the mercury in his possession for no particular reason, according to Mathers. “It was something a friend gave him some time ago that he happened to have in his bag,” he said.

Byron T. Hood ’13, who was working at the support desk in the lab at the time of the incident, said that many people were not in the room when the spill occurred and that the evacuation proceeded “very smoothly.”

“All [the] people left reasonably quickly without much fuss,” Hood said.

Mercury spills happen frequently around campus, according to Mathers. He said that when spills like Thursday’s occur, the University hires a private contractor that specializes in the removal of hazardous waste to clean up the spill.

On Thursday afternoon, Mathers said that the lab would be closed that day to students until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., or until the air was safe to breathe.

“Mercury is a hazardous substance,” he said. “It forms vapor very readily, so you don’t want to breathe it more than you have to.”

Hood said that he thought it was “awfully unsafe” for a student to bring mercury into the computer lab. “Mercury should probably be restricted to labs,” he said.

Though students are not supposed to bring hazardous materials such as mercury into the lab, Mathers said that the Science Center nevertheless has a policy in place to properly respond to chemical spills.

“Our policy is as soon as mercury is spilled, we got to clean it up,” Mathers said. “We got to remove people from the area so they don’t breathe.”

Mathers declined to identify the student involved in the mercury spill.

—Staff writer Caroline M. McKay can be reached at carolinemckay@college.harvard.edu.