Broke the thermometer and didn't know what to do! I had to throw away the mercury with the vacuum cleaner! How to properly collect mercury?

Hello dear readers! Today the topic will not concern construction, but will directly affect every person. I’ll ask the question right away: Do you use mercury thermometers?

We have electronic ones in our house. But they are not accurate and I do not trust them. Therefore, when I am sick, I always use mercury. But, as everyone knows, mercury thermometers have a big minus - their fragility and the toxicity of mercury. Therefore, many have already abandoned them. But I am not! “I'm neat! I definitely won't break it! " I thought. And the second time I managed to break the thermometer ...

The first time it happened was about 5 years ago. The children were very young. My wife and I had no idea how to collect the mercury. Of course, they were very scared. Mostly for the children.

We read on the Internet that you can collect mercury with gauze and a vacuum cleaner!You need to put gauze or a bandage on the vacuum cleaner pipe, clamp it and vacuum the area where the thermometer was broken. All mercury and debris will remain on the gauze.

But, it so happened that at one point the spouse let go of the gauze, and the vacuum cleaner sucked in gauze, and fragments, and mercury. We decided to throw away the mercury with the vacuum cleaner! We opened the windows in the apartment and went to our parents for a couple of days.

After that, I studied more closely the issue of collecting mercury, and was more prepared. Although he continued to be sure that: “I'm neat! I will definitely not break it the second time! " But he broke it again. A couple of weeks ago!

And I decided to share with you the ways - how to collect mercury and what to do if the thermometer breaks! Suddenly there are the same among you "neat" and "confident"!

The first step is to remove children and animals from the premises. Put on a mask and gloves and prepare a container of water. It will need to collect mercury.

• It is convenient to collect mercury with a syringe, rubber bulb, tape or adhesive plaster.

• You can gently brush the mercury into a paper bag.
• Mercury balls adhere well to wet paper - crumpled newspaper or filter paper.
• Everything that was collected must be placed in a container with water. You can add a little manganese if you have it.
• DO NOT use a broom or vacuum cleaner!

After you have collected all the mercury balls, you need to chemically clean the room. You can call special services that will demercurize. But, as a rule, people do it on their own. We did the same.

There are several formulations that can be used for chemical treatments.

Any of these compounds should be used to wash surfaces where microscopic mercury vapors could remain. The mercury oxidation reaction will take place. After a few hours, wash the surface with soapy water.

It is better not to be indoors for 5-6 hours. If possible, leave the premises for a day. All windows must be open and rooms must be well ventilated. Mercury must not be thrown away. It must be handed over to specialists for disposal. Contact the rescue service.

After processing, you need to rinse your mouth, drink a glass of milk and it is better to take an adsorbent, such as activated carbon or polysorb.

Did you break the thermometer? How was the mercury collected? Tell me, is there a worthy replacement for mercury thermometers?

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