What to do if a mercury thermometer crashes in an apartment?

Many apartments still have mercury thermometers that are successfully used in everyday life. It often happens that they break. Everyone knows that breathing mercury vapor is harmful, therefore, as soon as the liquid metal is outside the glass shell, appropriate measures must be taken.

Procedure if a mercury thermometer crashes in an apartment

First you need to know how much mercury is in the thermometer. The amount of mercury in the thermometer does not exceed 2 grams and it is not able to evaporate instantly, and even after 5 minutes such a small concentrate is not particularly dangerous. For such a short period of time it is impossible to poison, so instead of panic and rush, calmly take the following procedure:

1. If children and old people are in the room, then first of all take them out of the apartment. It will be good if weather conditions and time allow you to go outside.
2. Wear rubber shoes on your feet, if not, then wrap slippers in plastic bags around your slippers. This is necessary so that the particles of the substance are not absorbed into the sole and are not carried further around the apartment.
3. It is necessary to cool the room to 18 ° C, because it is from this temperature and below that the mercury does not evaporate. Open the window, turn off the batteries if possible, and turn on the air conditioner.
4. When the temperature drops slightly, carefully crossing the balls of mercury, create a draft so that fresh air pushes out harmful fumes and fills the space with it.
5. Put on a cotton-gauze dressing soaked in water or soaked in soda solution, this will reduce the amount of inhaled vapor. It is advisable not to be in a room with a broken thermometer for a long time.
6. Call the Ministry of Emergencies or the regional sanitary and epidemiological station on a single number 112so that they give you proper instructions before they arrive.

While you follow the recommendations, cover the scattered metal balls with a damp cloth, so you can slow the evaporation and avoid shipping.

Wait for the specialists to come and help to dispose of the thermometer.

How to collect mercury yourself?

By removing at least part of the mercury yourself, you will significantly reduce the risk of evaporation from mercury balls. However, when deciding to collect the mercury yourself, be careful and take caution.

To safely eliminate a broken thermometer you will need:

• A bottle of cold water (in the presence of potassium permanganate, you can make a solution with it);
• Gloves;
• Brush;
• Flashlight;
• Scotch;
• Paper or foil.

A solution with potassium permanganate is created taking into account the following proportions: 2 g of the substance per liter of water.

To remove mercury yourself, you need to do the following:

• Wear rubber gloves, if applicable nitrile gloves, which are suitable for household work with chemicals. If there are no gloves, wrap your hands in a thick, non-absorbent cloth. In general, it is desirable to be dressed and shod in something that is not a pity to throw it away.
• In the room, especially over the place where the thermometer crashed, there should be good bright lighting to see the brilliance of even the smallest particles of liquid metal. To do this, it is better to use a flashlight.
• Using paper, you should bring together the fragments of the thermometer, after which the large mercury balls roll together.
• With a dampened brush, collect the resulting clumps of mercury and lower them one by one in a bottle of water. After each addition of metal balls, close the container with a lid.
• Mercury clogged in the floor gap is disposed of with adhesive tape or adhesive tape. Small balls collected in this way are also immersed in a potassium permanganate solution or simply in cold water.
• After you need to wash the floor with a soda solution: take 50 g of soda per liter of water and dissolve in it shabby laundry soap about 40 grams. In extreme cases, use simple bleach.
• A rag, clothes, garbage must be collected in a tightly sealed bag.
• Call the Ministry of Emergencies number 112and talk about the actions taken. Then they will advise you on how to properly dispose of garbage and things.

If you have a skirting board, you will have to tear it down and also dispose of it. Everything was much more complicated when the thermometer crashed and mercury spilled onto the carpet. In this case, it needs to be thrown out, since it is not possible to completely rid the villi of stubborn metal balls. To do this safely for yourself and others, you need to consult with specialists.

After the work done to eliminate the broken mercury thermometer, it is worth washing well and going out to breathe fresh air.

The first two weeks, emergency workers recommend thoroughly ventilating the house and disinfecting the floors with soda solution. You also need to often walk in the fresh air in order to avoid poisoning the body.

With self-disposal of mercury forbidden:

• Vacuum or sweep metal balls with a broom;
• Touch a broken thermometer and mercury with your bare hands;
• Dispose of mercury-containing solution in a garbage chute or garbage container. The solution must be disposed of in accordance with the advice of the Ministry of Emergencies;
• Wash in the washing machine the things that you were in when removing mercury;
• Flush mercury compounds into the sewer;
• Bury mercury in the ground.

Mercury is a caustic, liquid metal, therefore, to avoid poisoning the body, gargle with a weak potassium permanganate solution, brush your teeth, take activated charcoal (1 tablet is designed for 10 kg), drink plenty of fluids.

The process of weathering of mercury is long, but if everything is done calmly and correctly, a broken thermometer will become only an unpleasant case, but not a critical one.

How to check the concentration of mercury vapor in an apartment?

Small mercury balls when breaking a thermometer are able to roll in the corners and clog into the gap. And even with carefully implemented measures to get rid of mercury, it is likely that you did not remove all the particles. It is because of the presence of such “crumbs” that the evaporation of a harmful substance continues, which subsequently can lead to a deterioration in the well-being of residents.

Checking the concentration of mercury on your own at home is a difficult task, as special analyzers must be used for this. Among the measurements of evaporation of mercury vapor, there are such meters as a mercury lamp device with a detector and a special filter with a pump.

The cost of the sensors is high enough to buy them for one occasion. It is much more profitable and reliable to call the specialists of the laboratory service at the sanitary-epidemiological station. They detect the concentration of vaporized metal using a gas analyzer. After that, experts fill the entire room with a chemical containing iodine. The process itself is called chemical demercurization.

Otherwise, unfortunately, mercury vapor cannot be disposed of.

Symptoms of Mercury Poisoning

Mercury vapor poisoning occurs when the first measures are delayed and if metal balls are clogged up in hard to reach places, the room was poorly ventilated and disinfection was not carried out. A significant factor is the increased sensitivity of the human body.

There are two types of mercury poisoning: acute and chronic.

Signs of Acute Poisoning:

• Weakness of the body, accompanied by increased drowsiness;
• A metallic taste is felt in the mouth;
• Strong salivation;
• Fever;
• Headaches and dizziness;
• Nausea and vomiting;
• Diarrhea;
• Chills.

Symptoms are worse with increasing mercury in your body. With a running case, there is a likelihood of problems with the heart and breathing.

With chronic poisoning observed:

• Tremor of hands and eyelids, sometimes the whole body;
• Impaired kidney function;
• The appearance of a nervous breakdown;
• Feeling unwell.

Symptoms also include indications characteristic of acute poisoning, only in an enhanced form.

If poisoning has occurred, then you should definitely provide first aid at home. The patient should take activated charcoal and lie down in a well-ventilated room. During this period, doctors advise drinking as much warm water as possible in order to empty the stomach.

Appropriate treatment for mercury vapor is carried out in a hospital under the supervision of qualified doctors. Therefore, after first aid, you need to call an ambulance.

There are a number of recommendations that can help reduce the risk of a mercury thermometer breaking and causing further evaporation effects. These include the following tips:

• The mercury thermometer should be stored in the plastic case intended for it;
• Shoot down body temperature readings away from solid objects and surfaces, hold the thermometer firmly, but not squeezing it very hard;
• If there is a child in the house, then hide the device in an inaccessible place;
• In case of a crashed thermometer, follow the rules for removing fragments and metal balls;
• Dispose of the thermometer correctly.

The only sure way to avoid an unpleasant situation is to purchase an electronic or infrared thermometer, which is completely safe, and it also measures the temperature correctly.