If you break a mercury thermometer in a pot of boiling oil...

Yes, I just had the problem described in the title, as I was readying to fry up some lovely Chincoteague urshters (had to consign them to the pan instead). There are three little balls of shiny silver mercury at the bottom of a very hot metal pot of cooking oil. I tried to find the solution online, but there is no information about this anywhere.

So I am creating that information, based on what the Poison Control Center told me. I mean, this is mercury we're talking about, so it's serious and stuff.

The environmentally safe thing to do is to take it to your local hazardous waste disposal site. Otherwise, remove the mercury and the oil without making contact with your skin - pretend it's still hot - and seal it all up, and dispose of it accordingly.

The metal pot itself should be okay, but if I must dispose of it, it won't be a big loss as I got the pot for about $3 at the Goodwill.