Christopher Melder, the man accused of spilling mercury in four separate locations in west Houston and Spring, spoke to KPRC 2 exclusively from the Harris County Jail.
Melder said he found the mercury at an abandoned lab.
“The only reason I knew what it was, was because it was labeled,” he said.
Melder said he talked to friends about it. “They called it liquid silver and said it was cool to play with,” he said.
Melder claims he then took the mercury home, looked it up on YouTube and even played with it in his own hands.
“I didn’t go far in school and didn’t know it was bad,” he said, adding that he wasn’t trying to harm anybody. “I sold it, but only made 40 bucks off of it.”
He also admitted to KPRC 2 that he accidentally spilled the mercury on Friday, Dec. 13 in the parking lot of three west Houston businesses -- the very same day he sold some of it to two people for a total of $40.
Melder appeared in court Wednesday morning, where a judge raised his bond to $150,000.
For more on the spills and what people can do if they may have been exposed to mercury, go to our previous KPRC 2 report.