It is useful for everyone to know what to do if a thermometer has broken, how to quickly remove mercury so as not to spoil your own health. A thermometer is an irreplaceable thing, but at the same time it is also very dangerous, since there is mercury inside. This device has a lot of useful properties and in just a few minutes it helps to determine the presence of temperature. But you need to use a mercury thermometer with extreme caution, since the escaped mercury balls are a serious threat not only to health, but also to the environment. That is why it is useful for everyone to know what to do if a thermometer breaks, how to collect mercury.
Probably, a thermometer once broke in every family, but few people know how to properly dispose of a damaged thermometer with a mercury tip. Someone is trying to collect the elusive mercury balls with a vacuum cleaner, while someone flushes them down the toilet or just throws them into the trash can. Of course, there are many and varied options for disposal of mercury residues, but they are all incorrect and unsafe. In fact, getting rid of the remnants of a mercury thermometer is quite simple, the main thing is to know a few important rules.
What can not be done if the thermometer breaks?
This trouble can happen for a variety of reasons, but you need to know what actions are strictly prohibited if the thermometer breaks, so as not to aggravate an already difficult situation.
So, if a thermometer crashed and mercury scattered, you can't:
- To make a draft, since mercury can scatter throughout the apartment and it will be much harder to collect it.
- Collect mercury balls with a broom, because they can get stuck in the rods or scatter into small ones, which as a result will provoke a more severe toxic contamination of the apartment.
- It is forbidden to throw fragments of a thermometer into the garbage chute of a multi-storey building or street garbage containers. It is important to remember that mercury vapor from one broken thermometer can pollute about 6 thousand m3 of air that people breathe.
- It is strictly forbidden to pick up mercury balls with a vacuum cleaner. The fact is that the temperature of the vacuum cleaner will provoke a stronger spread of mercury vapor throughout the apartment, and the device itself will also become a source of secondary mercury contamination. Mercury particles begin to settle on the walls of the container or fabric bag, as well as other parts of the vacuum cleaner, after which they will poison the air for a long time. If the mercury has been collected by the device, it must be disposed of, and not continued to be stored in the apartment. It is important to remember that even modern, expensive vacuum cleaners cannot completely neutralize or retain a hazardous chemical.
- It is forbidden to throw away clothes, carpets or upholstered furniture that have gotten mercury particles, as these items become life-threatening, but someone can take them for themselves or they will be placed in a municipal solid waste warehouse, where they will continue to pollute the environment. In this case, the right decision would be to call the representatives of the special service dealing with the disposal of mercury. If the remnants of mercury get on a small item, you can take it yourself to the collection point for waste containing mercury.
- Mercury balls cannot be flushed down the toilet, which also applies to fragments of a thermometer, as well as objects with which it was collected.
- It is strictly forbidden to wash things that have gotten the remnants of mercury in the washing machine. It is necessary to immediately get rid of things that have come into contact with this dangerous substance, while they should be cut so that no one takes it for themselves. It is useful to treat the product with potassium permanganate.
The consequences of a broken thermometer
Everyone knows that mercury is very dangerous to health, but few people know what the consequences of a simple thermometer can lead to. Only a dozen metal balls are not only very dangerous for humans, but also for the environment.
During breathing, fumes of mercury enter the body. Depending on how long the contact with mercury was, the severity of the condition is determined - chronic or acute form of vapor poisoning.
In a chronic form of poisoning, a person breathes in mercury vapor for several months or years. Acute poisoning develops when a person is in contact with a hazardous substance in an enclosed space for a short time, but the amount of harmful vapors in the air is very large.
As a result of contact with mercury vapors, a rather large number of negative health effects are manifested, which, as a result, can provoke the development of dangerous diseases associated with the state and work of internal organs.
The main signs of mercury vapor poisoning are:
- severe fatigue even with minimal stress;
- disorders of the heart;
- feeling sleepy;
- the work of the thyroid gland is disrupted;
- a severe headache appears, frequent dizziness worries;
- low blood pressure;
- feeling of weakness throughout the body;
- excessive sweating;
- increased urination;
- disorder of receptor activity;
- trembling limbs;
- inattention;
- memory deteriorates;
- a feeling of apathy towards everything that happens;
- the appearance of irritability or shyness.
If a thermometer crashed in an apartment, and mercury was not collected in a timely manner, it is worth remembering that in the future such an oversight can lead to serious diseases - for example, atherosclerosis, tuberculosis, liver malfunctions, hypertension, problems associated with the functioning of the gallbladder. Unlike the stronger sex, the female body reacts more sharply to mercury vapor:
- The nature of menstruation may change - for example, the discharge becomes very scarce or too abundant, the cycle may shorten or increase, etc.
- If a woman has been exposed to the negative effects of mercury vapor for a long period of time, the child born to her may have mental and physical disabilities.
- Pregnancy will be very difficult for women.
- Many women who have been in contact with mercury for a long time may face such a problem as miscarriage, the risk of premature birth, miscarriages increases, and mastopathy develops.
The consequences of contact with mercury can manifest themselves over a long period of time, so in some cases it is almost impossible to link health problems and the effect of a toxic substance. That is why it is useful for everyone to know how to properly collect mercury and dispose of its remnants with fragments of a thermometer in order to protect their own health.
Algorithm of actions if the thermometer crashed
So that mercury does not harm health, it is necessary to assemble a thermometer according to the following scheme:
- First of all, all mercury balls are collected, and you need to make sure that they do not fall into hard-to-reach places, otherwise it will be extremely difficult to remove them.
- Then the glass fragments of the broken thermometer are collected.
- All actions must be performed in the complete absence of children and pets in the room.
- During work, it is imperative to open the window so that fresh air can enter the room.
- All collected glass remains of the thermometer are placed in a glass container pre-filled with plain water.
- Then the container is tightly closed with a lid.
- This container will need to be sent to a special service that deals with the disposal of mercury.
How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer?
If the thermometer breaks through negligence, it must be remembered that the greatest danger is not the glass fragments, but the mercury balls contained in the measuring device. The most important thing is to prevent the evaporation of the poisonous substance, so you need to try to collect it as quickly as possible while it is still in a liquid state.
Collect the mercury correctly using the following tips:
- Pets and children must not be allowed into the room where the thermometer has crashed.
- A window must open in the room, but a draft must not be created so that dangerous vapors do not spread throughout the apartment.
- It is necessary to try to protect the area where the thermometer has crashed and the mercury is located, since metal balls very easily adhere to the soles of shoes and are carried throughout the apartment, and for this purpose you can use a damp cloth.
- Before you start collecting mercury, you need to take care of your own safety - you must wear rubber gloves, you need to tie a gauze bandage soaked in a solution of soda and water.
- A glass container is filled with clean water, after which all mercury balls and the remains of a broken thermometer are collected in it, since the liquid will prevent the evaporation of the hazardous substance.
- It is necessary to carefully examine the area where the thermometer crashed to determine if the metal balls have rolled into hard-to-reach places.
- After all the mercury balls and glass fragments of the thermometer are completely collected and placed in a glass container with water, it is tightly closed with a lid.
The collected mercury and glass parts of the measuring device must be taken to special places where hazardous substances are disposed of. To collect small metal balls of a dangerous poisonous substance, you can use the following tips:
- wet paper;
- syringe;
- syringe;
- plasticine;
- medical plaster or tape;
- brush for painting;
- cotton swabs pre-moistened with water.
Treatment of the room after damage to the thermometer
It is imperative to properly process the room in which the mercury has broken in order to minimize the risk to health. For this purpose, you can use potassium permanganate.
A concentrated solution is made of potassium permanganate powder, which should have a deep red color. Then table salt (1 tbsp) and citric or acetic acid (1 tbsp) are added to the composition. All components mix well.
The resulting solution rinses well the area where the thermometer was broken. If there is a suspicion that mercury could get into the cracks, you can pour the solution there or apply it with a brush, spray.
The disinfectant is left on for a couple of hours, but as soon as one layer dries, you need to apply the next. If there are traces of potassium permanganate, do not worry, as they can be easily removed with a simple soap solution.
After the mercury thermometer has been broken in the room and all the necessary measures have been taken to remove its residues, it is necessary to ventilate the room and do wet cleaning every day.
Find out how to properly collect mercury if a thermometer breaks in this video:
