How to collect mercury if a thermometer crashes at home?

How to collect mercury if a thermometer crashes at home? - This issue is very important and quite relevant for a long period of time. Despite new technologies and safe, modern electronic thermometers, many remain true to thermometers with mercury. In this article, we will consider all the rules for behavior in unforeseen situations and the disposal of mercury balls.

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What is a mercury thermometer?

Why in the modern world they still use such a dangerous thing and keep it at home, because there are infrared and electronic devices that are completely safe? The thing is that mercury thermometers have a number of advantages compared to all innovative technologies.

Advantages of a mercury thermometer:

• A medical device is the most accurate. Its performance is considered to be the closest to that of the reference gas thermometer.
• A wide range of ambient temperatures at which the thermometer correctly measures body temperature. This is possible due to the special properties of liquid metal: freeze at very low, and melt at very high temperature.

Important! Even in extreme conditions, measuring the body temperature with a mercury thermometer is not difficult.

• Due to the fact that the device can be easily disinfected by immersing it completely in a special solution, it is often used in medical and health care facilities.
• The cost of the device is low and affordable for everyone, which today is especially important for many.
• Indisputable advantages are also simplicity and ease of use.

Important! Find out, how much mercury is in a mercury thermometerhow dangerous is its concentration.

Unfortunately, the mercury device also has drawbacks, one of which crosses out all its advantages and makes the thermometer an undesirable item in a home medicine cabinet.

Disadvantages of a mercury thermometer:

• To measure body temperature accurately, you should give this process from 5 to 10 minutes, which is not very convenient.
• The glass cone is very thin and can easily break due to mechanical contact with a solid surface. In this case, mercury, which spreads over considerable distances, quickly turns into toxic and poisonous vapor. The consequences of such an accident (and what happened in another way can not be called) can even lead to death.

By the way, many have already switched to using less accurate, but safer thermometers and completely abandoned mercury thermometers. But if you are not one of these people, then you must have information on how to remove mercury from a broken thermometer at home.

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The consequences of a broken mercury thermometer

Mercury is a liquid metal and it looks truly beautiful. But appearances are often deceiving. Metal belongs to the first class of especially harmful substances. Already at an air temperature of 18 degrees mercury evaporates, infecting the air with harmful toxins.

Important! Evaporation of the entire volume of mercury from a thermometer leads to an excess of the concentration of maximum permissible norms by more than two million times. This is the main reason why you need to know how to collect mercury if the thermometer crashes at home.

Inhaling contaminated air, a person can get serious health problems:

• Headache;
• Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
• Problems associated with kidney function;
• Stomatitis;
• Decreased hemoglobin in the blood;
• Dermatitis of varying complexity;
• Arrhythmia;
• Visual impairment;
• Cramps
• An unstable mental state.

The first signs of mercury poisoning

If you did not manage to collect mercury as soon as possible, if the thermometer crashed at home, you can feel such ailments:

• General weakness, drowsiness, fatigue;
• Headache;
• Irritability;
• Dizziness and nausea;
• Loss of appetite;
• Trembling hands and feet;
• Increased sweating.

If the poisoning is severe, then the following symptoms may be added to the described symptoms:

• Metallic taste in the mouth;
• Pain when swallowing;
• Bleeding gums;
• Fever;
• Runny nose
• Diarrhea;
• Confusion and inadequate perception of reality.

Important! It is worth knowing that mercury vapor poisoning may not occur immediately. If you hesitated and could not immediately collect the mercury when the thermometer crashed at home, the consequences of this nature are quite possible:

• acute type of poisoning can be felt a couple of hours after inhaling air with fumes;
• chronic - only after a few years.

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Prohibited actions in an accident with a mercury thermometer

Panic, people do not think about how to collect mercury from a broken thermometer at home correctly, and begin to do completely forbidden actions, which only worsen the overall picture. Therefore, first of all, we will indicate what you can’t do:

• Under no circumstances should you touch the droplets of mercury with your bare hands.
• It is forbidden to throw particles of a broken thermometer into a garbage chute or trash.

Important! Two grams of mercury available in the thermometer can pollute six thousand cubic meters of air.

• In order to collect mercury faster if the thermometer crashes, it is forbidden to drain the remaining mercury into the sewer, since liquid metal settles in the pipes, and it is impossible to extract it from there.
• Do not vacuum up mercury. The use of such a technique will only help the metal evaporate faster and blow the vapor around the apartment. The vacuum cleaner, in addition, after collecting the mercury will have to be discarded, as it will become dangerous for residents.
• It is forbidden to use a broom during the collection of mercury. Thus, you only break the balls with rods and contribute to their speedy evaporation.
• The collection of liquid metal by a magnet will only lead to the opposite effect. Rather, mercury will repel from the magnet rather than attract. This is due to the very weak magnetic field of the liquid metal.
• Do not wash - both by hand and in the washing machine, clothes and shoes that come in contact with mercury.
• It is forbidden to open simultaneously the windows and doors in the room where the incident occurred. Draft will contribute to the rapid evaporation of metal.

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How to remove mercury from the floor from a thermometer at home? Preparatory work

The main rule in eliminating the problem is to maintain sobriety of the mind. Do not panic. Keep calm. If you do everything calmly and correctly, then the terrible consequences can be avoided.

First steps:

1. First of all, take older people, pregnant women, children and animals out of the apartment.
2. Close the door to the room where the trouble occurred, open the window. Make sure there is no draft.
3. Prepare a lamp or flashlight to better see all the grains.
4. Remove fragments of a thermometer from surfaces.

Equipment

Be sure to take care of your safety. To do this, you will need:

1. Latex gloves. Protect your hands, as harmful metal can be absorbed into the body through the pores of the skin.
2. Respirator. This item is required to protect the respiratory system. You can replace it with a cotton-gauze dressing soaked in an aqueous-soda solution.
3. Shoe covers. To prevent mercury from getting on your shoes and spreading it around the house, put shoe covers or thick plastic bags on your feet.

How to collect mercury from the floor from a thermometer?

The following items will help you quickly and completely remove mercury from a thermometer:

• Rubber syringe;
• Knitting needles;
• Copper plate;
• Syringe;
• Wet cotton;
• Patch;
• Scotch;
• Wet newspaper;
• Brush for painting;
• Glass jar filled with water.

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How to collect mercury from the floor if a thermometer crashes. Cleaning steps

Having performed the first steps, protecting yourself from direct contact with mercury and having prepared everything you need, you can start the most important question: how to collect mercury from the floor from the thermometer correctly so that nothing remains. The whole process is divided into three stages:

1. Demercurization is the collection of all metal balls.
2. Chemical demercurization - cleaning the premises with disinfectants.
3. Appeal to the Ministry of Emergencies.

Demercurization:

1. Use a lamp or flashlight to illuminate the scene. Carefully inspect all surfaces.

Important! If mercury got on soft toys or clothes, then the best option would be to put them in a plastic bag and throw them in the trash. If the objects are very dear to you, then take them out carefully to the street so that all the remnants of mercury from them evaporate.

2. Start collecting with large balls. Thus, you will avoid their subsequent division into smaller elements. To do this, bend a sheet of thick paper into the shape of a scoop and use a knitting needle or copper plate to collect mercury droplets into it.
3. Gently mercury balls close to each other, carefully slide into one heap so that they reunite.
4. Collect small droplets using tape or adhesive.
5. You can remove mercury from a thermometer from hard-to-reach places (crevices on the floor and furniture) using a cotton swab dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate. A syringe with a thick needle may also be useful in this case.
6. To collect mercury from the carpet, if a thermometer crashes, a syringe will help. After this, the carpet should be taken out to fresh air so that all remaining microparticles are completely weathered.
7. Dip all the particles that were collected into a jar of water. All materials used during harvesting are also collected there: cotton wool, adhesive tape, adhesive, cotton buds. After removing all residual accident, the bank needs to be tightly closed.

Important! Water will prevent the evaporation of mercury and its spread through the air.

8. Place all items of equipment and tools in a bag, tie it tightly. The package can be thrown into the trash.

Important! The entire process of demercurization can take several hours. During it, you should take breaks - every 15 minutes to go out into the fresh air. So you can further protect yourself from poisoning by harmful fumes.

Chemical demercurization

For further processing, a disinfectant solution should be prepared. You can use one of the following recipes.

Solution No. 1:

1. Stir a few crystals of potassium permanganate with water. The liquid should have a dark brown color.
2. Add salt and vinegar to the solution, taking into account the proportion: 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of brown liquid.
3. Pour a pinch of citric acid and mix the solution thoroughly to completely dissolve all the ingredients.

Solution No. 2:

1. In 5 liters of water, dilute 1 liter of bleach.
2. You can also use any chlorine bleach and mix it with water in a ratio of 100 ml to 800 ml, respectively.

Important! A similar solution can not be processed wallpaper and laminate, as this will permanently ruin the material. It is, by and large, used in public institutions such as a kindergarten, hospital or school.

Solution No. 3:

1. Dissolve 40 g of soap and 50 g of soda in 1 liter of water.
2. Stir the ingredients thoroughly until each is completely dissolved.

How to remove mercury from the floor if a thermometer crashes? Disinfect the room:

1. Wear rubber gloves.
2. Treat all surfaces in the room with a soft cloth dampened in the prepared solution.

Important! Particular attention should be paid to cracks on the floor and furniture, skirting boards.

3. After 8 hours, wipe all treated surfaces with a cloth dampened with clean water.

Important! After treatment with a chlorine-containing solution, wipe the surface with clean water after 20 minutes.

4. After processing, the room must be ventilated for at least 2-3 hours.
5. Throughout the week after the incident in the apartment it is necessary to carry out daily wet cleaning.

Actions after removing the remains of a broken thermometer

Once you have finished cleaning the apartment, you should take care of the collected residues:

1. Call 101 and find out in which place it will be possible to transfer the mercury drops to the bank with the mercury drops.
2. If you still have doubts about the quality of cleaning, then call the employees of the sanitary-epidemiological station. Using a special device, they will be able to measure the concentration of vapors in the air of the apartment.
3. Take care of your own health, because during cleaning even in equipment there is a chance to get poisoning. For this:
   • Rinse your mouth thoroughly with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
   • Brush your teeth.
   • Drink a few tablets of activated carbon.
   • The next day, drink as much liquid as possible: tea, juice, compote, water, coffee.

Important! If a child has managed to swallow a drop of mercury, do not panic. Mercury balls are not absorbed by the intestines and are excreted without any problems with feces.

After you eliminate the consequences of a home accident, it's time to think about buying a safer device. Read detailed reviews:

• Infrared thermometer - what is it, how does it work?
• Mercury or electronic thermometer - which is better?

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Stock footage

Knowing how to collect mercury if a thermometer crashes, you are somewhat protected from the disastrous effects of poisoning by harmful toxins. But only to some extent. The best option would be a complete rejection of unsafe objects for measuring body temperature and the use of alternative instruments. Situations with a broken thermometer cannot be foreseen, nor are the consequences of such a nuisance. Secure your home, especially if there are children in it.