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MIDDLETOWN — A mercury spill prompted the evacuation Tuesday of Middletown's Head Start classrooms on Central Avenue.

An employee at a dental office, which shares a building with Head Start at 2402 Central Ave., reported the spill at 2:37 p.m. About 68 children, 17 Head Start staff members and an unknown number of dental office employees and patients were evacuated. The mercury was inside a sink trap at the Middletown Dental Group offices. It spilled out into a hallway or stairwell two floors above the Head Start classrooms during remodeling Friday, said city Health Commissioner David Winfough.

"They tried to clean it up with a vacuum cleaner and that spreads the vapor," Winfough said.

Middletown Interim Police Chief Mark Hoffman likened the size of the spill to a dinner plate but said reports differed.

"It's not a 55-gallon drum or anything," he said. "The danger is inhalant."

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency tested the shoes of everyone present in the building for mercury, Tuesday. All of the children's shoes came back clean, said Head Start Director Jon Graft.

Because of the lag in reporting the spill, the Ohio EPA will be available at 7:30 a.m. at the building to test the shoes of children who may have been exposed Friday, Monday or Tuesday morning, Hoffman said. Parents should bring shoes to the school in a garbage bag marked with the student's name, address and phone number.

The building will be closed today. Head Start has not announced plans for Thursday classes.

Winfough said mercury poisoning symptoms can include: numbness in hands and feet, memory and hearing loss, slurred speech and loss of peripheral vision.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4527 or dwells@coxohio.com.