The better to collect mercury from a broken thermometer. What to do if a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment

05/28/2017 1 12 216 views

How to remove mercury from broken thermometer at home? - a question that requires the most quick decision. Currently, the choice of thermometers is very large, you can choose absolutely safe electronic or infrared. But many families still prefer the old proven thermometers with mercury. Such a device at home requires special storage, because it is very fragile. What to do if the thermometer falls and breaks, how to safely dispose of mercury balls and minimize risks to households.

What threatens a broken mercury thermometer?

Mercury is a liquid metal belonging to the first class of highly hazardous substances. Eighteen degrees above zero is enough for it to begin to evaporate, releasing dangerous toxins into the air. That is why it is so important to remove all mercury balls from the floor as soon as possible if the thermometer breaks.

Consequences for a person after inhalation of mercury fumes:

• dizziness;
• headaches;
• disruption of the gastrointestinal tract;
• stomatitis;
• violations of the kidneys;
• arrhythmia;
• convulsions;
• changes in mental state;
• dermatitis;
• decrease in the level of hemoglobin in the blood.

If you notice the above symptoms, you need to see a doctor immediately.

What can not be done if mercury spills?

After it was discovered that the thermometer had broken, most often people begin to panic, fearing for their health and loved ones. In such a situation, instead of calming down, they begin to panic and do the wrong things, which can further aggravate the situation.

A few things that absolutely cannot be done if a mercury thermometer is broken:

• forbidden to touch with bare hands mercury balls;
• it is strictly forbidden to throw the collected balls into the garbage chute or trash common use. Mercury, which is in the thermometer, will be enough to pollute seven thousand cubic meters of air;
• Do not use a vacuum cleaner to pick up mercury from the floor. By removing the balls in this way, you will only facilitate the evaporation of mercury and its distribution throughout the apartment;
• you can not use a broom. With thin rods, you can damage the balls and mercury will begin to evaporate, infecting the surrounding air;
• trying to get rid of mercury balls as quickly as possible, you can not wash them down the drain. Liquid metal will remain in the pipes, from where it will be impossible to clean it out. Thus, the source of hazardous substances will always be nearby;
• a magnet is not suitable for collecting mercury balls. Using it, you are more likely to achieve the opposite effect. Mercury will not be magnetized, but, on the contrary, will be repelled;
• If mercury has come into contact with clothing, it should not be washed in washing machine, especially together with other linen;
• it is strictly forbidden to ventilate the room in which the incident has recently occurred. Air currents will only accelerate the spread of evaporated mercury throughout the apartment.

How to protect yourself when cleaning a thermometer?

If it so happened that a mercury thermometer broke in a living room, then the first thing to do is to calm down. Excessive nervousness will only interfere, clouding the mind. It is very important to keep your sanity. correct and successive actions help avoid serious consequences.

What to do if the thermometer crashed:

1. Remove the elderly, pregnant women, children and animals from the premises.
2. Tightly close the door where the incident occurred, open the window. You can not create a draft, so the door must be closed.
3. Remove any fragments of the thermometer found.
4. Use a flashlight to see better. Examine every centimeter of the room, especially the pile surfaces, because mercury is the most difficult to remove from the carpet, so it is very important not to leave even one ball.

What you need to use when cleaning mercury:

1. In no case do not start cleaning without taking care of your safety.
2. You can clean the room only with thick rubber gloves.
3. A respirator should be worn on the face so as not to accidentally inhale evaporating mercury. If this was not found at home, and there is no time to buy, then you can replace it with a cotton-gauze bandage dipped in a soda solution.
4. Shoe covers must be worn on the feet, which must be disposed of after cleaning. This is necessary in order not to accidentally spread mercury on your feet throughout the apartment.

How to remove mercury from a broken thermometer?

So, having decided on the scale of work, having calmed down, it's time to start cleaning up the spilled hazardous substance. If at first we figured out what not to use, now is the time to choose the most safe way cleaning. In the house of everyone, you can find everything you need to quickly and without consequences remove mercury.

rubber douche

If you find that small balls of mercury have fallen on a pile carpet, then a regular syringe will help to remove them.

Highlighting with a flashlight, walk carefully over every centimeter of the carpet, sucking up particles of a dangerous substance with a syringe. After everything has been removed, take the carpet to fresh air and leave it for several hours so that the spilled mercury completely disappears from the surface.

Knitting needles

You need to start harvesting mercury with larger balls, so you prevent them from making small ones. Having determined where the substance is, bend a thick sheet of paper and with knitting needles gently roll a ball of mercury onto it. In no case should you throw the bundle outside, as mercury will then be released from the soil for a very long time, infecting everything around.

copper plate

Instead of knitting needles, you can use a copper plate, which will serve as a hand in order to drive the mercury balls onto the paper. If you need to collect a substance from the sofa, then check all the cracks and folds, inner part sofa. No traces of mercury left anywhere.

Don't rush while cleaning. Act slowly but surely. Make sure that all mercury balls have been collected, only then can you start disposing of the hazardous substance.

syringe

All mercury balls are found and you are ready to get to work. You can remove the substance from the surface of the carpet or floor covering with a syringe, gently drawing it inward. When the mercury remains inside, be sure to close the spout tightly so that nothing gets out.

If the balls of the substance fell into hard-to-reach places, first try to pry them with a cotton swab dipped in potassium permanganate, then pull the ball in with a syringe.

wet cotton

mercury balls hit the carpet? Move the vacuum cleaner away, in this case it is your enemy. To remove each ball from the pile of the floor covering, use wet cotton wool, which will act as a magnet. Then take the substance that appears with a syringe or syringe without a needle.

Band-Aid

A plaster can be used as an adhesive tape where mercury balls will be attached. But first, the substance must be obtained from all hard-to-reach places. To do this, you can use a cotton swab dipped in iodine, it will act as a magnetic agent. As soon as all the balls are visible, carefully attach the patch so that they stick to it, after which it must be disposed of.

with scotch tape

Didn't have a patch at home? It doesn't matter, you can use regular tape instead. To begin with, we find all the balls of mercury, carefully magnetize them wet cotton or a stick dipped in potassium permanganate or iodine, and then applies adhesive tape with the sticky side. Once all mercury particles have been collected, duct tape rolled up neatly and disposed of in a safe way.

wet newspaper

If you are afraid to use cardboard or other thick paper because the mercury balls can simply roll back to the floor, then another remedy will do. Take an ordinary newspaper, fold it several times and moisten it a little, but so that it does not tear. Getting on it, the balls will not roll down, sticking to a wet surface. Thus, you will protect yourself from repeated scattering of mercury on the floor.

Glass jar with water

After you have made sure that there are no particles of mercury left on the floor and in other places, it's time to think about where to put the collected material and all the tools that were used for this. For this, a glass jar filled with water is suitable. Immerse cotton swabs, cotton wool, a syringe and everything that you used to collect the substance into it. Close the lid tightly after the jar is full to prevent the mercury from spreading through the air.

Video: how to remove mercury from a broken thermometer at home?

The main cleaning work has been completed. Now it's time to think about where to put the rest of the mercury and everything that was used to assemble it.

1. Put the clothes you were wearing in a trash bag, tie it tightly and take it to the trash. For more security, you can use two bags.
2. Call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and find out where you need to take the jar with the collected material.
3. If there are doubts about the quality of the cleaning done, invite a special person from the sanitary and epidemiological service. With the help of special devices, he will check the cleanliness of the room and, if traces of mercury are found, will eliminate them.
4. After cleaning is completed, preventive actions concerning your health, because even with good protection, mercury particles could enter the body. To do this: prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate and rinse your mouth with it. Brush your teeth thoroughly. Take a few pills internally activated carbon, based on the calculation that one tablet is taken per kilogram of weight. Take during the day a large number of liquids.
5. If you notice that a child has swallowed a ball of mercury, then do not rush to raise a panic. It is not absorbed by the intestines and is easily excreted in the feces. However, to calm down, it is still necessary to see a doctor.

Knowing what to do if the mercury thermometer breaks, and what not to do, you will thus protect yourself from dangerous mistakes. A situation that brings a lot of anxiety, but which can happen to anyone. If there are small children in the house, then especially carefully monitor the storage location of the thermometer. Do not leave it unattended, do not store it without a special case, do not throw it away and shake it off gently.

The best way to keep yourself and your family safe from hazardous substances is to avoid them altogether. Exists huge selection devices for measuring temperature, which have high accuracy, while absolutely safe for humans and environment. Be careful and careful.

What to do if the thermometer breaks - how to properly remove mercury?

Today, probably, there is no such person who would not have a rise in body temperature. In order to determine exactly how much it has increased or decreased, there are special devices. Even though today electronic thermometers sold literally at every turn, however, many people continue to use thermometers containing mercury. This is due to the fact that the latter are more reliable and much less likely to make mistakes. But such thermometers have one big drawback - they contain mercury inside, which can cause severe intoxication. Therefore, everyone should have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat to do if a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment.

First steps

Breaking a mercury thermometer in a residential area is not a pleasant situation, but if this happens, then you should remain calm. A toxic substance can be harvested with absolutely no harm to one's health. The thing is that poisoning does not happen instantly. As a rule, mercury vapor can harm the body after a few hours. The first signs of poisoning with a dangerous substance are severe weakness, headache and heavy breathing. In addition, an unpleasant metallic taste may appear in the mouth.

Therefore, if a thermometer crashed at home, then you should not be careless, as this can end very badly. Some people simply sweep mercury balls into a dustpan and throw them into a bucket, whereupon they inhale the toxic fumes. Beyond that, there is no guarantee that you will be able to collect all of the mercury.

So what to do if a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment? What to do and how to properly collect a hazardous substance? The most important thing is to calm down. This will allow you to properly coordinate and take action. necessary measures.

Ask strangers to leave the premises

Broken mercury thermometer in the apartment? What to do? The first action is to ask all people to vacate the premises. This is especially true for children, pregnant women and the elderly. If you have a dog or a cat at home, then it is better to take them to another room so that they do not inhale poisonous fumes and carry mercury to neighboring rooms.

It is not mercury itself that is harmful to health, but its fumes. This substance begins to melt at a temperature of about 40 degrees, so if the room is cooler, then there should be no fumes. Nevertheless, it is better not to take risks once again and open all the windows. This will cool the room at least a little and prevent the release of toxic fumes. It is important not to overdo it here, as mercury balls can freeze and break.

Preparatory work

The mercury thermometer in the apartment broke, what should I do?

Actions are as follows:

• put on shoe covers (if they are not at hand, then you can use plastic bags);
• wear clothes made from synthetics ( artificial materials much less absorb toxic fumes);
• put on protective mask, under which put wet gauze. Alternatively, a wet towel can be used;
• put on rubber gloves.

It is worth noting that all clothing and protective equipment will have to be thrown away after cleaning the room, so use only old things that you would not mind throwing away.

In addition to uniforms, you will need the following inventory:

• several landscape sheets;
• brush with a soft brush;
• a glass container that can be hermetically sealed - it should be filled with a manganese solution;
• syringe;
• wet newspaper;
• Scotch;
• rag.

So, what to do if a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment? If everything you need is at hand, then you can begin to eliminate the threat. To contain the spread of toxic fumes, close all doors and place wet rag. You can also call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ask for advice on what measures should be taken in this situation.

The mercury thermometer in the apartment broke - what to do and how to clean it up? Everything is very easy and simple, if you follow certain tips and recommendations. Take a landscape sheet and a brush with a soft brush, moisten it with a manganese solution and carefully roll the mercury ball onto the paper. Very small balls are removed with adhesive tape.

Take a good look at every nook and cranny. If mercury is found in them, then it can be collected with a syringe. If a toxic substance is exposed to flooring or a baseboard, then they need to be removed and the mercury collected, because if it remains there, then dangerous fumes will poison everyone in the room.

What to do if a mercury thermometer in an apartment breaks and mercury gets on the carpet or upholstered furniture? In this case, it will be quite difficult to collect the substance on your own. The best option- take things out of town and burn them. In addition, you can take the furniture to the country house and leave it outside for several months. During this time, mercury under the influence of sunlight should have completely evaporated.

When collecting mercury, it is forbidden to use a vacuum cleaner and a broom. The thing is that a vacuum cleaner can spread toxic fumes throughout the apartment, and if you use a broom, the rods will break the balls into small particles, which will be impossible to collect.

When cleaning a room from mercury, it is necessary to periodically go out into the fresh air to breathe. It is not recommended to breathe toxic fumes for more than 15 minutes. This is especially true if the room is hot and it is not possible to cool it at least a little. When leaving the room, be sure to remove shoe covers so as not to spread mercury throughout the apartment.

final stage

The mercury thermometer in the apartment broke, what should I do? How to collect mercury balls, we have already considered, but how to finally clean the room of this substance? To completely eliminate the threat, it is necessary to process all surfaces in the room. To do this, use a special solution, for the preparation of which you will need to dilute 20 grams of potassium permaganate per 10 liters of warm water. If suddenly you don’t have any of this, then use the usual “Whiteness”.

Take a washcloth for washing dishes, soak it in the solution and thoroughly treat all surfaces. Don't leave a single gap unattended. Hard-to-reach places should be treated with a spray bottle.

When processing is complete, open all windows for a while to ventilate the room. Wherein interior doors must be closed so that the draft does not carry toxic fumes throughout the apartment.

Mercury recycling

So, the mercury thermometer in the apartment crashed, what should I do? We have already talked about what is needed to clean up mercury, as well as how the process of cleaning the room itself takes place. But what to do with the collected mercury? All the clothes protective equipment and inventory should be placed in plastic bag and dispose of correctly. Never throw things in the landfill.

If a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment - what to do? Reviews of people who are faced with a similar situation say that it is best to hand over the thermometer and the collected mercury for recycling to a special service. It is worth noting that the employees of this service do not always agree to accept mercury, but you should insist on your own. If, nevertheless, nothing happens, then you can contact private companies that dispose of mercury on a paid basis.

Broken mercury thermometer in the apartment? What to do, we already know. But what is not recommended in this case?

It is best not to do the following:

1. Ventilate the room with open doors to an adjacent room. A draft can spread small droplets of mercury throughout the home, making it very difficult to find and collect from.
2. Never pick up mercury with a broom. The rods will only break the balls into smaller ones, which will only aggravate the situation.
3. Do not use a vacuum cleaner to collect mercury. Air currents will spread mercury throughout the room, which can be disastrous.
4. It is impossible to use or store things that have absorbed mercury in the apartment. They should be burned.
5. It is prohibited to dispose of mercury in a landfill or down the drain. It is needed in without fail dispose of.

Preventive actions

If a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment, what needs to be done to protect yourself from poisoning and others negative consequences? After the room is completely cleaned of mercury and treated with disinfectant solutions, you must take off all the clothes in which the cleaning was done, take a shower, put on clean clothes, and rinse your mouth with a weak solution of soda. In addition, try to drink as much as possible, especially herbal teas and milk. This will help the kidneys remove toxins from the body.

In what cases can you do without the help of specialists?

A mercury thermometer in the apartment broke - what to do if you can't find the tip? The best way out is to call qualified specialists. This also applies to those cases when the thermometer was broken in small unventilated rooms. If you try to collect mercury on your own, you can inhale a lot of toxic fumes and get very severe poisoning.

Mercury begins to boil and release fumes at a temperature slightly above 38 degrees, so if it gets on a hot surface, the room will almost instantly fill with toxic fumes.

Also, if you suspect that mercury balls could remain somewhere, then you should not risk it. Call the sanitary and epidemiological station immediately and call professionals to carry out necessary activities for disinfection of the premises. The mercury thermometer in the apartment broke, what should I do? In St. Petersburg, Moscow and others major cities have and Alternative option actions, namely environmental assessment. Specialists will check the level of mercury vapor in the room, as well as dispose of a broken thermometer and mercury balls.

Self-cleaning of the premises from mercury is not recommended for people who fall into the high-risk group.

These include:

• women bearing a fetus;
• children and the elderly;
• people who have any chronic diseases genitourinary system and CNS.

All other people can independently collect mercury balls, subject to all the rules and recommendations listed earlier in this article.

What to do in case of poisoning?

Broken mercury thermometer in the apartment? What to do in this case has already been considered earlier, but what if poisoning with toxic fumes nevertheless occurred?

The main signs of poisoning are:

• severe migraines;
• body weakness;
• increased irritability;
• trembling in the limbs;
• nausea;
• sudden loss of body weight;
• metallic taste in the mouth.

Signs of poisoning in most cases appear approximately 5-6 hours after a person has inhaled toxic fumes. If this still happened, then you should go to the hospital as soon as possible for an examination.

Mercury thermometers contain a very dangerous substance that can lead to very severe poisoning. Therefore, in order to exclude the possibility of intoxication, from 2020 in Russia they will be completely withdrawn from sale. mercury thermometers, and their use in medical institutions will be prohibited. These measures are fully justified, since cases of people going to the hospital with mercury vapor poisoning are quite frequent.

If you use a mercury thermometer, it is very important to follow certain rules for their storage and operation. Keep the thermometer only in a protective case out of the reach of children. It is necessary to bring down the temperature away from furniture and walls, so as not to accidentally hit the thermometer on them and break it. If your child is sick and you want to take his temperature, then do not step away from the baby so that he does not accidentally drop the thermometer.

Electronic thermometers, though not always, but still allow you to measure the exact temperature of the body. Therefore, to completely eliminate the possibility of mercury contamination, stop using mercury thermometers. Use electronic measuring instruments and your family will be completely safe.

Conclusion

Breaking a glass thermometer containing mercury is fairly easy, so try to be extremely careful when using them. If suddenly you broke it, then try not to panic. To completely clean the room from mercury, it is better to leave your home for a while and leave everything to professionals who have the necessary experience and skills to disinfect rooms from mercury and its fumes.

If the thermometer crashed, then first of all it is necessary to provide everyone with an exit from the premises and call rescuers (Ministry of Emergency Situations at number 101), briefly describing the situation. It is especially important to remove young children from the premises, as for them silver balls may seem attractive. Toddlers will try to play with them or - even worse - want to taste them.

It should also be taken into account that mercury room temperature starts to evaporate. Therefore, not only drops of metal, but also air are hazardous to health. Staying indoors at this moment without specialized protection is prohibited. The person who will deal with the consequences must wear rubber gloves, shoe covers (or at least plastic bags), and cover their mouth and nose with wet gauze.

After that, you need to close the windows and doors leading to other rooms in the room. Even the smallest draft will cause the balls of mercury to roll around the room, breaking into smaller pieces. And due to their consistency, they can easily get under the cracks of skirting boards, into microcracks in the parquet, etc.

If mercury from a thermometer gets on the carpet, its corners must be bent to prevent the metal from rolling onto the floor covering. Next, the broken thermometer, along with pieces of glass, must be folded into an airtight glass container and closed with a lid. It is advisable to pack all this in a strong plastic bag. It is strictly forbidden to throw it in the garbage chute or flush it down the toilet. Parts of a broken mercury thermometer must be handed over to the Ministry of Emergency Situations for disposal.

If there are doors in the room where the thermometer broke, they should be closed, and a wet rag soaked in a solution of chlorine or manganese should be laid on the threshold. This prevents the spread of mercury around the room by shoes. If possible, all upholstered furniture and houseplants should be covered with polyethylene (even garbage bags will do).

What to do with mercury?

Finished with preliminaries. But how to collect mercury from the carpet? Many recommend using an ordinary vacuum cleaner for this. This is extremely dangerous, because during its operation the engine heats up, which only accelerates the process of mercury evaporation. In addition, air passes through the motor, and mercury settles on it, forming a microscopic film. After that, it is forbidden to use the equipment, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is engaged in its disposal. In some cases, it is allowed to use mobile car vacuum cleaners, since they use a weak motor in terms of power, which heats up only to 50-60 ° C within 2-3 minutes. No more vacuuming required. After that, the vacuum cleaner cannot be disassembled. It is better to take it outside, away from people, and in the future to hand it over for recycling.

How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer? No need to try to do it with a piece of paper, and even more so with a broom. Wet newspaper or napkins soaked in sunflower or olive oil. Mercury balls stick to such surfaces, after which they are packed in sealed bags (again for the Ministry of Emergencies). The same property has copper wire, adhesive plaster, adhesive tape. Do not "comb out" the stain from the carpet or use a small brush with pile to collect. This will only lead to the fact that larger drops of metal will break into small ones, which are much more difficult to collect. Mercury is heavier than air and other materials (13 times denser than water), so it will simply settle deeper.

To remove mercury from a carpet with pile, the rug must be carefully folded into a large sealed bag (a trash bag will do), then taken out into the street and hung on the crossbar. Under it, you need to lay a film so that the rolling mercury does not get into the ground. The carpet itself is then knocked out with very light blows for 30-40 minutes. By the way, the one who will be collecting mercury and cleaning the premises should take a break every 20 minutes and leave the premises. He also needs to drink the maximum possible amount of fluid (mercury is excreted from the body through the kidneys).

By the way, all things that got metal will have to be ventilated within 3 months after the incident, and this should not be done, for example, on a balcony or yard. You can’t burn these things either - mercury will simply evaporate and remain in the air.

There are those who claim that you can remove mercury from the floor with chlorinated iron. This substance does act like a magnet, but it is also toxic. And here blue vitriol dissolves mercury, thereby complicating cleaning. Therefore, it is better not to use these components for cleaning.

The place where the balls were must be treated with any absorbent as soon as possible. Even crushed activated carbon is suitable for this purpose. After 10-15 minutes, it is removed into a container with water (scotch tape or an enema will help here again), tightly closed and in the future handed over to those services that dispose of such substances.

Cleaning of metal surfaces

The most difficult thing is cleaning from metal surfaces, since mercury balls do not roll over it, but are rubbed. In this state, the metal evaporates much faster. How to remove mercury from such a surface? It is better to use a copper plate. She needs to carefully pick up the mercury and place it in a container with cold water. After removing the visible parts of mercury, this place is treated from a spray bottle with a solution of hydrochloric acid (concentration - up to 5%). After 15 minutes, all this is removed with a sponge and a syringe. Over the next 4-5 days, this area is similarly treated with a soda solution (5%). It must be taken into account that:

• it is impossible to rip off mercury by grinding;
• heat metal surface also not possible;
• enamel darkens when exposed to mercury;
• balls of toxic metal can move even in the presence of the slightest magnetic field, that's why mobile phones and other equipment should be removed.

Room processing

The first thing to be said is that all things that will be used to clean up mercury must be disposed of in in due course. Therefore, you need to use some old and already unnecessary rags for this, which will then simply be thrown away. In the room where there was mercury, it is necessary to wash absolutely everything, and not just the floors. The place where there was a broken thermometer is generally disinfected with a chlorine solution. Since it is forbidden to create a draft, it is recommended that the person who will be doing the cleaning use a respirator or even a gas mask (if available).

The mercury film that forms on the surface of the floor and other things is called amalgam. In most cases, it is invisible, but later a brownish spot forms in that place. Unfortunately, it is impossible to remove it even with specialized cleaning products. If this happened on parquet or linoleum, they will have to be replaced (partially or completely).

At home, the treatment of the room is carried out using a soap or chlorine solution.

If there is a suspicion that mercury has got under the skirting boards, they must be removed. If the flooring is boards, then several of them are dismantled and cleaned under the floor. The remaining small drops of mercury are most conveniently removed with a syringe, a small syringe or an ordinary enema (it is better to moisten the tip with sunflower oil).

After all visible mercury is removed, perform a thorough wet cleaning using a solution of chlorine and potassium permanganate. Ideally, this should be done twice, after which representatives of the sanitary and epidemiological station should be invited to the house and the content of mercury vapor in the air should be measured. If everything is normal, then a draft is created in the room and it is ventilated for several weeks. Air conditioners and ventilation are temporarily blocked to prevent mercury from entering other rooms. apartment building and air duct.

What to do if mercury gets on the skin?

If the thermometer breaks and part of its contents gets on the skin, you need to rinse it under running water(cold) with soap. The affected area is then treated several times with a solution of lime. Unfortunately, after this, a small chemical burn will remain, but this is better than getting mercury inside. How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer from the skin? Here, too, you can use tape or adhesive tape. It should be used even if visually the skin is absolutely clean. Unfortunately, the metal easily penetrates into the deep pores of the epithelium, thereby causing acute intoxication. It is accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. If any of these symptoms appear, you should immediately consult a doctor.

What about fumes?

In the room where the thermometer was broken earlier, after 1-2 hours allowable rate metal in the air will be exceeded by 50-100 times. Staying in such conditions even for a few minutes is strictly prohibited. If you allow mercury to be in the room for so long, then it is forbidden to clean it yourself. It is better to close all doors and windows and wait for the rescuers to arrive. According to scientists, one broken thermometer is enough to poison from 12 to 18 square meters. m and make them uninhabitable for several months.

If the thermometer was broken in apartment building, then the housing office or other authorities involved in the maintenance of the entrance must be notified about this. Sanitary and epidemiological station during next month will monitor the level of mercury vapor in the air in adjacent apartments. Withholding this information entails criminal liability.

Demercurization of the kitchen

If the thermometer was broken in the kitchen, then all the food that was not in the refrigerator at the same time is disposed of. The dishes must be completely washed, as an invisible mercury film forms on it. All open containers are also recommended to be rinsed in a solution of potassium permanganate. Sponges for washing dishes, towels are recycled. It is strictly forbidden to wash them, since mercury in warm water dissolves and begins to actively evaporate together with water vapor.

Even if mercury was collected in the kitchen immediately after the thermometer broke, it is not recommended to eat or cook food in this room in the next month. Furniture that has got metal should be disinfected with a chlorine solution (this is done by the sanitary and epidemiological station).

Protective measures

Anyone who has been cleaning mercury should brush their teeth as soon as possible, wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water. Clothes and shoes that have been cleaned are hung out without washing on fresh air and aired for the next few months (but it's better to just throw it away).

The mouth should be rinsed with a solution of manganese (it should have a weak pink shade), then take 6-10 activated charcoal tablets. During the next day you need to drink at least 5 liters of clean water.

All things that have come into contact with mercury fumes or thermometer residues are put into sealed garbage bags and left on the street until they are handed over to the control authorities (Ministry of Emergency Situations).

The thermometer accurately measures the temperature and has a very small error (no more than 0.1 degrees). Therefore, in many medical institutions, the usual thermometer is still preferred. In addition, with the help of a thermometer, body temperature can be measured in several ways (in the armpit, rectally, orally), the surface of the thermometer is easily disinfected, and the device itself does not require mains power or battery replacement. With careful handling, mercury can last more than one decade, but it is enough low cost(only 20-25 rubles) makes it attractive to the buyer.

As well as undeniable advantages mercury thermometers have several significant shortcomings, the main and most serious of which is its fragility. It is very easy to break a mercury thermometer, and this will inevitably lead to air poisoning with poisonous mercury vapor.

Why is a broken thermometer dangerous?

It is worth breaking or breaking a thermometer, as microscopic glass fragments and balls of mercury will instantly appear on the floor. And if glass can cause trouble in the form of cuts, then mercury vapor, being the strongest poison, carries a more serious danger. Due to its properties, the mercury flowing out of the thermometer breaks into many tiny droplets that roll into hard-to-reach places (under the sofa, closet, behind the baseboard, in the cracks of the flooring) and, evaporating, poison the air. If you do not remove all the mercury and the thermometer itself in time, you can get severe poisoning. Accumulating in the kidneys, liver, lungs of a person, a pair of harmful metal causes chronic intoxication, which is manifested by skin rashes, stomatitis, diarrhea, vomiting, chills of the whole body. And prolonged exposure to mercury vapor can affect the human psyche and even cause insanity.

Therefore, it is very important to quickly and accurately collect the contents of the thermometer. For guaranteed cleaning of the premises, you should call the specialists of the Ministry of Emergencies, but you can also carry out this procedure yourself, taking all the necessary precautions.

How to collect mercury

If it happened by accident, do not panic. Before you start cleaning up the mercury balls, you must remove all people who will not participate in the cleaning, as well as animals, from the premises. It is very important to open the windows in the house to ventilate the room and close the doors to adjacent rooms so that mercury vapor from a broken thermometer does not spread. It is necessary to collect mercury with rubber gloves, it is better to put on shoe covers on your feet, and cover your mouth and nose with a damp gauze bandage.

In no case should you collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner or a broom. In the first case, once inside, toxic fumes will be blown out of the vacuum cleaner along with the air. In the second, the broom rods can break small balls into even smaller ones, making them more difficult to collect.

Most reliable way collect mercury, thermometer - use an ordinary syringe. Such cleaning will take a lot of time and is quite painstaking, but on the other hand, mercury balls are guaranteed to fall into the cavity of the rubber pear and will not fall apart into smaller parts.

Newsprint soaked in water will also help clean up mercury, as mercury balls will easily stick to it. If the thermometer and mercury has leaked out, you can use adhesive tape or adhesive tape, cotton balls moistened with water or vegetable oil, as well as two sheets of paper, which, according to the principle of a scoop and a broom, carefully collect the contents of a broken thermometer.

One more easy way collect mercury - use a medical syringe. After cleaning, it also needs to be sealed in a jar and sent for recycling along with the broken one.

If it so happened that the thermometer crashed on the carpet, then the carpet should be taken out and knocked out in a place where there are no people. The concentration of a hazardous substance from one broken thermometer is not very high; within three days it will evaporate without harming people and the environment.

After the contents of the broken thermometer are safely collected and ready for disposal, the place of the “accident” should be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate (2 g per liter of water). But since this remedy cannot be used in all cases due to the stains it leaves, it is possible to cover the entire area that mercury from a broken thermometer could get into with bleach or any disinfectant containing it. For example, a glass of “whiteness” is taken on a ten-liter bucket of water and the surface is treated with this solution to transfer mercury into a non-evaporable compound. Then soapy water wipe again, finally removing mercury from the outskirts to the center (for a bucket of water - 100 g of soap powder and 100 g of soda).

Collected mercury should never be disposed of in a garbage chute or sewer. Balloons collected mercury, a broken thermometer, as well as all its contents, must be placed in a glass container filled with water, then tightly cork it with a lid and transfer it to the Ministry of Emergencies. It should be remembered that a few grams of mercury contained in can poison up to 6000 m3 of air!