Many of us use regular mercury thermometer. Its advantages are the most accurate measurement readings and inexpensive cost. The disadvantage is the mercury inside the device, which can be dangerous to humans.
Why are mercury balls dangerous?
IN living conditions we observe mercury as a metal in liquid form. It poses a great danger to human health; mercury is capable of evaporation, and its vapor can poison a person.
Renders negative impact on the body, diseases of the skin, kidneys, and eyes occur. This substance causes great harm to expectant mothers and babies. Mercury accumulates in the body, while a person does not feel anything special, and its effects appear after a few hours. Migraines and weakness will begin.
If the thermometer is damaged, 2 grams of mercury are released from it, which can spread its negative impact over an area of six thousand cubic meters air. Small balls of mercury can roll under the baseboard and stick to slippers. A person who inhales poisoned air begins to suffer from mercury intoxication. Red rashes appear in the form of burns. With prolonged exposure to mercury on the body, it can lead to madness.
First actions
Before you begin collecting mercury, you must complete the following activities:
- Remove all people and animals in the room, as this metal is dangerous for them too. This is necessary to avoid contact with mercury;
- Immediately open the window and entrance doors lock up. It is important to pay attention to ensure that there is no draft;
- If you clean the room yourself, without the Ministry of Emergency Situations, it is recommended in this case to wear a damp gauze bandage;
- Go outside more often, at least twice every half hour. You should wear gloves on your hands and bags on your feet to avoid spreading dangerous metal throughout the room;
- You should immediately begin collecting all glass fragments from the thermometer;
- Next, you need to look for balls in cracks on the floor, next to furniture, under the baseboard. They are small and have a silver-gray tint.
How should you collect mercury?
First, take a glass container or jar with a tight-fitting lid. Fill it with water. Place the broken thermometer in a bag. It is not recommended to collect the balls with a broom, especially with a vacuum cleaner; after cleaning you will have to throw it away. Tools:
- aspirator, needle, knitting needle;
- adhesive plaster, good density paper, cotton balls;
- table lamp, bright lantern;
- manganese, iodine.
Clothes worn by a person should be synthetic, since they absorb less mercury fumes.
Stages of assembling mercury metal
First stage.
First, we inspect the room where the event occurred, all the things, shelves, sofas, table, chairs. Use a flashlight while working, the balls are small and in normal lighting it is impossible to see them. Anything that has been touched by metal is collected and taken away. Mark the places where small balls accumulate with a pencil on the floor so as not to step on them in the future. Collect the larger particles first. To do this, take paper and roll them onto it with a needle or knitting needle. When collecting small balls, take a patch and apply it to the mercury, dispose of the patch in glass mold. If the balls get into the holes in the floor, then take a long knitting needle and wrap a cotton ball soaked in potassium permanganate on the end. After collection, also dispose of the cotton ball as described above. The floor skirting is torn off and treated there with mercury collection methods.
Collected mercury is not thrown away or stored long time, and are handed over to the Ministry of Emergency Situations department. The form with the collected metal is immediately taken out of the apartment.
Second phase.
Treatment chemicals. In the case when you are completely sure that all the drops have been collected and all the affected items have been removed, proceed to the disinfection stage. Prepare a manganese solution. You need to take one liter of running water and pour 2 grams of potassium permanganate into it. Then treat the affected areas using a spray bottle or any brush. Carry out the procedure with gloves that do not get wet. Leave the solution on the areas for up to 8 hours, moisten them more often after drying. After this time, treat the surfaces and crevices in the floor with a soap-soda solution and carry out a thorough wet cleaning premises. In the next 7 days, treat the room in this way, only reduce the time from 8 hours to 1 hour. Take preventive measures as often as possible - ventilate, clean the room.
Mercury gets on your skin
If metal comes into contact with human skin, it is necessary to wash it well with soap. Lime mortar treat affected skin. Do this periodically. It is possible that this treatment will cause a burn. This measure is necessary to prevent mercury from entering the body. You can collect the drops using a plaster or tape. If vomiting, nausea and diarrhea nevertheless appear, immediately go to a specialist, this is a signal that mercury has penetrated through the skin.
The incident happened in the kitchen
In this case, all products that were in accessible places for metal to enter are thrown away. All kitchen items washed thoroughly, a mercury film invisible to the eye may have formed on them. All open containers with salt, cereals, seasonings should be disposed of. Hanging towels, sponges, napkins, tablecloths should be disposed of; they must not be washed, as under the influence warm water mercury evaporation occurs.
The incident happened on the carpet
The covering is rolled up, a large bag or cellophane bag is put on it and immediately taken out into the yard. Lay a film on the ground and hang the carpet on a rope above the film so that the mercury spills out there. Use sharp movements to knock the balls out of the carpet. Collect mercury using the methods described above. Take the carpet outside to air every week.
Protective measures
A person who has been clearing a room of mercury for a long time should brush his teeth as soon as possible and wash his hands thoroughly with soap. The clothes that were used for cleaning are hung outside and aired for several months, but it is best to get rid of them forever. Rinse your mouth with a manganese solution and take 10 tablets of activated carbon. Drink plenty of fluids.
Who to contact in emergency situations
It is better to entrust the collection of mercury to professional specialists. They go to the scene of the incident with the necessary equipment.
They work in a room with instruments, completely clear the space of mercury vapor, and analyze the air for mercury vapor content.
It is necessary to take precautions when handling a mercury thermometer to protect yourself and others from infection. Do not give it to your child; it is better to store the thermometer in a special flask in a well-protected place. It is forbidden to fall asleep with a thermometer.
Today there is huge selection electronic temperature measuring devices. They are safer, use them and take care of your health.
Did you break your thermometer and spill mercury?
The main thing now is to collect the mercury correctly so as not to harm yourself and your loved ones even more.
We need to pull ourselves together and act as quickly, collectedly and competently as possible.
Consider 5 rules:
1. DO NOT throw mercury or thermometer residues into the garbage disposal, toilet, sink, or bathtub. Just 2 grams of mercury, when evaporated, will poison entire 6000 cubic meters of air in your house!
2. DO NOT collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner, broom, or rag!
NEED TO:
3. Open the window (but without a draft!) and close the door.
4. Prevent others from accessing the contaminated area to avoid spreading mercury throughout the room.
5. Next, act STRICTLY according to the instructions approved by specialists (perhaps best guide on the prevention of poisoning and proper collection of mercury).
Chronic mercury vapor poisoning is dangerous!!!
Indicative cases from the archive of public consultations on the removal of mercury contamination:
Question: Hello. We have a serious problem. Yesterday, a thermometer was carelessly broken, and mercury spilled not only on the floor, but also on the rug. What can you do to properly clean your rug? Will cleaning with a vacuum cleaner or tape and airing the rug in the cold help? Ira, Moscow.
Expert's answer: Good afternoon! I would not advise you to clean your rug this way. You can't vacuum it. Needs to be put off until summer. And in the summer, beat it thoroughly in the sun, protecting your respiratory organs before doing this. Now remove the mercury-contaminated rug away from your home - in a barn at the dacha, for example. Important: roll up, line with newspapers, pack in plastic.
Question: The children were playing around - they put a thermometer in a hot kettle. The thermometer, naturally, burst. Is it possible to drink tea if there is no mercury in the teapot? Olesya. Zelenograd.
Answer: Hello! In principle, you can drink tea, but first rinse the kettle (preferably more than once) with a descaling agent. Although the risk of poisoning from mercury and its vapor will still remain, it is better for you to buy a new kettle.
Question: We dropped a thermometer on the floor in the nursery. Tell me, can drops of mercury be absorbed? For example, in children's things? Or sneak into a bag of toys? Kira.
Answer: Good afternoon, Kira! I hasten to reassure you. Mercury does not absorb, “bounce” or penetrate closed containers. Nevertheless, it is worth calling our specialist for demercurization. If you are not from Moscow and there are no such specialists in your city, then children's things should be ventilated and shaken out properly on the street if there is a concern that mercury has come into contact with them. You can't vacuum it.
Question: It seems like all the mercury was collected with a wet rag. We treated the apartment with bleach. They ventilated for a long time. What else can you do? Yes, there is a mat next to the spill. Maybe chlorinate it too? We are worried - we have children. Inga. Mytishchi.
Answer: It is better to wash the floor thoroughly with chlorine-containing products ( see instructions at the beginning of the article), after removing the carpet. Treat it separately - expose it to the sun in summer. You can't vacuum it. If there are cracks in the floor, also fill it with bleach (again, taking into account the instructions). If you have any doubts, call services to measure the content of mercury vapor in the air.
Question: Help! The child bit off the thermometer. Everything seemed to be spat out onto a napkin. There are no wounds in the mouth. I induced vomiting. There was no mercury in the vomit. It's been two hours, but so far so good. Could a child still ingest mercury? And now what i can do? Alexandra, Moscow.
Answer: Good afternoon! Anything swallowed most likely came out in vomit. If there was anything left in the stomach, the symptoms of mercury poisoning would occur very quickly, within an hour or two. The body itself will eliminate the minimum and relatively safe amount without consequences. Now it will be enough to rinse with soda, and check again for any cuts.
Question: It is suspected that a two-year-old child has ingested mercury. The thing is that I just discovered today: the tip of the thermometer is broken. The son became depressed, it was necessary to take the temperature and so... When this happened is unclear, last time I've been using it for over a week. Neither the tip nor the mercury is visible. What to do? Where to run? What to take? Natalia. Lyubertsy.
Answer: Hello, Natalya! The likelihood that your child swallowed it all is very low. In this case, there would be serious symptoms of mercury poisoning ( heat, asphyxia, vomiting), which occur immediately in children - in the first hours after poisoning. If you don’t find liquid metal spilling from the thermometer right now, it means it has spread throughout the apartment. Call specialists as quickly as possible.
Question: A child was measuring the temperature in bed and broke the thermometer. The tip itself was knocked off, and it was never found. But, in my opinion, all the mercury remained in the thermometer itself. Or could it be in the tip? Elya.
Answer: Dear Elya! Be sure to find and collect all the mercury - there is always more of it in the tip. This is very important and serious, after all, dangerous! Apparently something got into the bed. Inspect everything carefully. First, the most depressed places, recesses, then - under the mattress. Look around the room. If you don’t find it yourself, call specialists. This is, in any case, more correct.
Question: The thermometer fell and broke while it was in a closed plastic case. The case was not damaged or opened. What is the probability that the mercury leaked? Michael.
Answer: Good afternoon! Most likely it didn't leak. Just look at everything very carefully.
Question: Greetings! Spent it on supposedly safe thermometer, covered protective film, which should prevent splashing of mercury. It turned out to be defective. It looks intact, but upon first use - shaking - mercury ended up on my hands, table and other surfaces. I immediately washed my hands and face with soap, and treated the rest with potassium permanganate. I cleaned without a mask. Could I have been poisoned? Zhanna.
Answer: Good afternoon! If you do not feel any obvious worsening of your condition, you are unlikely to be harmed. It is best to measure the mercury vapor in your home to make sure there is no danger.
Question: I always thought that in order to protect yourself and your children from mercury from a broken thermometer, you just need to carefully collect everything with a wet rag, flush the mercury down the toilet, wash the floor with bleach, some kind of Domestic Cleaner, and ventilate it. Is not it? Evgenia.
Answer: Good afternoon. No, that’s not true, these measures are not enough to completely disinfect the premises from the effects of mercury contamination. Moreover, it was impossible to collect mercury with a rag and flush it down the toilet.
Question: Is mercury - about one gram - in a garbage pit next to my garden very bad? Yulia Semenovna.
Answer: Hello! Nothing good for sure. In any case, waste from this pit cannot be taken for composting.
Question: What if the mercury balls are from broken thermometer rolled into the cracks of the parquet? We tried bleach and potassium permanganate - the mercury did not dissolve. Zoya.
Answer: Good afternoon! To prevent fumes from rolling balls, you can, of course, cover the cracks using parquet putty. But it is better to call demercurization specialists, because it would be better to completely get rid of mercury in the room and possible chronic poisoning with its vapors.
Question: How to remove mercury from metal surface? From the car wash, for example? I heard that it is very difficult...
Alexey, Lyubertsy.
Answer: It is indeed not easy to remove mercury from metal, but it is not impossible. Use bleach - see instructions above.
Question: Will the background from mercury vapor from a broken medical thermometer remain and for how long if the cleaning was carried out according to all the rules? Is it possible to walk on the floor barefoot? Gregory, Zelenograd.
Answer: The “background” from mercury vapor decreases to normal very quickly, but only if it was really removed “properly.” It's better to call specialists. But you shouldn’t walk barefoot at all - flat feet develop.
Question: My wife washed mercury with bleach for two days. The apartment stank beyond belief. What to do now? Igor.
Answer: Wash the floor with detergent or soap solution, ventilate the apartment thoroughly and continue to live in peace. For complete peace of mind, you can call our specialist to check the premises for the presence of harmful fumes.
Question: A month after contamination with mercury in the children's room, the vapor value in the air is 240. Is this dangerous? Albina.
Answer: Indicators above 300 ng/cubic meter are considered dangerous. In your case there should be no poisoning.
Question: What to do if mercury gets into the kettle? Hermann. Balashikha.
Answer: If you are not ready to just throw away this kettle, remove the mercury from it, rinse it, use an oxidizing agent and rinse it again with potassium permanganate. Only after this can the kettle be used for its intended purpose again. And it’s better not to take risks.
Question: What consequences can happen if you drink tea twice from a teapot in which a broken teapot was discovered? mercury thermometer? Vyacheslav.
Answer: It’s good that only twice. Mercury does not dissolve in water. But there may be salts in the water. Theoretically, the dose received should not be dangerous, but we advise you to drink more milk and take enterosgel. At the first symptoms of poisoning, consult a doctor.
Question: I discovered a tiny crack on the thermometer. Could mercury have leaked out even if it wasn't visible?
Tatiana.
Answer: No, this is hardly possible. But it is better to immediately hand over such a thermometer to a recycling facility.
Question: Good evening! How dangerous is a broken thermometer for people and pets? What if you collected everything, threw it away, washed the floor and ventilated the apartment? Ella.
Answer: It is not a broken thermometer that is dangerous, but mercury vapor. Without monitoring their concentration and identifying all outbreaks in the apartment, I can’t say anything accurate.
Question: Hello! I have been having health problems for several months now, recently my hair started falling out a lot. I read that similar symptoms can occur with mercury vapor poisoning and remembered: about a year ago in the office, right next to my workplace, an ordinary medical thermometer was broken. Special cleaning, of course, no one did, but it seems like everything was collected with a vacuum cleaner and with tape. What should I do? Aglaya. Mytishchi.
Ecologist's answer: See a doctor as soon as possible. If the majority of the mercury has actually been removed from the office, poisoning is unlikely, but still possible, unfortunately. You need to have your blood tested for mercury. In addition, it could be another disease; it is better to start treating it earlier.
Question: How and with what devices do they monitor mercury vapor in a residential area? Galina. Moscow.
Answer: The procedure begins with measuring the concentration of mercury in the air. To do this, use a gas analyzer, also known as a universal mercury meter complex. This device measures the air in different areas of the room. And then, using the attachments of the same complex, they find the source of infection, i.e. mercury spill sites. You can call our employee, see instructions.
Comments (27)
My daughter decided to heat a thermometer in a glass of tea, it burst. The mercury immediately appeared at the bottom. Frightened, she poured everything into the sink, but it wasn’t my fault that she poured a new one and drank 1-2 sips... Will there be evaporation and will her daughter be poisoned?
My sister broke the thermometer in the thermal kettle, what should I do? I pulled the mercury out of there, but it’s possible that small balls got into some crevice!!! How to disinfect it 100%? Is it possible to drink tea from this teapot??
Hello! My thermometer fell into a glass of water (boiling water), and when I pulled it out, the tip was missing. put it in a bag and tied it. The problem is that I didn’t see the mercury, maybe it didn’t leak out?! please tell me, I washed the glass with detergent, is it possible to drink from it later?
Broke the thermometer coffee table and I collected part, about a drop of mercury in 1 cm2, part fell between the armrest of the sofa and the table, then while I was collecting drops fell on the carpet, from there I collected three more small drops, then I poured a steep solution of potassium permanganate onto this area and cut out a strip of carpet, after which he left the house, leaving it to ventilate, the next day he collected 3 more tiny drops with copper wiring, treated the table and armrest with a solution of soda and soapy water, couldn’t stand it and vacuumed, I buried the vacuum cleaner, I also took out the bedspreads and children’s toys, they were lying nearby. How much do you need to ventilate and not live in an apartment? Children are small, it’s scary, maybe throw out the whole sofa and carpet, not an oligarch, but health is more important, and how much mercury is in a thermometer in cm square? to know approximately whether you collected everything?? And how much is left?
People, why do you feel sorry for the teapot and mug? and health? We don’t have any disinformation in our city. services, I’m thinking about throwing out the furniture and the 20 sq. m. carpet. and invite measurers, where can you find them? how to measure the background, experts?
Tell me, please, how many days later does the victim die?
I washed everything with a rag and threw it into the garbage chute. I filled it with a special solution consisting of soap and soda, but after reading the article about what to do and what not to do, I was very scared. Tell me what to do???
The victim does not die
The outdoor thermometer was most likely alcohol rather than mercury.
Hello, I broke a thermometer while sitting on the sofa, mercury balls got on the surface of the sofa, the TV remote control and the computer mouse, and possibly on the floor on the carpet, in a state of shock I grabbed a vacuum cleaner and vacuumed everything. And later I read that this was impossible to do. I treated everything, including the vacuum cleaner, with a solution of potassium permanganate and threw the bag out of the vacuum cleaner. and washed the linen from the sofa. The question is whether it is possible to use a vacuum cleaner, bed linen where mercury spilled and whether it is now dangerous to be in this room.
Hello! I am an 11-year-old child. I broke a thermometer when I was alone at home. Stupid me, I vacuumed it later. In the evening, my mother asked me: I admitted that I had broken the box in the bathroom and said that I had vacuumed everything. Mom yelled at me and called a technician now to clean the vacuum cleaner. Is it dangerous? Even after cleaning, should you throw away the vacuum cleaner?
Good afternoon. I collected everything I could with a piece of paper, but also vacuumed it just in case. I threw away the filter from the vacuum cleaner. The floor was washed with bleach. There are no gaps in the floor. I'm interested in this question: what to do with a vacuum cleaner? Is it possible to continue using it? Thanks in advance for your answer.
When I was shaking the thermometer, I hit my nail and it broke. The mercury was collected with paper, wrapped in a bag and thrown into the garbage chute, you are not sure that you threw out all of it, what should you do? The room was locked, the windows were opened and the gap under the door was covered with rags. I touched the mercury with my finger but soon washed it off. walked barefoot on the floor. It seems like he didn’t step on the balls, but stepped on the fragments. what to do next if suddenly you haven’t collected everything, can toxic fumes be absorbed into the clothes that are lying there???
It is advisable to process everything as written in the link above. If not everything has been collected, couples can influence.
They broke the thermometer. Vacuumed, not sure if they collected everything, stayed to sleep in this apartment, didn’t wash the floors. What to do??? There is a cat, but we can’t close the room because it happened in the living room.
good afternoon, please tell me what to do? we smashed it right onto the blanket, and I started collecting the mercury with my hands, I couldn’t collect everything, but a small ball fell on my palm, even the gold ring that was on my finger turned a little white, then I shook out the whole blanket through the window, tell me what danger can be expected when the poison comes into contact with your hand? thanks in advance.
Wash your hand and forget. Nothing will happen.
I broke the thermometer in the kitchen. She quickly opened the window. I removed the mercury with cotton wool. I put everything in a jar.
I walked around with wet gauze and bags (there were no shoe covers or gloves at home). I washed everything with soap and soda, and then potassium permanganate and poured salt into the cracks. Can mercury be absorbed into food on the table? Could I have been poisoned?
(I am 12 years old)
It could not be absorbed into the food. You did everything right. Now we need to ventilate the kitchen every day.
Please help, particles of mercury ended up in the toy basket. I ventilate as best I can, since the window in this room does not open. I washed the toys, now the floor is with bleach. Tell me, is this enough?
Check again to see if there is any mercury left in the crevices of the basket, toys, or floor. And follow the instructions, everything is written there.
Hello, today the thermometer in the toilet was broken. But they immediately collected it with a vacuum cleaner. Tell me, is it possible to get poisoned by mercury? And what should we do anyway?
Help, I was shaking the thermometer and broke it, they collected the mercury, my mother collected it, we threw it in a trash can. I then took out the bucket and what could happen. Christina
fell, the street thermometer broke on the street. Frost: 13 degrees. What needs to be done, please tell me? Tatyana
Good afternoon 2 weeks ago I accidentally broke a thermometer on the bed (I sat on it). I immediately collected the balls with a wet rag, threw the sheet into the wash, but it turned out that I didn’t collect everything! I noticed balls on the mattress. IN urgently Vacuumed them all. I read that you should never vacuum vacuum. What to do? Could the balls have leaked into the mattress? And what to do with the vacuum cleaner? I've already washed it. Maybe it's stuck somewhere in the filter? Help! I'm worried there's a baby in the room!
If possible, call specialists to check the concentration of mercury vapor in the room, incl. while the vacuum cleaner is running. You can also check your washing machine. If you do not have such specialists, then simply ventilate the room sufficiently, especially after collecting dust with a vacuum cleaner.
Or throw away the vacuum cleaner.
Home is cozy and safe – but, unfortunately, not always. Even the most convenient things in everyday life can become a source of health hazards. For example, if a thermometer breaks at home, and you do not take immediate measures to collect mercury from the carpet, then both the carpet itself and the entire room become a source of toxic fumes. Moreover, collecting mercury from the carpet and forgetting about it is not enough: toxic droplets of metal instantly spread across the floor, and their fumes scatter throughout the room. This is especially dangerous in homes where there are children, animals, and anywhere where you don’t want to feel protected.
There is only one solution: remove mercury from the carpet as soon as possible, without waiting for the doctors to visit you in an ambulance. It won’t hurt to call specialists, but first you need to find, collect and, if possible, neutralize the mercury from the broken thermometer yourself. It's not that difficult, but it's vitally important, no exaggeration. Because this is the only way to prevent mercury poisoning and its consequences for all household members. So don’t panic, don’t waste time and get down to business, and we’ll tell you in detail why it’s so important and exactly how to collect mercury from the carpet safely and quickly.
What happens if the thermometer breaks? Why is mercury from a thermometer dangerous?
There is a mercury thermometer in every home. Even if you had the foresight to buy an electronic thermometer, it is possible that the old mercury thermometer is also lying around somewhere and is waiting in the wings: when the batteries in the new digital device run out and you decide to measure the temperature the old-fashioned way. After all, filling a thermometer with mercury is very old idea, which was used back in the Middle Ages, based on the ability of a liquid to expand and contract with changing conditions environment. And mercury was perfectly suited for this purpose: it is the only metal that exists in liquid state of aggregation over a wide range of temperatures, including room temperature.
At the same time, unlike water, alcohol and other liquids, mercury does not freeze until it cools down to -38°C, and this, you see, does not happen often. But in addition to all these advantages, mercury also has other features that must be taken into account in everyday life: 
But it’s not just a medical thermometer that hides a potential threat. There are other items, devices and substances in our homes that contain mercury. These are gas discharge fluorescent lamps, quartz irradiators and some energy-saving lamps, medications and even amalgam dental fillings. The latter are unlikely to pose a real threat, but all other household sources of mercury may be damaged.
Demercurization at home. What to do if the thermometer breaks?
Demercurization is the removal and neutralization of mercury wherever it has been released. In residential premises, this is done by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and it is they who need to call 101 if a thermometer bursts and/or mercury spills in your house. But before the specialists arrive at your address, hurry to collect the mercury yourself. It is especially important to remove mercury from the carpet, rug and/or bedspread, where its drops can easily get lost among the pile: 
While cleaning mercury, take regular breaks and go out for a breath at least every 15-20 minutes fresh air, drink water. Drinking water is also important because mercury compounds are excreted from the body in urine. In the coming days, monitor your health and ventilate the room in which the thermometer broke every day for at least two weeks.
What should you not do when collecting mercury from a carpet, rug or floor?
Until recently, medical mercury thermometers had no alternative, so they broke quite often, and the danger of mercury infection, as well as advice on cleaning it at home, became surrounded by many stereotypes, including very harmful ones. We are talking about what you absolutely cannot do if you have to remove mercury from a carpet or any other covering:
- You should not collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner unless you are prepared to immediately destroy the vacuum cleaner afterwards. Although in this case, cleaning the carpet from mercury with a vacuum cleaner is prohibited for obvious reasons: household appliance heats up and enhances the evaporation process of mercury, and the return air outlet blows these toxic vapors out. And even in a landfill, such a vacuum cleaner will continue to contaminate the surrounding area.
- You should not throw mercury into the trash, where nothing prevents it from evaporating and from where it will move into the garbage chute, bins and garbage dumps and continue to poison the air. For the same reason, give up the idea of flushing collected mercury down the toilet, sewer, throwing it from a balcony, out of a window, etc.
- You cannot sweep mercury from the carpet with a broom or large brush, because their individual hard rods will not be collected, but will only crush mercury drops, turning them into small particles that are very difficult to clean.
- Do not wash a carpet, bedspread, or clothing that has been in contact with mercury in washing machine. If you are not ready to throw these things away, then it is better to hand wash them in a solution of soap, soda or detergent containing chlorine, rinse with a solution of potassium permanganate.
Even the most thorough removal of mercury from a broken thermometer does not eliminate the need to monitor the health of all household members, and for preventive purposes, take an activated carbon tablet for every 10 kg of body weight in the next 3-5 days. But we sincerely hope that you can quickly collect all the mercury from the carpet and protect yourself and your loved ones from poisoning. Be careful and healthy!
We still have mercury thermometers in our homes. Few housewives trust their electronic counterparts. Therefore, the question of how to collect mercury at home if the thermometer is accidentally broken still remains relevant.
Assembling houses
Liquid mercury is a strong poison. At a temperature of 16–20 degrees it begins to evaporate quite quickly. If you constantly breathe mercury vapor, it will gradually accumulate in the body. In addition, many people admit serious mistakes, not knowing how to properly collect mercury.
Flowing from the thermometer, the liquid metal appears as hundreds of very small silvery balls. They can spread throughout the apartment. Some balls will break, turning into fine dust, which will settle on all objects in the room.
Be sure to open the window - you need to ventilate the room from harmful fumes. This will need to be done throughout the week, while avoiding drafts.
When starting to collect harmful metal, make sure that you are wearing latex gloves. Put shoe covers on your feet, and if you don’t have them, wrap regular bags around your shoes.
Don't forget also about a damp gauze bandage that will cover your nose and mouth tightly enough. This will help you avoid inhaling mercury fumes.
Never collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner. You should also not use a broom. It will only crush mercury balls.
There are several reasons for this:
- The liquid metal will settle on the internal parts of the vacuum cleaner, making it a mercury distributor.
- By heating up, the vacuum cleaner will only increase harmful fumes.
- If you use a vacuum cleaner or broom, mercury will spread throughout the room even faster.
Then a logical question arises: how to collect mercury from the floor.
How to do it right
You can collect mercury balls with an adhesive plaster, tape, syringe or wet paper. From my own experience, it is best to use adhesive tape.
You can also use a soft brush: sweep the mercury balls onto a piece of paper.
Place all used material, broken thermometer, and rubber gloves in a jar filled with water. Carefully close the container with a lid.
Remember, mercury should not be thrown away with garbage or washed down the drain. This is very dangerous for the environment.
After all the mercury has been collected, the room must be washed with any disinfectant. This could be a solution of potassium permanganate, chloramine, or bleach.
As a last resort regular will do soap solution. With these products you need to wash not only the floor, but also the walls of the room where the thermometer was broken.
Mercury on the carpet
Sometimes a thermometer can break on the carpet. What to do to collect mercury from the carpet?
First of all, you need to roll the rug from the edges to the center. This is done so that the balls do not scatter throughout the room. For the same purpose carpet covering must be placed in polyethylene or packaging film.
Hang the carpet product outside, but before doing this, do not forget to put cellophane under it. Knock out the carpet with gentle blows and leave it to freshen up for a while.
Remember, carpeting and things that contained mercury must be aired for 3 months.
Clothes should never be machine washed. It will be better if you get rid of such things.
Finally, a few tips:
- After you have collected all the mercury and cleaned the room, invite special services to your home to check the level of mercury vapor concentration.
- Use carefully ferric chloride to treat the room. This chemical compound in itself is quite toxic.
- The process of collecting mercury can take a long time, so stop every 10 to 15 minutes and drink plenty of fluids.
- One thermometer contains about 2 grams of mercury, which can pollute 6 thousand cubic meters of air. Therefore, do not throw away mercury with regular trash.
Be careful with items containing mercury. If possible, it is better to replace them with safer analogues.
Mercury is a silvery-white liquid metal whose vapors are extremely poisonous. Until the 70s, its compounds were actively used in medicine. Due to its high toxicity, it has practically ceased to be used in the production of medicines.
Mercury is still used to make medical thermometers. The reservoir with mercury is placed in a hermetically sealed tube narrowed on one side. Upon contact with the skin, it begins to heat up, and the mercury expands and rises. When the temperature reaches its maximum, the substance freezes at a certain point.
A thermometer is a fairly fragile device, so it can easily break if handled incorrectly. In this case, it is necessary to carry out demercurization - to collect mercury with its further neutralization and elimination of contamination.
You can collect mercury using different items:
- Paper, cotton wool or brush. Using a sheet, mercury is driven into one ball (they merge). Then large balls are pushed onto a sheet of paper with a brush or cotton wool and placed in a jar with a specially prepared solution.
- Syringe or syringe. To collect mercury from a broken thermometer, a syringe held in the hand is brought to the substance and the grip is slightly loosened, sucking it inside. Then the mercury along with the pear is dipped into a disinfecting solution.
- Scotch tape or adhesive tape. They help collect even small balls of mercury and glass fragments. To do this, tape or adhesive tape is glued to the surface where the thermometer broke, then removed and placed in a jar with a solution.
- Thin knitting needle. It is used if mercury gets into hard to reach places, and it needs to be removed from there.
- Flashlight. It is used to inspect the surface where the mercury was located, as well as hard-to-reach places in the reach zone.
Mercury evaporates quickly, so its collection cannot be delayed. Before you start cleaning, you need to change into old clothes, put on rubber slippers or protect your shoes with shoe covers (plastic bags). Rubber gloves are put on your hands (it is better to use medical ones, since delicate manipulations in household gloves are inconvenient).
The face must be protected with a mask or respirator. You can make your own mask from several layers of gauze or cotton fabric. Before applying it to your face, you can moisten it in a soda solution.
If a mercury thermometer breaks in a living room, it is necessary to remove children, elderly people and animals from the room, close the door tightly and open the window, collect the fragments of the thermometer and place them in a container with a specially prepared solution.
All items that may have been exposed to mercury must be collected. You can use a flashlight, the beam of which is directed along the surface, inspecting cracks and irregularities. In this case, the metallic shine of the balls becomes noticeable.
If the thermometer breaks on the bed, first of all, you need to collect the mercury and place it in a container with a disinfecting solution. Bed sheets collected and disposed of.
You should collect mercury from the floor, place it in a container with a solution and close the lid tightly. Mechanical collection should begin from the periphery to the center, this will avoid increasing the contaminated area.
Places where mercury is found should be noted. This will help prevent it from getting on your shoes. If there is a suspicion that mercury has got under the linoleum, laminate or baseboard, it is recommended to remove them and carefully inspect the areas.
After the mercury has been collected, you need to wash the floor with special solutions. Near the threshold you should lay a rag soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate or bleach. This will prevent the spread of mercury throughout the apartment.
After finishing cleaning, you need to take off your clothes, mask, gloves, bags, shoe covers, and place them in plastic bag and tie it tightly, take a shower. You can find out where to hand over the jar with its contents, as well as things that have been in contact with mercury, to the Ministry of Emergency Situations by calling 101 or +7 (495) 983–79–01.
Clothing that was demercurized can be saved. But it needs to be washed several times in a soap-soda solution and left outside or in a non-residential building for 2-3 months. Under no circumstances should you wash items suspected of being contaminated with mercury in a washing machine.
How to collect mercury from a carpet or bed
If the thermometer breaks on the carpet, you need to collect the mercury using one of the above methods. Then the affected surface is treated with soda or soap solution.
You should stop using these things for a while. The carpet is taken out to non-residential premises or outside and left for a period of 1 to 3 months. You should not place it on the balcony where one of the family members often goes out. Then the carpet must be dry cleaned.
If the thermometer breaks on the bed, first of all, you need to collect the mercury and place it in a container with a disinfecting solution. Bed linen is collected and disposed of.
Solutions for demercurization
To avoid evaporation collected mercury, it must be placed in a special solution. Solutions are also used to clean contaminated surfaces. They are applied using a rag, brush or spray.
At home, you can prepare several solutions for demercurization.
Potassium permanganate solution (potassium permanganate)
When preparing the product from powder, you need to focus on the color of the solution - it should be very rich, dark purple. Potassium permanganate for demercurization can be diluted both cold and hot water. For two liters ready solution add a tablespoon of salt and the same amount of acetic acid or rust remover.
For temporary storage of mercury, the solution is poured into three liter jar, filling 2/3 of the volume with it, and tightly close the lid.
The product is also applied to the contaminated area and left for 1-2 hours, periodically moistening with water. It must be remembered that the solution can leave permanent stains on the floor, clothing and furniture, so it must be used with caution.
Bleach solution
To prepare the solution, you can use either dry powder or “Whiteness”. Dissolve 1 liter of product in 5 liters of water. The resulting solution is used to wash the contaminated surface. Special attention pay attention to cracks and baseboards. After a quarter of an hour, the solution is washed off with clean water.
The contaminated area is treated with a bleach solution at least three times, and the room must be well ventilated.
Soap and soda solution
To prepare a solution for demercurization, dissolve 50 g of soap and 50 g of soda in 1 liter of warm water. This remedy can be used both initial stage cleaning, and after applying potassium permanganate.
Why are mercury vapors dangerous?
One thermometer contains 2 g of mercury. This amount is not enough to cause serious poisoning. But if you do not collect mercury on time, prolonged inhalation of vapors can lead to the development of the following pathologies:
- Irregularities at work nervous system(hand trembling, insomnia, decreased attention, memory impairment, depression).
- Impaired kidney and liver function.
- Damage to the thyroid gland.
- Disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system (tachycardia, bradycardia, arrhythmia).
- Irregularities at work respiratory system(shortness of breath, bronchospasm, pneumonia).
If a pregnant woman inhales mercury vapor, pathologies may develop in the fetus.
If a mercury thermometer breaks in a living room, it is necessary to remove children, elderly people and animals from the room, close the door tightly and open the window, collect the fragments of the thermometer and place them in a container with a specially prepared solution.
Precautions when collecting mercury
If a thermometer has been broken in the room, it is strictly not recommended:
- Using a vacuum cleaner. Often the first reaction to a broken thermometer is the desire to collect the mercury with a vacuum cleaner. This can cause the substance to break down into tiny particles and be released into the air through the outlet of the filter system. After this, the vacuum cleaner will have to be disposed of. You can also remove the filter, corrugated hose and dust bag and dispose of them. The vacuum cleaner itself needs to be taken out to open air or to non-residential premises for 2–3 months.
- Using a broom. In this case, the mercury balls will become smaller and begin to evaporate faster. It will be almost impossible to collect mercury.
- Flushing mercury down the drain. Since mercury is heavier than water, it is unlikely to be completely washed down the drain. In most cases, it settles in the knees. In this case, it is recommended to disassemble them, and if mercury balls are found, pour them into a jar of potassium permanganate, which is then handed over for disposal.
- Use a wet rag to collect mercury. During such cleaning, mercury is smeared, which leads to rapid evaporation and contamination of the room.
- Ventilate the room before the mercury is collected. In this case, the likelihood that mercury will leak into other rooms increases.
- "Freezing the premises." During the cold season, it is not recommended to leave the room wide open. open window. At low temperatures, the volatility of mercury drops sharply, so it is removed from the room more slowly. Ideal option there is a slightly open window.
- Using a magnet to collect mercury. Mercury is a diamagnetic substance (substances that are magnetized against the direction of the external magnetic field), therefore this cleaning method should not be used.
If one of your family members has symptoms such as dizziness, headache, metallic taste in the mouth, nausea, vomiting, pain when swallowing, or lack of appetite, you should seek help from a doctor. You also need to contact the laboratory service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations so that they can measure the concentration of mercury vapor in an apartment or house.
If mercury scatters around the room, gets into cracks or under the baseboard, it is unlikely that you will be able to remove it yourself, so you need to immediately contact the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Until specialists arrive, it is necessary to restrict access to the room.
It is important to remember that properly collected and disposed of mercury from a broken thermometer will protect loved ones from the danger of poisoning.
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