All people, to one degree or another, take care of their health. When malaise occurs, body temperature should be measured. This simple and safe procedure allows you to quickly and accurately determine the state of the body.
More often, mercury thermometers are used for this purpose, as they are inexpensive and more accurate than their electronic counterparts. The disadvantage of glass mercury thermometers is that they tend to break.
Leaked mercury can cause serious harm to the human body, so you need to be able to quickly and correctly remove it from the surface on which it got. Despite the rarity similar situations, everyone should know how to collect mercury from the floor.
Why is mercury dangerous for humans?
Most often, mercury spills from a broken thermometer or lamp.
Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. It is a white-silvery liquid, which begins to evaporate already at +18°C.
For mercury to turn into solid, it needs to be cooled to -38 ° C, which is difficult to achieve at home. From a broken thermometer, it flows out in the form of balls flying across the floor in all directions. Balls of mercury rolled into different places at room temperature begin to evaporate, poisoning the air.
Mercury poisoning occurs when excess mercury vapor enters the human body. When air with a mercury content of 0.25 mg per 1 m3 of air is inhaled, the substance settles in the lungs.
At higher concentrations, liquid metal vapors are absorbed by human lungs and skin.
In one thermometer there are 2 grams of a substance, which in terms of milligrams is 2000 mg. Such an amount of mercury is capable of poisoning from 6000 to 8000 m3 of air during rapid evaporation. The volume of air in an apartment with an area of 50-60 m2 is 125-150 m3. If a thermometer breaks, then the volume of a dangerous substance can be enough to poison 10 people.
The most dangerous is mercury vapor
Poisoning at low concentrations of a substance does not occur instantly, although in some cases a weak organism that is not resistant to mercury can receive an excess dose in a matter of minutes.
After entering the body, mercury settles in human organs, causing great harm to the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, brain and skin. The first symptoms may appear after a few hours, so it’s hard to immediately make out the degree of poisoning.
Metal vapor poisoning occurs very quickly
The first symptoms include weakness and dizziness. Then comes nausea and migraines. Further, an upset stomach begins, pain in the throat and bleeding from the gums and nose. All this leads to intense fever, coughing and inflammation of the lungs, which are accompanied by edema, including the respiratory tract. In extreme cases, mental breakdown occurs, when the person's consciousness can be shaken.
The great danger lies in the fact that mercury is odorless, tasteless and bright color. The so-called silver water long time remain completely invisible to humans.
It is important to know that in more Children and women are susceptible to mercury poisoning.
Safe disposal of mercury
Before collecting mercury from broken thermometer, you need to quickly make some preparation. It is also necessary to quickly select suitable tools in order to completely get rid of the harmful substance.
Order of initial actions
If the thermometer breaks, and mercury rolls on the floor with balls, the first step is to take the children out of the room. Then, all those who will not participate in the cleaning, including pets, should leave it.
After all the extra people have left the room, you need to open the windows to enter Fresh air. The door must be tightly closed. It is desirable to carry out the ventilation procedure so that drafts do not carry air into other rooms.
You can collect metal balls with a syringe or syringe
Before collecting mercury from a thermometer from the floor, it is necessary to protect yourself with gloves and a cotton-gauze bandage. Gloves are desirable to have rubberized or fully rubber. The airway protection bandage can be soaked in a soda solution. This will give you more protection. The bandage can be made independently from bandages or gauze.
You should not step on the balls of mercury, so it is better to put on some shoes wrapped in cellophane on your feet.
Before you remove the mercury, all the fragments of the broken thermometer are collected. In order not to cut yourself, you need to put them carefully in a jar of water, which can later be closed with a lid and handed over for recycling.
All of these measures must be taken before mercury collection begins. The most important thing is to take care of the safety of others.
How and what is mercury collected
Mercury must be collected in a container with water. This is done so that the liquid metal cools down and stops evaporating. For more information on collecting mercury, see this video:
To collect balls of mercury, the following devices are well suited.
- Syringe - a medical rubber bulb is very well suited for collecting harmful mercury balls. Even balls rolled into the cracks are pulled into it.
- A large syringe without a needle, as well as a syringe, will draw in harmful liquid metal well.
- Mercury balls adhere well to tape, duct tape, and band-aids.
- Using a brush, you can remove the balls of the substance by rolling them onto a sheet of paper or foil. Then, the harmful material collected on the sheet must be placed in a jar of water.
- Cotton products soaked in water sunflower oil or potassium permanganate, can also be used to collect mercury. She will stick to them.
Most importantly, clean up calmly, consistently, and neatly. When using protective equipment, mercury vapor will not be able to do much harm. Therefore, after completing the initial steps in the prescribed order, you can sequentially start assembling the rolled balls. It is important to send all collected elements to a container of water, which must be kept closed.
Room treatment and precautions
After cleaning, the room in which mercury has scattered must be thoroughly washed. This can be done using a chlorine-containing liquid. With a solution of chlorine, it is required to wash the floor, baseboard and, if possible, walls. The chlorine solution must be left for 15-20 minutes, then washed off clean water. For more information about the principles of cleaning, see this video:
For 7-10 days, the room needs to be ventilated daily. It is desirable to support high temperature indoors so that mercury residues can evaporate and leave the room. Ventilation is carried out with dense closed door to avoid drafts and movement potentially dangerous air to other rooms.
It is impossible to stay in the room at night until the prophylactic treatment is completed. A ball of mercury rolled under a baseboard or into another hard-to-reach place can cause considerable harm to human health.
Personal hygiene measures after cleaning
Personal clothing that has been cleaned must be hung outside for ventilation. Then it must be subjected to chemical cleaning.
After cleaning, wash your hands with soap and water. Then you need to thoroughly brush your teeth and rinse oral cavity manganese solution. After that, you can take a shower to cleanse the whole body.
As a preventive measure, a person who removed mercury can take up to 10 tablets of activated charcoal. It is also recommended to drink during the day, as much as possible more water, from 3 to 5 liters.
All other interior items that have been in contact with mercury are collected and taken out into the street. It will be possible to use them only after chemical treatment.
The first drug for mercury poisoning is activated charcoal.
Depending on the complexity of the situation, you can contact specialized services that will help eliminate the infection. Work like state organizations on the basis of sanitary and epidemiological stations, as well as private companies certified in this field.
In extreme cases, you can call hotline 01 to the emergency response service for advice and procedures for the time being while the rapid response vehicle is getting there.
Mercury in different quantities contained in thermometers, thermometers, fluorescent lamps, televisions and other equipment.
When this metal, harmful to human health, enters the open space, it is necessary to carefully and consistently carry out the whole complex of actions aimed at protecting nearby people.
Mercury vapor is a strong poison. It is important to remember this when in contact with her beautiful white-silver balls.
Mercury is not only an element of the periodic table and a metal used in medicine, mechanics, metallurgy and technology to create various devices, which is a thermometer. It is also a heavy metallized silvery liquid, with a low melting point (-39 degrees) and evaporation (+18 degrees), which makes it extremely poisonous.
Breaking, the thermometer releases from 2 to 4 grams of mercury, which, upon impact, instantly turns into many beautiful small balls that easily penetrate furniture, carpet and uneven flooring.
At room temperature, mercury evaporates, poisoning the air. In a person who inhales it, mercury accumulates in the body and can subsequently cause harm. Therefore, if the thermometer is broken, mercury must be removed immediately.
So, how to remove mercury from a broken thermometer?
- Professional cleaning of an apartment or any other premises (demercurization) is carried out with the participation of a neutralizer - sulfur (try to find "sulfur color" fertilizer in hardware stores). So, having collected balls of mercury in a glass container, it is firmly closed, and the cracks are filled with sulfur. It does not make mercury safe, but, by reacting with vapors, it removes volatility.
- Before removing mercury and carrying out any manipulations with it, rubber gloves must be put on your hands, and your nose and mouth should be covered with a mask or, in extreme cases, with a handkerchief.
- During the collection of mercury, it is advisable to escort everyone out of the room and open windows to ventilate and prevent the concentration of vapors. It is important not to create drafts, as a light breeze may be enough for the mercury to continue its journey.
- To effectively collect the balls of mercury from a broken thermometer, ordinary napkins soaked in vegetable oil: liquid metal easily sticks to oily places.
- To collect mercury, you can use a syringe, a medical enema, and even a pipette, with which you need to gently draw in the balls without touching them.
- There is also such a way: finely chop the newspaper, soak it in water, and collect the mercury from the broken thermometer with the resulting slurry.
- To prevent large balls of mercury from breaking up into small ones, you must first collect droplets big size, and then a small one, rolling them into one ball if possible.
- Small balls rolled into cracks or other uncomfortable places, can be collected by pulling them with a thick needle into a medical syringe.
- Collecting mercury can take a long time, so it is advisable to go outside periodically.
- In order to remove mercury from a broken thermometer, you can make a solution of potassium permanganate (even a weak one, 0.2% will do), and after wetting a cotton swab with it, walk over the surface with mercury, which will definitely stick to it. (be careful, potassium permanganate is used as a stain and you can ruin the furniture or floor!)
- Some mercury balls can be collected using tape or sticky tape.
So, mercury is collected. All collected balls must be shaken into a glass container filled with water, which should then be tightly closed and placed in plastic bag. Shoes and items exposed to mercury should also be bagged. The package should be handed over to a representative of the sanitary and rescue service for efficient disposal and processing of things.
Places on which mercury was based must be thoroughly washed. soapy water with soda, which can be prepared by diluting 400 g of soap and 500 g of soda in 10 liters of water. Effective disinfection can also be carried out with a solution of iodine or potassium permanganate.
After the mercury is removed and the room is disinfected, you need to open the windows and leave the room to ventilate for at least 4 hours.
What not to do when collecting mercury?
When removing mercury from a broken thermometer or other apparatus, you need to know that this dangerous substance should never be collected with a vacuum cleaner, broom, hands and household items.
Few citizens know how to get rid of a broken thermometer. Many simply throw out the damaged elements of the thermometer and do the standard wet cleaning of the room. However, careless handling of a hazard class 1 substance can lead to serious health complications. If you think about how to remove a broken thermometer, at home it turns out that improvised means will not be found. Even if you try to thoroughly clean and remove visible particles from the floor surface, mercury can remain indoors for up to 30 years.
Despite the fact that it is the metal balls that are not dangerous to humans, the substance begins to actively evaporate, getting into the air of the room. How to remove mercury at home is not worth thinking about correctly. It will not be possible to neutralize harmful vapors using household cleaners.
How to remove a broken thermometer?
You should know that mercury vapor does not have a specific smell or color, which is why it is impossible to detect the centers of its distribution on your own. Household tips on how to remove mercury from a thermometer using paper, brushes, adhesive tape and other improvised means will not help in completely cleaning the room.
Attention, mercury does not react to the following substances:
- Salt;
- Vinegar;
- Soda;
- Alkaline cleaners;
- Chlorine;
- Lemon acid.
How to remove mercury from a thermometer correctly can be found by calling the hotline of the duty team of environmental assistance specialists. They eliminate the toxic substance using special demercurization solutions.
How to collect mercury from a thermometer yourself?
There are no special compounds for cleaning the room at home. In order to neutralize mercury vapor, special laboratory conditions will be required. Although visible particles can be self-collected, in hard-to-reach places ah there will be metal balls.
In addition, many make the mistake of trying to collect mercury without a suit of individual chemical protection. No one knows how to collect mercury from hands. In contact with poison of the highest hazard class, special precautions must be taken.
How to remove mercury if the thermometer crashed on the floor?
Most often, the thermometer can be damaged if it hits the floor or other hard surfaces. It is not advisable to use dry or wet cleaning in this case. Mercury from a broken thermometer on the floor is not removed with a vacuum cleaner or a broom. Specialists treat the floor with a demercurization solution until it is completely cleaned.
How to remove mercury from a broken thermometer on a carpet?
The substance is particularly quickly absorbed into any kind of textile products. That is why, the ingress of poisonous metal on any fabric surfaces, whether it be a sofa or a carpet, will lead to their complete contamination. Cleaning such products will not work. You should not think about how to assemble a broken thermometer in this case - the interior items will need to be thrown away. Otherwise, daily evaporation of harmful vapors into the air of the apartment will follow.
Is it possible to collect mercury from a broken thermometer from the bathroom?
It happens that a person, out of inexperience, may try to pour mercury into the water supply system. There is no way to collect mercury from water. This situation can be attributed to the most dangerous, since the entire water supply system will be infected. The threat lies in the daily consumption of liquids supplied from the tap. You should inquire in advance about how to properly assemble a broken thermometer without consequences and poisoning.
How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer in bed?
The problem is that the substance is quickly absorbed into any porous surfaces and instantly starts to evaporate. Mercury that has entered sleeping place, infects it completely. It is recommended to change the furniture, and check the room where the mercury spill occurred using a mercury metric complex. The specialists who carry out the control measurements will give instructions on how to assemble the broken mercury thermometer correctly and without consequences. The gas analyzers that they use in their work make it possible to accurately determine the source of harmful fumes.
How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer without consequences?
It is advisable to contact the on-duty specialists of the Mercury Service. They search for harmful substances around the entire perimeter of the apartment, all interior items are examined. Mercury with a broken thermometer penetrates into places that are difficult to explore on your own. In addition, after the demercurization work, the specialists will eliminate all particles of the damaged device. Thus, not only the air of the apartment will be cleaned, but also mercury contamination of other residents of the house will not be allowed - a thermometer thrown into a garbage container also carries a danger.
Since childhood, we have been told more than once that we need to be careful with the thermometer. The main thing is not to break it. The mercury it contains is hazardous to health. If this nevertheless happened, I will tell you what to do so as not to harm your health and how to collect mercury from different surfaces.
The thermometer broke - what to do?
First steps
If the thermometer breaks, there is no need to panic. Brace yourselves, don't be nervous, and start taking precautions wisely. The instruction is:
- Remove people and pets from the premises. Only those who will clean up should stay.
- Close the doors to other rooms so that the vapors do not get in.
- Open the window. The room should be ventilated, but do not create drafts.
- Protect Yourself: put on a cotton-gauze bandage, rubber gloves and bags on your feet.
- First, collect the fragments of the thermometer, only then the mercury itself.
An interesting fact is that the process of collecting mercury even acquired a scientific name - demercurization.
You can call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or a specialized organization. Specialists measure the level of mercury in the room with instruments and conduct a complete one. Accordingly, the price of these services will be high.
You can remove the balls of mercury with your own hands. It will be more economical. The main thing is to adhere to safety precautions.
Collecting mercury balls
There are 2 main ways to clean mercury from a broken thermometer:
- mechanical;
- chemical.
The mechanical method is much simpler and more convenient than the chemical one. You can use improvised means that any hostess definitely has:
- tassel,
- paper,
- cotton wool,
- scotch.
Mechanical cleaning is performed both separately and combined with chemical cleaning. But the chemical treatment is carried out after the mechanical one to consolidate the result.
With this method, reagents are used that are not in every home. A solution of ferric chloride or sodium polysulfide is required.
Chemical method- labour intensive - A 20% solution of ferric chloride is applied to the surface, brushed and left to dry completely.
- After a day, everything is washed with soapy water, then with clean water.
It should be noted that such a solution will spoil metal, wood and some plastic surfaces. To save the surface, you can use a spray gun to treat the area with a solution of potassium permanganate. You can start cleaning mercury from a broken thermometer after 1-2 hours.
Removing balls from the floor
First of all, you need to know how to collect mercury from a thermometer. Metal cannot be removed with a broom and a vacuum cleaner. Will come to the rescue:
- wet cotton or newspaper;
- tassel;
- syringe;
- rubber pear;
- tape or adhesive tape.
Before you begin to neutralize mercury, you need to prepare a jar of water. Water will not allow the metal to evaporate further. The collected balls are placed in glass jar and close the lid tightly.
Instead of a can of water, you can use a brush and a sheet of paper:
- Sweep the rolled balls with a brush.
- We place them on a sheet of paper, then in an airtight container.
Such methods are suitable for large particles that can be seen with the naked eye and collected.
But small balls are best collected with tape:
- We glue it to the surface where the thermometer crashed.
- After collection, both mercury and used tape are also placed in a jar.
The balls are very small, they can roll into cracks and under the baseboard. Be sure to check out these places. How to determine mercury behind the baseboard?
It is very easy to detect the balls with a flashlight: they will glow with a metallic light. It is best to get them out of there with a needle or syringe.
If the metal rolled under the plinth, this part will have to be dismantled.
You can use a magnet to collect toxic substances. In this case, the work is done in thick cotton gloves. When finished cleaning, remove the glove so that the magnet remains inside. It should also be disposed of.
Mercury removal from carpets and furniture
Now let's figure out how to remove mercury from the carpet. There are two ways to solve this problem:
- You can, as in the case of the floor, use a syringe and a jar of water. We collect the balls and dispose of the thermometer.
- Roll the carpet from the edge to the center so that the balls do not “scatter” around the room. Then we pack the carpet in a bag or film. We take it outside and hang it up. We knock out mercury balls with light blows.
To prevent mercury from polluting the soil, you need to lay a film under the carpet.
If the carpet has a long pile - how to properly collect mercury from it without damaging it?
- Initially, you need to collect all the visible balls of a toxic substance.
- Then process the product 2 times. The first time we use a soap-soda solution, and the second time - any cleaning agent. Don't forget to use rubber gloves.
If the silver balls got on the furniture, I recommend wiping the surface with a strong solution of potassium permanganate. Be careful, furniture can change color!
Eliminate mercury from the toilet
Even if you threw the contents down the toilet out of ignorance, do not panic. There are two ways to remove mercury from the toilet.
- The first way is to use a rubber bulb or enema.. With its help, we are trying to draw out all the balls. Then we give everything to the Medical Unit or to a special organization for the disposal of hazardous substances.
- The second way - we get the balls with our own hands:
- Completely flush the toilet.
- Then we block access to new water.
- We put on rubber gloves and take out the mercury particles. You can use a magnet for this.
- Then we put everything in a jar of water and transfer it to specialists.
Following actions
After collecting mercury from a broken thermometer:
- Dispose of the gloves you have been wearing.
- Wash the shoes with soap and soda solution or potassium permanganate.
- Gargle with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, brush your teeth.
- Drink more diuretic fluid. It can be tea, coffee or juice. Mercury vapor that has entered the body will be excreted by the kidneys.
- Take 2-3 activated charcoal tablets.
- For a week, exclude people and pets from the room where the mercury thermometer has broken.
- Constantly ventilate the room and wipe the floors daily with the above solutions.
There are a number of “buts” that should never be done when collecting mercury:
- Make drafts. Of course, the room must be ventilated. But if you create a draft, then particles and fumes will spread throughout the apartment.
- Collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner or broom. First, the particles will settle on the mechanism, and the device will have to be thrown away. Secondly, the broom rods will further crush the mercury particles, and it will be much more difficult to collect them.
- Do not throw balls into the sewer or garbage chute. The metal settles on the walls, and will evaporate for a long time.
- Clothing, gloves, and other items that have come into contact with mercury must be bagged and disposed of. Under no circumstances should they be washed washing machine.
What is the danger
What mercury looks like after being hit, now you know - these are small silvery balls. But liquid metal flows out of the thermometer, which evaporates at room temperature. And mercury vapor has no taste and color, and this is why they are dangerous.
How long does mercury take to evaporate? Even a small ball with a diameter of 0.5 cm can evaporate for a whole year! The rate of evaporation directly depends on:
- room temperature;
- amount of loose metal;
- the area where the contamination occurred.
I must say right away that even a small amount of this substance adversely affects our health. Vapors tend to accumulate in the body. Even if you feel good, this state is deceptive.
Mercury vapor can cause:
- acute poisoning;
- chronic poisoning.
If you breathe the fumes for several hours, acute poisoning will occur. It is characterized by:
- metallic taste in the mouth;
- headache;
- bleeding gums;
- nausea.
In this case, it is impossible to quickly remove the poisonous metal from the body.
In chronic poisoning, obvious signs may not be immediately observed. Only over time, malaise manifests itself: you get irritated over trifles, problems with sleep appear, and the nervous system also suffers.
Summing up
Now a broken thermometer will not cause you a feeling of panic, you already know how to collect mercury correctly. If you decide to do it yourself, follow the instructions above.
For a more accurate understanding of the solution to this problem, watch the video in this article. And leave questions in the comments.
How to collect mercury if a thermometer breaks at home? — This issue is very important and has been relevant enough for a long period of time. Despite new technologies and safe modern electronic thermometers, many remain faithful to thermometers with mercury. In this article, we will consider all the rules of behavior in unforeseen situations and the disposal of mercury balls.
What is a mercury thermometer?
Why in modern world 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.
Benefits of a mercury thermometer:
- The medical device is the most accurate. Its performance is considered the closest to that of a reference gas thermometer.
- Wide temperature range environment at which the thermometer correctly measures body temperature. This is possible due to the special properties of liquid metal: it freezes at very low temperatures and melts at very high temperatures.
Important! Measure body temperature even under extreme conditions mercury thermometer won't be too 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 healthcare facilities.
- The cost of the device is low and affordable for everyone, which is especially important for many today.
- Indisputable advantages are also simplicity and ease of use.
Important! Find out how dangerous its concentration is.
Unfortunately, the mercury device also has disadvantages, one of which crosses out all its advantages and makes the thermometer an undesirable item in a home first aid kit.
Disadvantages of a mercury thermometer:
- To measure body temperature accurately, you should devote 5 to 10 minutes to this process, which is not very convenient.
- The glass cone is very thin and can easily break on mechanical contact with a hard surface. At the same time, mercury, which spreads over considerable distances, quickly turns into a toxic and poisonous vapor. The consequences of such an accident (and you can’t call it anything else) 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 definitely have information on how to remove mercury from a broken thermometer at home.
Consequences of a broken mercury thermometer
Mercury is a liquid metal and looks really beautiful. But looks are often deceiving. Metal belongs to the first class especially harmful substances. Already at an air temperature of 18 degrees, mercury evaporates, infecting the air with harmful toxins.
Important! The evaporation of the entire volume of mercury from the thermometer leads to an excess of the concentration of the maximum permissible norms by more than two million times. This is the most main reason why you need to know how to collect mercury if a thermometer breaks at home.
By inhaling contaminated air, a person can get serious problems with health:
- Headaches;
- Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
- Problems related to the functionality of the kidneys;
- Stomatitis;
- Decreased hemoglobin in the blood;
- Dermatitis of varying complexity;
- Arrhythmia;
- visual impairment;
- convulsions;
- Unstable mental state.
The first signs of mercury poisoning
If you did not make it to the maximum short time collect mercury, if the thermometer breaks at home, you may feel the following ailments:
- General weakness, drowsiness, fatigue;
- Headache;
- Irritability;
- dizziness and nausea;
- Loss of appetite;
- Trembling of 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;
- Increase in body temperature;
- Runny nose;
- Diarrhea;
- Confusion of consciousness and inadequate perception of reality.
Important! It is worth knowing that mercury vapor poisoning may not appear immediately. If you hesitated and could not immediately collect mercury when the thermometer broke at home, the consequences of this nature are quite possible:
- an acute type of poisoning can be felt a couple of hours after inhaling air with vapors;
- chronic - only after a few years.
Prohibited actions in case of an accident with a mercury thermometer
Panicking, people do not think about how to collect mercury from a broken thermometer at home correctly, and begin to do completely prohibited actions, which only worsen big picture. Therefore, first of all, we will indicate what cannot be done:
- Under no circumstances should you touch the mercury droplets with your bare hands.
- It is forbidden to throw the particles of a broken thermometer into the garbage chute or in the trash.
Important! Two grams of mercury in a thermometer can pollute six thousand cubic meters of air.
- In order to collect mercury faster, if the thermometer breaks, it is forbidden to drain the remains of mercury into the sewer, since the liquid metal settles in the pipes, and it is impossible to remove it from there.
- Do not collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner. The use of such a technique will only help the metal evaporate faster and spread the vapors around the apartment. The vacuum cleaner, moreover, after collecting mercury will have to be thrown away, as it will become dangerous for residents.
- It is forbidden to use a broom while collecting mercury. Thus, you will only break the balls with rods and contribute to their rapid evaporation.
- Collecting liquid metal with a magnet will only have the opposite effect. Rather, mercury will be repelled by a magnet, rather than attracted. This is due to the very weak magnetic field liquid metal.
- You can not wash - either by hand or in a washing machine, clothes and shoes that have come into contact with mercury.
- It is forbidden to open windows and doors at the same time in the room where the incident occurred. A draft will contribute to the rapid evaporation of the metal.
How to remove mercury from the floor from a thermometer at home? Preparatory work
The main rule in eliminating the problem is to keep a sober mind. Don't panic. Keep calm. If you do everything calmly and correctly, then terrible consequences can be avoided.
First steps:
- First of all, remove the elderly, pregnant women, children and animals from the apartment.
- Close the door in the room where the trouble occurred, open the window. Make sure there is no draft.
- Prepare a lamp or flashlight to better see all the grains.
- Remove broken thermometers from surfaces.
Equipment
Be sure to take care of your safety. For this you will need:
How to collect mercury from the floor from a thermometer?
The following items will help you quickly and completely remove mercury from the thermometer:
- Rubber syringe;
- Knitting needle;
- Copper plate;
- Syringe;
- Wet cotton;
- Patch;
- Scotch;
- Wet newspaper;
- brush for drawing;
- Glass jar filled with water.
How to collect mercury from the floor if the thermometer is broken. Cleaning steps
Having performed the first steps, protecting yourself from direct contact with mercury and having prepared everything you need, you can proceed to 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:
- Demercurization - collection of all metal balls.
- Chemical demercurization - cleaning the premises with disinfectants.
- Appeal to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Demercurization:
- Use a lamp or flashlight to illuminate the scene. Carefully inspect all surfaces.
Important! If mercury gets on soft toys or clothes, then the best option will put them in plastic bag and throw it in the trash. If the items are very dear to you, then take them out carefully to the street so that all the remnants of mercury evaporate from them.
- Start collecting with large balls. This way you will avoid their subsequent division into smaller elements. To do this, bend the sheet thick paper into the shape of a scoop and use a knitting needle or a copper plate to collect mercury droplets in it.
- Carefully move the balls of mercury that are not far from each other into one pile so that they reunite.
- Collect small droplets with adhesive tape or plaster.
- You can remove mercury from a thermometer from hard-to-reach places (crevices on the floor and furniture) using a cotton swab soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate. A syringe with a thick needle may also come in handy in this case.
- To collect mercury from the carpet, if the thermometer is broken, a syringe will help. After that, the carpet should be taken out to fresh air so that all remaining microparticles are completely weathered.
- Put all the particles that you managed to collect into a jar of water. All the materials used during cleaning are also collected there: cotton wool, adhesive tape, plaster, cotton swabs. After removing all the remnants of the accident, the jar must be tightly closed.
Important! The water will prevent the mercury from evaporating and spreading through the air.
- Place all items of equipment and tools in a bag, tie it tightly. The package can be thrown into the trash.
Important! The entire demercurization process can take several hours. During it, you should take breaks - every 15 minutes go out into the fresh air. So you can additionally protect yourself from poisoning with harmful fumes.
Chemical demercurization
For further processing prepare a disinfectant solution. You can use one of the following recipes.
Solution #1:
- Mix a few crystals of potassium permanganate with water. The liquid should be dark brown in color.
- Add salt and vinegar to the solution, taking into account the proportion: 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of brown liquid.
- Pour in a pinch citric acid and mix the solution thoroughly so that all the ingredients are completely dissolved.
Solution #2:
- Dilute 1 liter of bleach in 5 liters of water.
- You can also use any chlorine bleach and mix it with water in a ratio of 100 ml to 800 ml, respectively.
Important! Wallpaper and laminate cannot be processed with such a solution, as this will irrevocably spoil the material. him, by by and large, are used in government institutions such as Kindergarten, hospital or school.
Solution #3:
- Dissolve 40 g of soap and 50 g of soda in 1 liter of water.
- Stir the components thoroughly until each is completely dissolved.
How to remove mercury from the floor if the thermometer breaks? Disinfecting the room:
- Put on rubber gloves.
- Wipe all surfaces in the room with a soft cloth soaked in the prepared solution.
Important! Special attention should be given to cracks on the floor and furniture, skirting boards.
- After 8 hours, wipe all treated surfaces with clean water rag.
Important! After treatment with a chlorine-containing solution, wipe the surfaces with clean water after 20 minutes.
- After treatment, the room must be ventilated for at least 2-3 hours.
- Throughout the week after the incident, the apartment must be cleaned daily.
What to do after removing the remains of a broken thermometer
Once you have finished cleaning the apartment, you should take care of the collected residues:
- Call 101 and find out where it will be possible to transfer a jar of mercury drops to an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
- If you still have doubts about the quality of cleaning, then call the staff of the sanitary and epidemiological station. Via special device they will be able to measure the concentration of vapors in the air of the apartment.
- Take care of own health, because during cleaning, even in equipment, there is a chance to get poisoned. For this:
- Rinse your mouth thoroughly with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
- Brush your teeth.
- Take a few tablets of activated charcoal.
- The next day, drink as much liquid as possible: tea, juice, compote, water, coffee.
Important! If the child managed to swallow a drop of mercury, do not panic. Mercury balls are not absorbed by the intestines and are excreted without any problems along with feces.
Once you've dealt with the aftermath of a home accident, it's time to start thinking about buying more safe device. Read detailed reviews:
Knowing how to collect mercury if a thermometer breaks, you are somewhat protected from the deplorable consequences of poisoning with harmful toxins. But only to some extent. by the most the best option there will be a complete rejection of unsafe items for measuring body temperature and the use of alternative devices. It is impossible to foresee situations with a broken thermometer, as well as the consequences of such a nuisance. Protect your home, especially if there are children in it.