What to do when a thermometer with mercury is broken. SOS: what to do if a mercury thermometer breaks at home

Mercury is toxic. Breaking a thermometer at home means putting the whole family in danger. What to do if this accident happens? What could be the consequences of a broken mercury thermometer? How to remove fragments?

See all the answers in the article.

As Komarovsky said, mercury itself does not harm us. If, for example, a child accidentally swallows a ball of mercury, it will not cause any harm to the internal organs, since the element does not enter into metabolism. In a day or two it will come out the usual way.

What then is harmful? - And the fumes are harmful.

Starting from +18 Celsius, mercury changes from liquid to gaseous, quickly spreading throughout the room. That is why keeping such a thermometer in an apartment is extremely undesirable.

The thermometer is broken, what should you do first?

The thermometer in the house was broken. Don't panic, do everything in order:

1. We remove all people and animals from the room.
2. We close the door in the room tightly so that the poison does not spread throughout the house.
3. We remember that mercury begins to evaporate only at +18. Therefore, first of all, we try to reduce the temperature in the room. We turn off the heaters (if the accident happened in winter), open the windows, and turn on the air conditioning.
4. We put on the equipment. Ideally, this should include protective overalls, shoe covers, gloves and a respirator. Not everyone keeps such a set at home, so we offer an alternative:

• instead of shoe covers, you can take ordinary plastic bags;
• Everyone often has rubber gloves, but if not, you can use bags again;
• We replace the respirator with a homemade mask: we take gauze, arranged in four or more pieces and moisten it in water. After this, we tie it so as to hide the mouth and nose;
• Wear clothes that you don’t mind. Then you have to throw it away.

Now let's move on to the most important thing - remove the thermometer with mercury. Be careful here. Don’t make the mistakes that the people of our country love so much.

IMPORTANT! What should you not do with mercury?

1. Try to collect the balls with your hands. The poison is absorbed even by intact skin;
2. Sweep away the mercury thermometer with a broom. As a result, it splits into small pieces and turns into dust, which much faster turns into a gaseous state.
3. Remove traces of crime with a vacuum cleaner. By sucking mercury into the pipe, it will seem to you that the problem is solved. But mercury is very cunning. Instead of remaining inside the vacuum cleaner, it comes out in the form of vapor along with the air, spreading throughout the room thousands of times faster. In this case, the vacuum cleaner can be thrown away immediately, it is a carrier of poison.
4. Flush this metal down the toilet, bury it in the ground, throw it away with other waste in a landfill, take it out onto the balcony, etc. By these actions you will harm the environment.

Collecting mercury correctly

How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer both quickly and safely?

And so, we take: tape or band-aid; syringe with a thin needle; glass jar with a tight lid.

Do not forget that at this time we must be wearing shoe covers, gloves and a respirator.

We collect large balls with a syringe: we simply suck it in like any other liquid. To deal with smaller particles, take tape and apply the adhesive side to the balls, so they will all come together quickly.

We immediately put everything we collect into a jar and close it with a lid.

To do this we make a solution:

• liter of boiled water;
• 40 grams of laundry soap;
• 50 grams of soda.

Mix and pour this liquid into a jar with toxin. If a mercury thermometer breaks on the carpet, wipe it with this solution. Even if there is some mercury left between the villi, soapy water and soda will render it inactive. Then you definitely need to do it again.

It happens that the balls fall into cracks or other places where it is impossible to penetrate. In this case, draw the disinfectant into a syringe and spray these areas.

A word of caution: no matter how carefully you clean a broken mercury thermometer, there is still no guarantee that all particles will be removed.

Therefore, in any case, call the Ministry of Emergency Situations employees to determine the content of metal vapors in the room using a mercury analyzer. If something happens, specialists will quickly remove the remaining poison using professional means.

Why is mercury harmful?

All toxins are divided into classes. Mercury is one of the first.

Evaporating, it enters our lungs. And there, along with the blood, it penetrates into all organs of the body and begins to actively poison the body. About 80% of the poison begins to actively poison us.

Like other heavy metals, mercury is not excreted from the body.

The vapors of this metal are dangerous not only for humans, but also for plants, animals, fish and birds. This is why you should not throw a mercury thermometer outside.

Be careful: mercury has no taste or smell, so you won’t be able to smell its vapor. The poisoning process goes unnoticed.

The health consequences are significant. Toxic substances that accumulate inside the body gradually begin to affect the liver, nervous system, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning

The consequences of a broken thermometer can be felt within a few hours. Intoxication occurs through the respiratory tract. Oxygen and salts that are in our blood help mercury to be absorbed faster. As a result, it is oxidized and deposited in the form of mercury salts.

Signs of poisoning:

• weakness throughout the body;
• headache;
• complete lack of appetite;
• difficulty swallowing (dull pain);
• metallic taste in the mouth;
• salivation;
• gum swelling and temporary bleeding;
• dizziness, nausea and vomiting;
• stomach ache;
• diarrhea;
• decreased heart rate;
• fainting.

Pneumonia, cough with shortness of breath, and chest pain are also often observed. Body temperature rises (from 38 to 40 degrees). In case of severe poisoning, death may occur within a few days.

Because of the danger, the world has long stopped using mercury thermometers at home. To protect yourself and your family, replace your old thermometer with a new, electronic one.

What to do in case of mercury poisoning?

If a mercury thermometer is broken, the first thing we do is go outside. Even better, go to some forest or park, where the air is truly clean and fresh.

When we’ve caught our breath a little, we move on to first aid.. To do this, we thoroughly rinse all the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, eyes, as well as open areas of the skin.

We use either plain water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate (can be used only when there are no problems with breathing or heart function. If there are difficulties, we first perform resuscitation to normalize the patient’s condition).

This is followed by gastric lavage.. This is done using potassium permanganate dissolved in cold water. The procedure is repeated several times a day. In this way, doctors stop the burning effect of mercury. Sorbents also help: drink four times a day.

The next step is the intravenous administration of the antidote “Unitiol”.

In parallel with this, diuretics are prescribed to speed up the process of washing out the poison from the blood.

Never try to cure poisoning yourself. When the first symptoms appear, immediately seek help from specialists.

What you can do on your own is to eat a green apple. This product contains iodine and pectins, which help remove harmful compounds from the body.

Remember that if a child breaks a mercury thermometer, first of all you need to take him to another room. And don’t try to solve the problem yourself, call special services, that’s their job.

There are thermometers in every home, because we can hardly do without this device. But at some points it can be very harmful to you and your health. What to do if a mercury thermometer breaks, and how to protect yourself from harmful mercury fumes? Experts say that you need to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or a special service that processes broken thermometers. For those who want to solve all their problems themselves, we will tell you right now how to do the right thing.

If a mercury thermometer was broken in your apartment, do not panic, but follow these instructions:

• Remove all people and pets from the premises. Firstly, they may suffer from dangerous fumes, and secondly, they will carry mercury on their soles throughout the apartment;
• If it's cold outside, open all the windows wide. This will lower the temperature in the room and reduce the rate of mercury evaporation;
• There should be no drafts, otherwise the mercury balls will be spread over a long distance;
• For the same reason, you should not change your shoes or change your socks while cleaning mercury;
• Soak a gauze bandage in water or a soda solution - it will protect the mucous membranes and respiratory tract from toxic fumes. You can also use a respirator;
• Use rubber gloves when collecting mercury;
• Be very careful - do not step on fragments and balls of this metal;
• Place all items that were involved in the cleaning process (including clothes) in a tight bag and dispose of them;
• After cleaning, drink activated carbon and plenty of water or tea;
• If you are unable to quickly eliminate the consequences, cover the mercury with a wet cloth. This will slow down its evaporation;
• If cleaning takes longer, take breaks every 10 minutes. You need to go out into the air to avoid vapor poisoning;
• If the thermometer fell on a wooden floor covered with many cracks, it is better to replace it than to sit and worry about the health of your family;
• The same goes for the baseboard - if there is even the slightest suspicion that mercury could have rolled under it, replace the baseboard with a new one.

Learning to collect mercury

How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer? For this you will need:

• a jar with a lid filled with cold water or potassium permanganate;
• flashlight;
• paper or foil;
• soft bristle brush;
• syringe or rubber bulb;
• adhesive tape or adhesive tape;
• newspaper;
• rag.

The process of removing mercury should start from the edges and move towards the center of the spill, highlighting it with a flashlight. Its light should fall from the side - so you can see even the smallest droplets of the product.

The process itself looks like this:

1. Wear a respirator and gloves.
2. Using sheets of paper, roll the mercury balls towards each other until they connect.
3. Using a brush dipped in potassium permanganate, move the mercury ball into a container with water or solution. Mercury is heavier than water, therefore, having settled at the bottom, it will not evaporate.
4. Collect the rest with tape and throw it into the container in the same way.
5. Carefully inspect nooks and crannies using a flashlight.
6. If mercury is stuck in the cracks, pull it out using a bulb or a regular syringe. You can sprinkle them with sand and sweep them with a soft brush along with the mercury balls.
7. Wipe the area where the thermometer broke with bleach or a solution of potassium permanganate. You can also prepare a mixture of hot water, baking soda and soap (the latter components are taken in equal quantities) and pour it directly into the cracks. Do not wash off the solution immediately, but leave it for a couple of days.
8. Ventilate the room well, avoiding drafts.

Close the container with the collected mercury with a sealed lid and immediately dispose of it. As a last resort, place it in a non-residential area away from batteries and call the sanitary and epidemiological station or the Ministry of Emergency Situations. They will tell you what to do with both the broken thermometer and the collected mercury.

Collecting mercury from the carpet

It is difficult to remove mercury from a fluffy surface, so it is best to throw it in the trash. If you really hate getting rid of the carpet, try collecting mercury using this algorithm.

• Step 1. Collect all the mercury balls as much as possible.
• Step 2. Carefully roll the rug from the edges to the center, wrap it in plastic and take it out of the house.
• Step 3. Knock out the carpet over the film, moving as far away from residential buildings as possible.
• Step 4. Collect the mercury in a container of cold water.
• Step 5. Leave the carpet in the fresh air or take it out onto the balcony, closing the door tightly. Let it stand there for at least the whole month.
• Step 6. Having brought it back into the house, treat the carpet with a warm soda mixture (40 grams of soda and soap per liter of water) or potassium permanganate.

The thermometer was broken by a child - what to do?

If children live in the house, then this dangerous moment cannot be ruled out. So, what should a mother do if her child breaks a mercury thermometer?

Firstly, don’t panic and don’t yell at him, because next time the baby will simply hide this fact, and mercury fumes, which are odorless and colorless, will poison the family. And then follow this pattern.

• 1. Examine the child’s skin and hair - there may be mercury remaining in them. If there are any, they need to be removed urgently.
• 2. If your baby has swallowed mercury balls, give him a lot to drink and induce vomiting. If fragments of the thermometer itself were swallowed, this should not be done so as not to injure the esophagus.
• 3. Change your baby into clean clothes.
• 4. Give him activated carbon (1 tablet per 10 kg of weight).
• 5. Remove to fresh air.
• 6. Collect mercury indoors according to the diagram above.
• 7. Do not use this room for at least a couple of days.
• 8. Wash the floor in the apartment with a bleach solution.
• 9. All family members who were at home when the thermometer broke should drink plenty of water.

Important! If your child swallows mercury, there is no need to worry. In liquid form, the metal is not absorbed, but comes out naturally with food.

What should you not do when collecting mercury?

• Use a vacuum cleaner - warm air currents contribute to the rapid spread of fumes;
• Sweep mercury balls with a broom - the rods break large balls into smaller ones, allowing the metal to evaporate intensively;
• Collect mercury balls with a rag - you can rub it on the floor surface;
• Take mercury outside. Even one broken thermometer can contaminate about 6 cubic meters. m. air. This applies to clothing and all materials that you used during cleaning;
• Place mercury in a garbage chute - in a closed space the concentration of harmful fumes becomes much greater;
• Flush mercury down the toilet or washbasin - settling on the pipes, it can cause poisoning for all residents of the house;
• Burn or bury mercury;
• Open doors and windows until cleaning is completed, as air currents will carry the balls around the room;
• Wash the clothes you cleaned in;
• Turn on the air conditioner - mercury will remain on the filters.

A few more points

Readers of our site will certainly be interested in answers to these questions!

Question 1. How long does it take for mercury to erode?

This depends not only on the amount of mercury, but also on the air temperature, as well as open windows. Experts say that with regular and intensive ventilation, the apartment can return to normal only after 1-3 months.

Question 2. Why is mercury from a broken thermometer dangerous?

Metal fumes have a negative effect on the nervous, immune and digestive systems. Mercury affects the lungs, stomach, liver, bronchi, organs of vision, digestive tract, skin and much more.

The mercury thermometer should be stored away from children in a special case. And the last piece of advice - if you don’t know when and where it was broken, call the employees of the relevant service, who will disinfect the room and measure the exact dose of fumes.

Mercury is very dangerous and toxic and should not be allowed to enter the body.

What are the dangers of mercury?

This substance is especially dangerous for children and pregnant women.

It is not mercury itself in liquid state that is dangerous, but the vapors it releases. But the substance will begin to evaporate even at room temperature (18 degrees).

Small droplets of mercury can penetrate cracks in the floor, furniture, parquet joints, and can get stuck in the carpet pile. If you breathe fumes for a long time, you will be subject to chronic poisoning.

What to do if a mercury thermometer breaks?

Open a window in the room, but leave the door and windows in other rooms closed so that under no circumstances there was no draft.

It is best to call a specialist who has the necessary equipment to determine the level of mercury in the air and find its residues in hard-to-reach places.

For the person who will collect mercury, prepare a gauze bandage, tape, a large jar of water that can be closed with a tight lid, a syringe (enema), paper, and, if available, shoe covers and rubber gloves.

Also make a solution of potassium permanganate with vinegar.

How to properly collect mercury?

• Wear a gauze bandage and gloves, and shoe covers if available.
• Collect the broken pieces from the thermometer and place them in a jar of water.
• Using paper, group the mercury particles in one place.
• Use a syringe to suck up the mercury balls and carefully pour them into a jar of water. Place the used pear in a jar of water.
• Collect the remaining small particles using tape - just stick pieces of adhesive tape on the place where the mercury spilled. Also throw the used pieces of tape with remaining mercury into a jar of water.

The floor and other surfaces that have been exposed to mercury must be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. Please note that this solution may stain, but this procedure is necessary to protect you and your family. You will have to treat surfaces with potassium permanganate frequently, even several times per knock, throughout the week.

Ventilate the room in which the thermometer has broken as much as possible.

What not to do

You can't sweep away mercury broom, this will only separate the balls into smaller particles. The same goes for the brush.

Never throw collected mercury into sewer or garbage disposal.

Do not open all windows and doors at once; you cannot create draft.
Do not wash clothes in which you have removed mercury in the washing machine. It needs to be ventilated for a long time, or better yet, get rid of these things altogether.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning

• metallic taste in the mouth;
• headache;
• general weakness, fatigue, irritability;
• vomiting, nausea, upset stomach;
• cough, chest pain.