A thermometer should be in every family’s home medicine cabinet: a rise in temperature can be a symptom of many unpleasant diseases. But in addition to the undeniable benefits, ordinary thermometers can also carry considerable danger.
How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer
Why does a thermometer need mercury?
Even after the invention of electronic thermometers, conventional mercury thermometers were used quite often. Firstly, because of their low price, and secondly, because of the high measurement accuracy, which they owe to such an unusual metal as mercury. The fact is that, unlike many metals, mercury begins to melt at a very low temperature, already at -38,83 ° C, at normal room temperature, mercury is in a liquid state. When heated and cooled, it can expand and contract very quickly, showing the temperature with an accuracy of 0,01 ° C. Neither alcohol nor glycerin thermometers are capable of this.
All this did not prevent European countries in 2007 from completely banning all mercury thermometers and blood pressure monitors, and there were reasons for this.
Why is mercury dangerous?
By itself, mercury is not dangerous for a living organism, however, the mercury ions formed during its oxidation are extremely toxic. At room temperature, mercury cannot oxidize, nevertheless, if it melts at -38,83 ° C, it starts to evaporate already at + 18 ° C. Mercury vapor can cause serious damage to the body: in the lungs, when exposed to large amounts of oxygen, mercury begins to oxidize.
To protect your family, take the money and purchase electronic thermometers, they are not too accurate to measure mercury.
The worst thing is, firstly, in the neurotoxic effect of mercury (it destroys nerve cells), and secondly, in its ability to accumulate in the body. That is, from a short contact with a broken thermometer, your health, most likely, will not suffer much. But not to notice a few balls of mercury somewhere behind the closet and be under the influence of its vapors for several days is already much more serious.
Acute mercury poisoning can lead to unpleasant consequences, including death. Acute poisoning will not come from a broken thermometer, but this does not mean that spilled mercury can be taken lightly.
What to do with a broken thermometer?
If you have broken the thermometer, you need to collect all the mercury balls as carefully as possible. To do this, take a jar or container of water, dissolve a little manganese or soda in it.
Get children and pets out of the room. Put on rubber gloves on your hands. Use a lamp or flashlight to illuminate the floor or other surface with a broken thermometer so that each ball of mercury is visible. Using a soft, damp brush, cotton wool dipped in a solution of manganese, or two white sheets of paper, collect all the balls that you see and pour them into the jar with the solution. If the mercury gets into the cracks in the floor, sprinkle it with sand – it will help pull these balls out. Then seal the jar tightly, call your local EMERCOM office and ask where you can take the collected mercury. Do not forget to thoroughly ventilate the room afterwards.
If they cannot clearly answer you on the phone what to do with mercury, take it to the Ministry of Emergency Situations yourself, they will be obliged to accept it. Never dispose of it in a garbage chute or sewer.
If you notice in yourself after some time: – dizziness, – headache, – drowsiness, – nausea, – weakness,
see your doctor and tell them that you have recently had contact with a poisonous substance. True, in most cases, such symptoms turn out to be self-hypnosis, nevertheless, be vigilant.