Disposal of mercury at home. How to properly dispose of a broken mercury thermometer. This situation is characterized by the following symptoms:

… Do you know this?

It is good if there is an adult at home: even if he does not know something, he will still take the main risks.

However, our safety Everyday life requires the maximum dissemination of such information. It seems that schoolchildren in grades 6-7 are already able to figure out how to properly dispose of a thermometer.

If your first aid kit still contains an old mercury thermometer, find out in advance how and where to dispose of the thermometer in case of "Sentry, crashed!"

Let's start simple: what to do from the very beginning.

Maintain your composure and remove children, animals, and the infirm from the room.

Open the window in the room and close the door tightly - you need to lower the temperature in the room below 18 degrees, at which mercury evaporates, and a draft should not be allowed.

Eliminate the alarmists - they will try to break into the room with a vacuum cleaner. This is STRICTLY IMPOSSIBLE! Mercury will be absorbed into all the insides of the vacuum cleaner and it will poison you for the rest of its existence. Do you feel sorry for throwing it away? Is a broken mercury thermometer more important? It's your decision, but don't forget to properly dispose of the poisonous vacuum cleaner afterwards - don't put it in the trash and don't poison other people!

We act clearly, as in the army:

1. For all participants rescue operation prepare wet gauze bandages for the nose and mouth, medical or simple plastic gloves and plastic bags for the legs - these will be your sanitary shoe covers. Without this, it is IMPOSSIBLE to enter the room where the mercury thermometer has broken!!!
2. Prepare a jar of water - there you will lower all stripping.
3. Prepare soft paper in a bowl (toilet or napkins, or, at worst, newspapers) soaked in sunflower oil or just in water
4. Prepare adhesive tape and adhesive plaster - mercury and small pieces of glass stick well to them
5. Find in the first aid kit an ordinary rubber enema that you will not be sorry to throw away
6. Find a syringe in the first aid kit - it is also convenient for them to suck mercury out of the cracks
7. Prepare a brush dipped in water to push small particles out of deep cracks.
8. Prepare a FLASHLIGHT - one, and preferably 2-3 - it is the lanterns, if a mercury thermometer breaks, they will give you the opportunity to see the smallest particles in small cracks.
9. Prepare a bucket of liquid for demercurization: a very dark solution of potassium permanganate - almost black. Or a concentrated bleach solution. In the worst case, you can make a solution of 40 gr. soap, 30 gr. soda and a liter of water, treat the floor and other mercury-contaminated places if a mercury thermometer or fluorescent lamp breaks
10. Finally, prepare soft rags with which you will wipe the surface with decontaminating liquid and whole plastic bags, where you will throw these rags, brushes, gloves.

Yes, yes, this is how troublesome and responsibly you need to prepare if a thermometer breaks in your home.

Now dress properly, tie your nose and mouth with wet gauze bandages. Put on gloves and boot covers. Enter the room and close the door tightly behind you.

Using flashlights, examine the entire possibly affected surface. Break it into sectors and clearly set the task for the assistants. Do not rush to the first clearly visible spot: You must act as miners, i.e. step only on a well-cleaned surface.

Take a break every 15 minutes - leave the room (preferably outside) and breathe clean air. Throw used gloves and shoe covers into prepared bags. Then dress again and go to the room where the mercury thermometer crashed.

Select droplets with enemas, adhesive tape, adhesive tape, adjust the droplets to each other with damp or oiled paper. Immediately throw the waste into a jar of water: if the thermometer is broken, you will have to clean the room for a long time. It takes 2 hours!

After you have chosen everything and the inspection of the place with the help of flashlights is optimistic, start the demercurization process - all the remaining tiny droplets of mercury should enter into chemical reaction with prepared liquids. This procedure must be done twice - do not give up, the fate of your children lies in them, and yours too - mercury poisoning, this is a very dangerous thing.

Do wet cleaning for two weeks. After that, it is advisable to call a sanitation station and make sure that the concentration of mercury vapor is normal.

And finally, everything dangerous lies in dense plastic bags. What to do next with this?

IN NO EVENT SHOULD IT BE DISPOSED IN THE WASH!!!

Where to throw away the thermometer

Disposal of thermometers and all mercury-affected waste cannot be carried out on your own - this is a very complicated and dangerous procedure.

Disposal of thermometers is a matter of personal conscience and responsibility of citizens of Ukraine. At present, we simply cannot say that where to dispose of the thermometer is intractable.

We find a list of regional and district centers where this service exists:

Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovograd, Lutsk, Lviv, Nikolaev, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Uzhgorod, Ternopil, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnitsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi.

And also in regional centers:

alexandria, ananiev, askania-nova, akhtyrka, balakleya, balta, bar, baranovka, bakhmach, bashtanka, white church, belyaevka, berdichev, berdyansk, berezhany, berezanka, berislav, bobrinets, bogodukhov, boguslav, bolekhov, borzna, borislav, borispol , brovary, fords, bugsk, buryn, varva, cornflowers, upper horn, merry, vyzhnitsa, grapes, vladimir-volynsky, volchansk, volnogorsk, volnyansk, vyshgorod, gadyach, galich, genichevsk, deaf, gniva, bare pier, ancient settlement, gorodnya , town, gorokhov, gulyaipole, dergachi, dneprodzerzhinsk, dneproprudnoe, valley, dolinskaya, drapov, drogobych, dubno, dubrovitsa, dunaevtsy, dymer, elanets, zhmerinka, zbarazh, zvenigorodka, zdolbunov, zenkov, zolochev, ivanopol, raisins, ilyichevsk, irshava , ichnya, kazatyn, kalinovka, kamyanets-podilsky, kamyanka-dneprovskaya, kashirsky stone, kahovka, males, kovel, kodyma, kolki, komarno, konotop, korop, korosten, kostopol, kotovsk, krasnohrad, red windows, kremenchug, crooked lake , Krivoy Rog, Lebedin, Limansky, Lubny, Lubny boml, magdalinovka, malin, manevichi, manganese, mezhhirya, melitopol, mena, mirgorod, monastery, mukacheve, narodichi, nizhin, nikopol, new odessa, novohrad-volynsky, novomyrgorod, novoselitsa, novoukrainka, new corner, butts, ovruch, clearing, ordzhonikidze, nuts, prison, ochakov, pavlograd, partisans, pervomaisk, perechyn, pereyaslav-khmelnitsky, pyryatin, graveyard, canopies, helper, pochaev, priluki, putila, pyatykhatki, radekhi, rakhov, rzhishchev, romny, sarny, sakhnovshchina, Svalyava, Svetlovodsk, Sinelnikovo, Skadovsk, Skvira, Slavuta, Slavutich, swept away, Sokal, Starokonstantinov, Tarashcha, Tetiev, Tokmak, Turk, Uzin, Uman, Novgorod-Seversky, Fastov, Khmilnik, Khorol, Khotyn, Khust, Tsyurupinsk, Chortkov, Chudnov, Shargorod, Shatsk, Shepetovka, Shostka, Shpola, Shchors, Energodar, Yagotin, Yaremcha

Proper disposal of thermometers - the health of our children!

Now let's think about how to prevent a recurrence dangerous history titled "If the thermometer crashed."

After the experience, you will never want it! Once having carried out the procedure for cleaning the apartment from a broken mercury thermometer, a person begins to understand that the main thing in medical technology for home - SAFETY!!!

Buy electronic thermometers, they quickly take readings and do not represent mortal danger for you and your family, like mercury. Mercury thermometers are banned throughout the civilized world, which no longer faces the problem: what to do if a mercury thermometer breaks!

The temperature measuring instrument can serve very long time, but it has a serious drawback: even with a slight damage to the protective layer, mercury pours out, and it is very poisonous substance. If the thermometer crashed in an apartment building, residents of all apartments are at risk. Therefore, simply taking it and throwing it into the garbage chute or toilet is unacceptable.

We must always remember that the danger is not the metal itself, but its vapors. If the mercury balls are not removed, then there will be a constant inhalation of toxic fumes, and this will eventually lead to severe poisoning. Such poisoning can even lead to death.

With various damage to the thermometer, mercury either flows out or not. Regardless of the outcome, the damaged thermometer and glass fragments must be folded into a glass jar, poured cold water and close hermetically. The jar is still packed in a sealed plastic bag. All this is handed over for disposal in the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

What to do if mercury leaked out?

The first thing to do in this case is to get everyone out of the room where the thermometer crashed. Not only people, but also animals must leave the room so that they do not spread the mercury balls throughout the apartment. Next, you need to close the door to the room and open wide all the windows. Drafts should not be allowed, because because of them, mercury balls will scatter throughout the room and can get into places where it will be difficult to find them (cracks, baseboards). In this case, the balls are broken into smaller ones, which only exacerbates the situation. It is necessary to moisten a rag with soda solution or potassium permanganate and spread it on the threshold in front of the door. To prevent mercury from getting on upholstered furniture or indoor flowers, you need to cover them with polyethylene.

To clean up the remains of a broken thermometer, you must wear rubber gloves, shoe covers, and a medical mask on your face. If there is no mask in the first-aid kit, then gauze moistened with water, folded in four layers, should be applied to the face. It is advisable to wear synthetic clothing, because clothing made from natural fabrics (such as cotton) absorbs mercury vapor more strongly.

Disposal of products used to remove mercury

If mercury gets on the carpet, you need to bend its corners to prevent the balls from rolling onto the floor covering. Many people use a vacuum cleaner to remove mercury from carpet. This cannot be done, because the vacuum cleaner motor heats up during operation, thereby accelerating the evaporation process. Mercury also settles on the motor, thereby forming a thin film. Therefore, the vacuum cleaner after collecting mercury can no longer be used, it must be handed over for recycling.

If mercury got on a pile rug, then it must be wrapped in polyethylene, taken out into the yard and hung on a crossbar. This gives the mercury a chance to drain off the rug. But it must not be allowed to fall into the ground, so polyethylene must be laid under the crossbar. As soon as the balls roll down from the carpet, the carpet must be beaten out for at least half an hour.

Do not collect mercury from the floor with paper or a broom. To do this, you need to take a newspaper or a napkin, moisten them in vegetable oil(olive or sunflower). Mercury balls adhere well to such surfaces. You can also use tape or adhesive tape. must be sent in a sealed plastic bag. If mercury balls get under the baseboards or under the parquet, they will have to be removed. If the floor is made of wooden boards, it is dismantled and cleaned under it.

Many people think that chlorinated iron or blue vitriol can be used when cleaning mercury from the floor, but this opinion is incorrect. Chlorinated iron does attract mercury pellets to itself, but it is highly toxic. Copper sulfate dissolves mercury, thereby "smearing" it. Cleaning is more difficult in this case.

After cleaning the mercury balls, the place where they were must be urgently treated with some kind of absorbent. The easiest way to treat is to crush activated charcoal tablets and sprinkle them on the infected surface. After fifteen minutes, the coal is poured into a vessel with water.

The hardest part is removing mercury from metal surfaces. Mercury balls are rubbed on such a surface, rather than rolled, and in this state, the evaporation of mercury occurs much faster. To remove it from a metal surface, you need to use a copper plate. With this plate, you need to collect the metal and throw it into cold water.

The place where there was mercury must be treated with a five percent solution. of hydrochloric acid. Subsequently, this place should be treated with a five percent soda solution for five days.

Evaporation of mercury in the room where the thermometer crashed will reach a concentration fifty times higher than normal in an hour. If by this time no measures have yet been taken, it is no longer possible to take measures on your own at home. It is necessary to close the premises and call the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

After removing visible mercury in the room, wet cleaning should be done. For this cleaning, you must use bleach or potassium permanganate. Cleaning is done twice. After eliminating all the consequences, it is necessary to contact the sanitary and epidemiological station so that its employees measure the content of mercury vapor in the air in the room. The room needs to be ventilated for a few more weeks.

If the trouble happened in the kitchen, then all the products that were not in the refrigerator are disposed of. All utensils must be thoroughly washed, and then disposed of all rags, sponges and towels used.

Safety regulations

If mercury comes into contact with the skin, it should be collected with tape or adhesive tape. The affected area should then be washed with water. laundry soap and sprinkle with lime. Lime may cause a slight burn to the skin, but it will not allow mercury to enter the body. If you still have symptoms of poisoning (vomiting and indigestion), you should urgently seek medical advice. medical care. When cleaning the room from mercury, you need to take breaks every twenty minutes and drink as much liquid as possible. After cleaning, you must thoroughly brush your teeth, rinse your mouth with potassium permanganate and take a few tablets of activated charcoal.

Things that were used to clean up mercury must be disposed of. It is unacceptable to use them in the future or simply throw them away.

If mercury does not leak

If the thermometer is broken, but the thermometer body is not damaged and the mercury has not leaked out, then the following must be done:

• Carefully inspect the thermometer and make sure that no mercury leakage has really occurred.
• Put on gloves, place the damaged thermometer in a glass jar and seal it tightly.
• Find out the addresses of services that are directly involved in the disposal of broken thermometers, and hand over the thermometer for recycling at the nearest one.

Throw away the thermometer dumpster Absolutely forbidden. Such a violation, if detected, is punishable by a fine. Persons residing in apartment buildings who, in the event of an incident, did not report it to the housing office or the sanitary and epidemiological station.

AT medical institutions, as in everyday life, they are accustomed to using mercury thermometers. They are simple and easy to use. The readings are quite accurate, while they have an affordable price for everyone.

But their disadvantage is that they are easy to beat. And every person should know how to dispose of and where to put a mercury thermometer in case of beating.

A mercury thermometer is a glass flask with a thin tube inside, which is located on the scale. The air has been evacuated from the flask. On one side is a reservoir with two grams of mercury. The measuring range of the scale is 34-42 degrees Celsius. Each degree on the scale is divided into 10 divisions. In contact with the human body, mercury heats up and begins to expand, rising along the scale, thereby showing body temperature.

The error of this device is only 0.1 degrees.

The impact of mercury on humans

mercury balls

Such a seemingly simple device as a thermometer carries great danger for the human body if it is accidentally broken. And all because mercury emits extremely toxic fumes. It evaporates at a temperature of +18 ° C and above, both in air and in water. When mercury hits a hard surface, it breaks into small round particles. Immediately begins to spread: evaporate, penetrate into the smallest cracks, thereby poisoning the air around.

In case of poisoning with mercury vapor, the first symptoms may appear within a day. These can be headaches, weakness, irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite, sore throat, metallic taste in the mouth. As well as bleeding gums, nausea, vomiting. Then there are pains in the abdomen, diarrhea, violation of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

If the concentration of mercury in the air is too high, everything can end in death.

The insidiousness of this metal is that it is very poorly excreted and can accumulate in the body for years, spread with the blood to all organs, poisoning them. Therefore, using mercury thermometers, you need to be careful.

But if the thermometer does break, it is very important to know how to behave and how to dispose of the thermometer and mercury.

How to dispose of a mercury thermometer

First of all, you should not panic, you need to be extremely careful and organized in order to properly dispose of the damaged device and mercury. So, what to do with a thermometer and mercury.

You need to carefully inspect the device. Make sure that mercury has not really penetrated outside. Next, you need to take a glass vessel with a tight-fitting lid and place a thermometer there. Exist special organizations where you need to hand over this vessel with a thermometer for recycling. It is strictly forbidden to throw it in the trash. So you're not only endangering environment but you are breaking the law.

1. If mercury leaked out of a broken thermometer.

How to behave in this case, you will learn below. The first thing to do is to get everyone out of the room (people, animals). They can inhale the mercury fumes and spread it throughout the house. It is also necessary to ventilate the room. In order not to create a draft, you need to close the doors and open the windows. Otherwise, a draft can spread mercury balls everywhere. Ventilation will help to get rid of almost all fumes, provided that it will be ventilated for at least a week. Take a piece of cloth and dampen it with the solution soda. This cloth should be placed on the doorstep.

Before you clean up and throw away mercury directly, be sure to put on rubber gloves and a bandage on your face, preferably moistened with a soda solution.

Only then can you get down to business. Mercury must be handled with care.. It must be collected in a jar of cold water, you can use a syringe or syringe to collect it. The whole process can take several hours, as the mercury balls are constantly crushed. So that they do not roll everywhere, you can put a wet rag around the "accident". Place the fragments of the thermometer in the jar too. After, it must be tightly closed with a lid, put temporarily on a balcony or in a garage. And then hand over the mercury in special service. Where to take, you can look on the Internet.

You can't just throw the jar in the trash.

Room cleaning

After collecting the metal balls, the smallest droplets will still remain. For their final elimination, it is necessary to process the floor and walls. chlorine solution. Such cleaning will have to be done four times a day for a month. It is necessary to alternate cleaning with chlorine with cleaning with plain water.

After all the procedures, the question arises of where to throw things that have come into contact with a toxic substance.

All things that were on you during cleaning, all rags, devices used for cleaning mercury, must also be given to where they will be disposed of broken thermometer. To date,

Wear rubber gloves when cleaning and collecting mercury

services that can utilize mercury exist not only in megacities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc.), but also in small towns. The addresses of institutions where you need to take a mercury thermometer can be found in help desk your city. For example, in St. Petersburg it is: 064.

Where to take a thermometer if there are no similar organizations nearby

If in your locality there are no such enterprises, you can contact state pharmacy. They are required by law to accept mercury and items contaminated with it.

What not to do while cleaning

• You can not use a broom and even more so a vacuum cleaner. So you will only spread the poison everywhere. Using a vacuum cleaner, you will spray mercury into the air and you can no longer cope with it yourself.
• Do not wash cloths in the sink or washing machine. Flush mercury down the toilet.
• You can't just throw the thermometer in the trash.

Safety Precautions When Using a Mercury Thermometer

Unforeseen situations happen in life, a broken thermometer is one of them. To avoid this

Take precautions when using a thermometer

unpleasant and hazardous to health incident, you must adhere to safety measures. Everything is quite simple:

• After measuring the temperature, place the thermometer in a special case.
• Do not leave him unattended.
• Do not allow children or animals to play with it.
• When shaking, hold firmly in your hands.
• Do not leave near heating appliances.
• Use only as directed.

Safety thermometers

The best alternative to a mercury thermometer - digital electronic thermometer . Glass is not used in their manufacture. Therefore, such a device does not break when dropped. And if it beats, then breaking it is not dangerous. Since mercury, it also does not contain. The electronic thermometer measures the temperature much faster (30-60 seconds). At the end of the measurement, the thermometer beeps. The results appear on a small screen.

The disadvantage of such a device is that in order to calculate the exact temperature, it must fit very tightly to the skin. Under the arm, this result is difficult to achieve. And the thermometer shows an inaccurate result. It is better to use it orally or rectally.

There are also other thermometers. For example, a thermometer-nipple, it is easy to use if your baby

Infrared digital thermometer

uses a blank. The principle of operation is the same as that of an electronic digital instrument, but it will take 3-5 minutes to measure. Or infrared thermometers forehead or ear. Such a device must be applied to the forehead (inserted into the ear) and after 2-3 seconds you can get the result on the display.

There are many types of thermometers. All have their pros and cons. Your task is to weigh the pros and cons and make the right choice.