Abstract: A protective floor mat system which includes a surgical mat designed for use in an operating room environment and which system includes a disposable cover for the floor mat, the disposable cover comprising an envelope enclosure to enclose the floor mat during its use and which envelope comprises a disposable sheet material, which sheet material is impervious to the penetration of liquids, such as blood, urine, disinfectants and body fluids, thereby preventing the contamination of the floor mat during use and permitting the outer, disposable envelope to be discarded after use.

Abstract: Processes for decreasing mercury butter formation in mercury electrolytic cells employing brine which contains strontium wherein the brine is treated to lower the strontium content to 0.5 ppm or less. The removal of strontium from the brine may be effected by treating the brine with an ion exchange resin in sodium form to adsorb strontium thereon. Alternatively, strontium may be removed by treating the brine with a water-soluble metal hydroxide, subjecting the resulting mixture to partial evaporation to produce sodium chloride as precipitate and saturated brine solution and admixing the precipitate with water to form brine for electrolysis.