What to do if a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment? Mercury: threats real and imaginary

Mineral, natural metallic mercury. A transition metal that is a heavy, silvery-white liquid at room temperature, the vapors of which are extremely toxic. Mercury is one of two chemical elements(and the only metal) simple substances which at normal conditions are in a liquid state of aggregation (the second such element is bromine). Sometimes contains an admixture of silver and gold.

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STRUCTURE

PROPERTIES

Color tin white. Strong metallic luster. Boiling point 357 °C. The only liquid mineral at normal temperature. Hardens, acquiring a crystalline state at −38°C. Density 13.55. On fire, it easily evaporates with the formation of toxic fumes. In ancient times, the inhalation of these vapors was the only accessible means treatment of syphilis (according to the principle: if the patient does not die, then he will recover. It is a diamagnet.

RESERVES AND PRODUCTION

Mercury is a relatively rare element in the earth's crust with an average concentration of 83 mg/t. However, due to the fact that mercury weakly binds chemically to the most common elements in the earth's crust, mercury ores can be very concentrated compared to ordinary rocks. The most mercury-rich ores contain up to 2.5% mercury. The main form of mercury found in nature is dispersed, and only 0.02% of it is found in deposits. Mercury content in various types igneous rocks are close to each other (about 100 mg/t). From sedimentary rocks, the maximum concentrations of mercury are established in clay shales (up to 200 mg/t). In the waters of the World Ocean, the content of mercury is 0.1 µg/l. The most important geochemical feature of mercury is that, among other chalcophile elements, it has the highest ionization potential. This determines such properties of mercury as the ability to recover to the atomic form (native mercury), significant chemical resistance to oxygen and acids.

One of the world's largest mercury deposits is located in Spain (Almaden). Mercury deposits are known in the Caucasus (Dagestan, Armenia), in Tajikistan, Slovenia, Kyrgyzstan (Khaidarkan - Aidarken) Ukraine (Gorlovka, Nikitovsky mercury plant).

There are 23 mercury deposits in Russia, industrial reserves amount to 15.6 thousand tons (as of 2002), of which the largest are explored in Chukotka - Zapadno-Palyanskoye and Tamvatneyskoye.

Mercury is obtained by roasting cinnabar (mercury(II) sulfide) or by the metallothermic method. The mercury vapor is condensed and collected. This method was used by ancient alchemists.

ORIGIN

Mercury is present in most sulfide minerals. Its especially high contents (up to thousandths and hundredths of a percent) are found in faded ores, antimonites, sphalerites, and realgars. The proximity of the ionic radii of divalent mercury and calcium, monovalent mercury and barium determines their isomorphism in fluorites and barites. In cinnabar and metacinnabarite, sulfur is sometimes replaced by selenium or tellurium; the selenium content is often hundredths and tenths of a percent. Extremely rare mercury selenides are known - timanite (HgSe) and onophrite (a mixture of timanite and sphalerite).

APPLICATION

Mercury is used as a working fluid in mercury thermometers (especially high-precision ones), since it has a fairly wide range in which it is in a liquid state, its thermal expansion coefficient is almost independent of temperature and has a relatively low heat capacity. An alloy of mercury with thallium is used for low temperature thermometers.
Fluorescent lamps are filled with mercury vapor, as the vapor glows in a glow discharge. There is a lot of ultraviolet light in the emission spectrum of mercury vapor and, in order to convert it into visible light, the glass of fluorescent lamps is coated with a phosphor from the inside. Without a phosphor, mercury lamps are a source of hard ultraviolet (254 nm), in which capacity they are used. Such lamps are made of quartz glass that transmits ultraviolet light, which is why they are called quartz.
Mercury and mercury-based alloys are used in hermetically sealed circuit breakers.
Mercury is used in position sensors.

Mercury(I) iodide is used as a semiconductor radiation detector.
Mercury(II) fulminate ("explosive mercury") has long been used as an initiating explosive (detonators).
Mercury(I) bromide is used in the thermochemical decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen (atomic hydrogen energy).
It is promising to use mercury in alloys with cesium as a highly efficient working fluid in ion engines.
Until the middle of the 20th century, mercury was widely used in barometers, manometers and sphygmomanometers (hence the tradition to measure pressure in millimeters of mercury).

Mercury compounds were used in the hat industry to make felt.

Mercury (eng. Mercury) - Hg

CLASSIFICATION

They indicate that mercury leaked out during a fire in the building of the Research Institute of Vacuum Technology. In the fire seat, the concentration of mercury vapor exceeded the MPC, but outside the territory (as well as in the territory itself after work on the neutralization of mercury) there was no deviation from the limits of the standards.

For an objective picture and unambiguous exclusion (or confirmation) of large-scale mercury contamination, it is necessary to carry out not one measurement, but several dozen, and in different time. Without such data, one can only point out that with a really large release, the concentration of mercury would vary greatly in different areas of the city. And if someone 15 or 20 kilometers from the fire site complains of symptoms of mercury poisoning, then nearby the number of poisoned people should clearly number in the thousands: the population density in the capital in some places exceeds 50 thousand inhabitants per square kilometer.

In other words, rumors of a serious and threatening everyone residents of the leak seem extremely doubtful. The Moscow air is dirty, but it is unlikely because of mercury. Moreover, problems with smog began long before the fire: the smell of burning came to the city in the summer, and then the smoke was attributed to peat bogs burning in the Tver region. But since we are talking about mercury, we decided to make a selection of ten statements about the toxicity of this element.

1) Mercury - extremely dangerous substance. If you accidentally drink a drop of mercury, you can die immediately.

Metallic mercury, contrary to popular belief, is not potent poison, not particularly toxic substance. Suffice it to say that a case is described in the medical literature when a patient swallowed 220 grams of liquid metal and survived. For comparison: the same amount table salt can be fatal (unless, of course, someone is able to eat a glass of salt). Detailed guide In chapter " deaths» analyzes mercury chloride poisoning, but does not contain a single mention of fatal mercury poisoning in the form of pure metal. In addition, mercury has been and continues to be used to make dental fillings based on amalgam, an alloy of mercury with other metals. Such fillings are recognized as safe enough and it is not recommended to replace amalgam with other materials without special need.

Pure mercury in liquid form, even if swallowed, is not particularly dangerous. But this cannot be said about metal vapors, much less about mercury compounds.

2) Mercury is dangerous because it evaporates and produces toxic fumes.

It really is. Mercury vapor is formed where the metal is exposed to the open air. They have no smell, no color, and - as a rule - taste, although sometimes people feel a metallic taste in their mouths. Constant inhalation of polluted air causes mercury to enter the body through the lungs, which is much more dangerous than swallowing the same amount of metal.

3) If the thermometer crashed in the apartment, you must carefully sweep and wash the floor.

Not only incorrect, but also frankly wrecking statement. When one drop is divided into two, the specific area and, accordingly, the rate of evaporation of the substance double. Therefore, do not try to brush mercury with a broom or a rag into a scoop, and then throw it into the trash can or flush it down the toilet. In this case, part of the metal will inevitably fly out in the form of tiny balls, which quickly evaporate and pollute the air much more actively than the original drop. And we hope that none of the readers will collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner: it not only crushes the drops, but also heats them up. If you already have one spilled drop, then just drive it with a wet brush into a hermetically sealed jar and then hand it over to the DEZ (Single Customer Directorate; first, it’s better to call and find out if they accept it. The recommendation is given for Russia, in other countries the rules may differ) . You can use a piece of paper or, if the drop is small, a small syringe.

American researchers who experimented with mercury in 2008 found that one drop of 4 millimeters in diameter even in a small room of 20 cubic meters after an hour gives only 0.29 micrograms of mercury vapor per cubic meter. This value is within the limits of both the US and Russian standards for atmospheric pollution. However, when mercury was smeared with a mop, the concentration of its vapors rose to over one hundred micrograms per cubic meter. That is, ten times higher than the MPC for industrial premises and hundreds of times higher than the “general atmospheric” norm! Wet cleaning, as experiments have shown, does not save mercury after sweeping, and the floor remains contaminated with thousands of small drops after repeated wiping with a wet cloth.

4) If a thermometer is broken in the apartment, then the room is long years becomes life threatening.

This is true, but not always. Evaporation of metallic mercury slows down after some time due to the coating of the metal with a film of mercury oxide, so drops that have rolled into the cracks can lie for years and even decades. Handbook of forensic science Environmental Forensics: Contaminant Specific Guide with reference to several studies, it is said that mercury somewhere under the floor or behind the baseboard ceases to pollute the atmosphere over time, but only on the condition that its balls are not exposed there mechanical impact. If a mercury ball falls into a gap between parquet boards, where it is constantly shaken when walking, evaporation will continue until the drop has evaporated completely. A three-millimeter ball, estimated by physicists in 2003, evaporates in three years.

5) Mercury poisoning manifests itself immediately.

True only for high concentrations of mercury.

Acute poisoning occurs when air is inhaled for several hours, in which more than one hundred micrograms per cubic meter. At the same time, serious (requiring hospitalization) consequences occur at even higher concentrations. To seriously poison yourself with mercury, one broken thermometer is not enough.

For chronic mercury poisoning, based on those presented in the already mentioned Toxicological profile for mercury data, a heavy metal concentration of at least ten micrograms per cubic meter is required. This is possible if broken thermometer swept away with a broom and did not neutralize the mercury, however, even in this case, the inhabitants of the room are unlikely to feel unwell immediately. Mercury in relatively low concentrations does not lead to immediate nausea, weakness and fever, but can, for example, cause incoordination and trembling of the limbs. Rashes can also occur in young children, but there is no specific set of symptoms by which even a non-specialist could identify chronic mercury poisoning.

6) Mercury is present in fish and seafood.

Truth. Pure mercury is converted to methylmercury by some bacteria and then moves up the food chain, primarily in marine biosystems. The last phrase means that at first the plankton containing methylmercury is eaten by fish, then these fish are eaten by predators (other fish) and each time the concentration of methylmercury in organisms increases due to its ability to accumulate in animal tissues. Studies conducted by oceanologists have shown that the amount of mercury in the transition from water and substances dissolved in it to plankton increases by tens or even hundreds of thousands of times.

The concentration of mercury in tuna meat reaches 0.2 milligrams per kilogram. Mercury contamination of fish has become a serious problem, the solution of which requires the coordinated work of environmentalists and industry representatives around the world. However, for the majority of Russians, who, in principle, rarely eat fish (18 kilograms per year versus 24 kg in the United States), this source of mercury is not so significant.

7) If you break a fluorescent lamp, it will pollute the room with mercury.

Truth. In 2004, a group of American scientists saw a row of lamps inside a plastic barrel, which was immediately covered with a lid. Experience has shown that fragments slowly release mercury vapor and up to forty percent of the toxic metal contained inside can come out of the remains of a light bulb.

Most compact lamps contain about 5 milligrams of mercury inside (there are brands with amounts reduced to one milligram). If we take into account that on the first day, about half of those forty percent that, in principle, can leave fragments, are released, then one lamp broken in a room will exceed the “atmospheric” MPC by five to ten times, but will not go beyond the “working-industrial” MPC . Fragments that have lain for a week are already practically harmless from the point of view of air contamination with mercury vapor, so because of one broken light bulb You can't get mercury poisoning.

Another thing is to break several dozen large fluorescent lamps at once. Such actions, as practice shows, lead to acute poisoning mercury.

8) Most city dwellers are chronically poisoned by mercury.

A highly dubious claim. The concentration of mercury in the air of cities is indeed higher, but so far there is no convincing evidence that this leads to any diseases. Mercury eventually ends up in the atmosphere and water near many volcanoes. There are deposits that have been developed since antiquity, whole ones have been built near them and their inhabitants do not suffer from poisoning.

Reveal Negative influence both mercury and other substances (or not substances, but, say, microwave radiation from mobile phones) at low doses is quite difficult. What manifests itself only after many years requires long-term observations. But over the course of twenty or thirty years, people usually develop a variety of illnesses, many of which may have nothing to do with the suspected substance. If you observe a few tens of thousands of people, then some of them will develop chronic diseases and even malignant tumors anyway, without any connection with mercury, radiation or another factor. Even the well-known harm of smoking today was not immediately revealed: only closer to the middle of the last century, doctors were able to unequivocally link smoking with lung cancer.

Representatives of “alternative medicine” often talk about chronic mercury poisoning, but they cannot be considered objective sources. Many of them simultaneously sell some sort of “detox program,” often with the promise of curing diseases supposedly caused by mercury, such as cancer or autism. The official position of American doctors is now such that drugs used to remove mercury from the body (the so-called chelate compounds) healthy people rather harm than help. At least three cases of fatal poisoning have been described as a result of attempts to "cleanse the body of mercury."

9) Mercury is found in vaccines.

Mercury is part of thiomersal, a preservative used in some vaccine preparations. One dose of the vaccine usually contains about 50 micrograms of the substance. For comparison: the lethal dose of the same substance (established in experiments on mice) is 45 milligrams (45,000 micrograms) per kilogram of body weight. One serving of fish can contain about the same amount of mercury as a dose of vaccine.

Thiomersal was blamed for the increase in the number of cases of autism, but back in the early 2000s, this hypothesis was refuted by an analysis of statistical information. Also, assuming mercury is the issue, the increase in autism cases over the past few decades remains incomprehensible. Formerly people contacted with mercury much more actively.

10) Mercury pollution is a problem of the last decades.

This is not true. Mercury is one of the oldest metals known to mankind, as is cinnabar, mercury sulfide. Cinnabar was actively used as a red dye (including for the production of cosmetics!), while mercury was used in a number of processes, from gilding to hat making. When gilding domes St. Isaac's Cathedral sixty craftsmen were fatally poisoned with mercury, and the expression "mad hatter" reflects the symptoms of chronic poisoning when dressing skins for men's hats. Until the middle of the 20th century, toxic mercury nitride was used in the processing of skins. Mercury was also included in the composition of many drugs, and in dosages incomparable with thiomersal. Calomel, for example, is mercury(I) chloride and has been used as an antiseptic along with sublimate, mercury(II) chloride.

In recent decades, the use of mercury in medicine has declined sharply due to the toxicity of this metal. You can meet the same calomel only in homeopathic preparations. Or in "folk" medicine - a number of mercury poisonings have been recorded after the use of Chinese traditional medicine preparations.

Help: Why is mercury poisonous?

Mercury interacts with selenium. Selenium is a trace element that is part of thioredoxin reductase, an enzyme that reduces the protein thioredoxin. Thioredoxin is involved in many vital important processes. In particular, thioredoxin is needed to fight cell-damaging free radicals, in which case it works in conjunction with vitamins C and E. Mercury irreversibly damages thioredoxin reductase, and it ceases to restore thioredoxin. There is not enough thioredoxin, and as a result, the cells cope worse with free radicals.

Mercury is one of the rare elements Earth's crust, looks like a brilliant silvery white heavy metal. AT normal conditions it remains fluid and unusually mobile. hard metal mercury can become at -39 ° C. At room temperature it evaporates easily, without smell and taste, which poses a threat of poisoning. In everyday life, a broken thermometer can serve as a source of poisoning.

Pure mercury metal is obtained from a mineral ore called cinnabar, which is heated to high temperatures, the mercury evaporates and condenses.

Where is mercury used?

Unique properties made mercury an important element in modern industries. There is no industry where this unusual metal is not used:

Mercury is a substance, in the event of a leak of which a person must act with lightning speed. With the correct elimination of the consequences, it becomes possible to quickly protect yourself from harmful mercury vapors. And timely assistance can save a person's life.

Compared to incandescent lamps, modern energy-saving lamps have obvious merit. But due to the design features, you need to use them carefully and take action if an energy-saving light bulb breaks.

Today it is well known what negative impact mercury has a negative effect on health, so it is important to be able to properly dispose of the broken mercury thermometer

In order to save energy resources, fluorescent lamps are increasingly being used, but the design of these lighting devices uses mercury, a hazardous metal that must be subject to mandatory disposal.

How mercury works in appliances

Electric battery

Contains dioxysulphate-mercury element. Which is a chemical current source. The electrolyte is water solution zinc sulfate, the anode - zinc, the cathode - a mixture of graphite with mercury oxide and mercury sulfate.

These types of batteries are used in mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras.

Device for electrochemical analysis of substances and chemical processes. One polarizable drop-mercury electrode is immersed in the test solution, the other is a non-polarizable electrode with a large surface covered with a layer of mercury. Then an increasing voltage is applied to the electrodes. The amount of current passing through the solution is measured with a galvanometer. On the basis of the obtained measurements, a polarogram is built.

The polarography method is used to study the composition of harmful substances in industrial emissions, determine the degree of blood oxygen saturation, diagnose diseases such as malignant tumors, radiation sickness serum polarogram.

Fluorescent and quartz lamps

The design consists of a hermetic flask (glass or quartz) filled with a mixture of gases and mercury vapor, and electrodes attached on both sides. An electric discharge is applied through the contacts and invisible ultraviolet rays appear in the flask, for the transformation of which into visible light the surface of the flask is coated from the inside with a layer of phosphor. Different coating composition can be obtained a variety of color scheme. Ultraviolet radiation has a bactericidal effect, medicine uses this property for preventive and anti-epidemiological purposes.

Barometer

Inside the device there is a flask with mercury sealed on one side, which reacts to the slightest drops. atmospheric pressure. Depending on the changes taking place, the mercury column, rising or falling on the barometer scale, shows the expected weather.

Used to measure human blood pressure.

According to the principle of communicating vessels, the mercury in the glass tube rises as a result of the supply of air compressed with a rubber bulb.

The pressure reading is made on the scale of the tube.

Is different high precision compared to the newly appeared devices on, but the industry is no longer produced.

thermometers

They are based on the property of mercury to change its volume under the influence of temperature. It consists of a glass tank filled with mercury and a scale, the division value of which has a wide range depending on the purpose of the thermometer (from -39°С to +357°С).

Mercury diffusion pump

Included in the assembly of vacuum installations and with its help a deep vacuum is achieved. Serves for pumping out gas or steam from the working chamber of the pump. The process occurs as a result of a periodic change in pressure inside the chamber through heating and subsequent cooling of mercury. Gas tends to the area with reduced pressure creating a vacuum.

Mercury is hazardous to health

The eightieth element of the periodic table is recognized as a global pollutant environment. In terms of harm to human life and health, it belongs to the first class of danger. Enterprises and plants are suppliers of mercury to the atmosphere using it in their production.

When mercury enters the air, water bodies and soil, the formation of organic compounds, which are highly toxic.

The accumulation of mercury and mercury compounds in the body leads to damage skin, respiratory tract, internal organs, nervous and hematopoietic systems.

From a natural component, mercury has become a threat to human health.

The danger of mercury not known to everyone. Many believe that this substance with silvery balls cannot cause serious poisoning. Every year in Russia, tens of thousands of thermometers are broken and people, not thinking about the consequences, try to dispose of them on their own without observing safety rules. However, the substance mercury belongs to poisons of the first class of danger. Speaking plain language, the substance can actually cause serious damage to health up to lethal outcome.
To understand how dangerous this substance is, you need to understand the mechanism chemical reaction mercury. Many believe that the balls of mercury themselves are dangerous, but in fact the vapors that they emit are dangerous.
Mercury is a very insidious substance - it cannot be felt, it does not have any specific smell. At the same time, the process of mercury evaporation begins instantly, completely occupying a closed space, and an ordinary room temperature of +18 degrees is sufficient to start the evaporation process. Typical substance poisonings are associated with the fact that people, not noticing the vapors, continue to remain in the contaminated room.

Typical cases of poisoning

According to statistics, most mercury vapor poisonings are associated with broken thermometers. In a closed room where a thermometer has broken, as a rule, there are people who are unaware of the danger of poison. Many people try to remove mercury on their own with the help of improvised means. In fact, it is absolutely impossible to do this. In order to work with mercury, you will need a lot of professional tools that are available exclusively from mercury service specialists. Mercury does not react to any household cleaner, which is usually at hand. Also, people try to collect the substance with paper, medical enema or rags. Doing this is strictly prohibited.

Vapor poisoning mechanism

The danger of mercury consists in the fact that it begins to evaporate already in the first minutes after the thermometer has broken. The situation is aggravated by the fact that bottling usually takes place in closed, unventilated rooms with open passages. These typical conditions are sufficient to start the evaporation process. Paradoxically, mercury from one thermometer is enough to infect a room of 10,000 sq.m.

Primary symptoms of poisoning

The first symptoms of poisoning are noticeable within a few hours after the incident. Nausea, dizziness, weakness, apathy - all these are the first symptoms of poisoning. If the thermometer breaks in the room in which you were, immediately consult a doctor because further consequences will be unpredictable.

Secondary symptoms of poisoning

If the consequences of mercury spillage are not eliminated in time, secondary symptoms of poisoning occur, such as clouding of mind, indigestion, vomiting, blurred vision, and memory disorder.

What organs are affected by mercury?

The danger of mercury consists in the fact that if the consequences of vapor evaporation were not eliminated at all and employees of the mercury service brigade did not go to the place of bottling, the third stage of poisoning occurs, in which the substance has a direct negative effect on a number of human organs:
. Liver;
. kidneys;
. The cardiovascular system;
. Thyroid;
. Digestive organs;
. reproductive organs;
. Organs of the brain;
. Lungs;
. Nervous system.

Effects of mercury on people with weakened immune systems

The particular danger of mercury has been proven for people with weak immune system. In a special risk group are the elderly, pregnant women and children.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones, if a thermometer breaks in the house, contact immediately.

Mercury has long been used in the manufacture of medicines - such as calomel; it was attributed antiseptic properties. But poisons were also made from it.

The dangers of mercury are now widely known. But is it always necessary to be afraid of this substance?

You are heavy...

Each of us has a little mercury - in the body of an average person it is about 13 mg.

Have you ever lifted a 10 liter bucket filled to the brim with water? Now, if there was mercury in this bucket, you couldn't lift it. 1 liter of mercury weighs 13.6 kg.

There were times when mercury was considered an excellent talisman; so, the ancient Egyptians carried a bottle with it with them - for good luck. And their priests put small vessels filled with mercury into the throats of the mummies of the pharaohs; it was believed that they would protect their master in the afterlife.

Heals or hurts?

More recently, in the 1970s, mercury was widely used in medicine. So, as a diuretic, patients were prescribed the drug Mercuzal - it contained mercury ions. As a laxative, along with castor oil, mercury chloride was prescribed; many medicinal ointments included mercury cyanide. Dentists without hesitation put mercury-containing fillings on people.

And if we remember the ancient Indian yogis, so they did take a terrible drink, which included balls of mercury and sulfur. And they were sure that it contributes to longevity. The Chinese did not lag behind and also ate mercury - as part of the "pills of immortality."

In the XV-XVI centuries, it was customary to treat syphilis with mercury - which, alas, often led to mercury intoxication; the patient was waiting for hair loss, abrupt change mental state and even epileptic seizures.

Today, the toxic properties of mercury are well known, and pharmacists no longer include it in such quantities in the composition of drugs. However, mercury is still part of vaccine vaccines. There are different opinions about how bad it is; Thus, “anti-vaccinators” cite the content of mercury in vaccines as one of the main arguments.

Small amounts of mercury are found in sea ​​water. No wonder that fish and other Marine life able to store it in their bodies. Nothing for them, but people who eat fish and seafood every day are under attack. This hardly concerns us - the average Russian eats fish two or three times a week, not more often. But poor Colombians and Brazilians are suffering. Especially "mercury", according to research by American scientists, were tuna and lobster. True, fishing companies publicly call such information horror stories. I wonder why?

For home, for family

The vast majority of people have mercury thermometers, and they break from time to time, especially in the hands of small children.

So what happens if you accidentally swallow balls of mercury from a thermometer? Oddly enough, nothing. Our gastrointestinal tract, fortunately, is not capable of sucking up solids, so all the balls will safely come out with waste, and that's it.

Mercury vapor is much more dangerous. True, according to some experts, this danger is also greatly exaggerated: the vapor density limit is much lower than that of air, and in order to really breathe, there must be a lot of vapor - at least more than from one broken thermometer.

Nevertheless, God saves the safe. If you break the thermometer, collect all the balls with cotton wool or a pipette, then ventilate the room. The place where mercury was spilled can be wiped with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or a soap and soda solution, which should be washed off with water after a couple of days.

A broken thermometer should not be kept at home. The Internet is teeming with advice to hand it over to the Ministry of Emergencies. Practice shows that in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, proposals to immediately accept mercury-containing fragments are greatly surprised and sent to the local dez. There, in theory, they should accept a broken thermometer - for such things, as well as for damaged mercury lamps, they must have a special box.