The influence of environmental factors on human health. The influence of the environment on the human body

Every family must have a thermometer in their first aid kit to measure body temperature. Modern electronic or infrared thermometers are safe, but most people use Soviet mercury thermometers the old fashioned way, considering them more accurate.

But if a thermometer in your apartment breaks during an awkward movement, what should you do? Should I cope on my own or run to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations, an ambulance and the sanitary and epidemiological station?

Since childhood, everyone knows that mercury is dangerous to human health, but glass things tend to break. That is why mercury temperature meters have always been treated with care and precision, perhaps because of this they are found in every second family in the post-Soviet space.

The safety rules for using mercury thermometers are as follows.

Keep the thermometer as far as possible from children. It is inventive children who most often become the culprits of a broken meter. Keep an eye on your child when taking his temperature.
The thermometer must have a hard, durable case.
When shaking the thermometer, be extremely careful - do not handle it with wet hands and stay away from furniture and other objects that you may touch.

What consequences are possible if the thermometer is damaged?

Before we figure out what to do if a mercury thermometer breaks in an apartment, let's find out why its contents are dangerous?

Mercury - chemical element, the only metal in existence that is normal conditions remains liquid. This viscous silvery substance easily collects into balls. Its vapors are very poisonous and toxic.

The metal itself poses almost no threat, but has the ability to evaporate, starting from +18 degrees, and poison everything around. Be sure to instruct your household that you cannot hide the fact that the thermometer is damaged, and study the algorithm for eliminating the toxic substance.

The thermometer contains up to two grams of mercury. It might seem like a small amount, but they can cause significant harm to health. The problem is aggravated by the fact that the nimble little balls can scatter across the carpet, get behind the baseboard or into a crack in the floor. Mercury has the ability to accumulate in the body, and symptoms of poisoning will not appear soon, when you no longer remember about the broken device, which will complicate the diagnosis.

Mercury vapor can cause the following conditions.

Diseases of the respiratory system, pneumonia, tuberculosis.
Damage to the thyroid gland.
Diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
Irreversible changes internal organs: liver, kidneys.
Central nervous system disorders up to paralysis.

Poisoning is extremely dangerous for children, the elderly, and pregnant women.

What to do if the thermometer at home breaks? Calm down and don't worry. Act quickly, clearly and competently. Trembling hands and a state of shock will not help you.

Step 1. Clearing the premises from strangers

First of all, get all the people out of the room. This is especially true for children, pregnant women and the elderly. Pets should also be protected from danger.

Step 2. Airing the room

Remember that mercury evaporates at temperatures above 18 degrees. If possible, cool the air by opening a window. Avoid drafts - mercury balls can “scatter” around the apartment. Turn on the air conditioner, turn off the heating devices.

Step 3. Mercury collection

Change into clothes that you can throw away later. Ideal option There will be an ordinary cellophane raincoat. Put on rubber gloves, shoe covers, and a damp gauze bandage on your face.

Prepare a glass container with an airtight lid, cold water, manganese or bleach solution, a medical syringe or syringe without a needle.

Place the thermometer fragments in a jar of water or manganese solution. Send all collected mercury balls there too.

Silvery metal gleams in bright light, so get bright lighting to make it easier to collect the mercury. Carefully inspect all the cracks and cracks, highlight them with a flashlight.

Suck up the found balls with a syringe or syringe bulb and drop them into a jar with a thermometer. If you don’t have a syringe and a bulb at hand, you can collect mercury on a sheet of paper with a cotton swab dipped in potassium permanganate, tape or adhesive tape.

Step 4. Demercurization

The alchemical name for mercury is mercury, after the planet closest to the Sun. Demercurization is the neutralization of a toxic substance.

After you have carefully and carefully found and collected the liquid metal from the broken thermometer, placed the waste in a bottle of water and sealed it with a lid, it must be refrigerated for subsequent disposal.

The site of a mercury spill should be neutralized using chemical neutralizers. Dilute potassium permanganate to a dark purple state, add a tablespoon of vinegar and salt per liter of liquid and begin treating all surfaces in the room.

Instead of manganese, you can use a bleach solution; the easiest way is to take ordinary “Whiteness”. A mixture of water, soda and laundry soap is also a good demercurizer.

Solutions must be caustic and concentrated. They should be poured generously onto the floor and left for at least a day. Cleaning with their help should be carried out daily for several weeks after collecting mercury.

Step 5. Disposing of a thermometer

The jar with mercury waste must be taken to the SES or the Ministry of Emergency Situations, where it will be disposed of by specialists. Also collect and take along with the jar the clothes you worked in and all the helper items: a syringe, a syringe, gloves, a gauze bandage.

If it is impossible to contact the authorities for the disposal of mercury, you will have to do it yourself. Take toxic waste to a landfill or offsite settlement and bury it deep in the ground.

Be sure to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations, they will instruct you on how to act correctly. Usually they are reluctant to respond to such calls, but they will recommend which authority to contact. You can also always contact the SES to have them check the level of mercury vapor concentration.

You cannot do without qualified help if:

suspicions remained that not all mercury balls were collected;
mercury got on heating appliances. At a temperature of about 40 degrees, this metal boils, which means evaporation occurs almost instantly;
you are at risk: pregnant, under 18 or over 65 years old, suffering from urinary or nervous system.

If you break a thermometer in your room, what should you do to avoid poisoning?

Symptoms

It is very difficult to make a correct diagnosis; the symptoms are similar to many diseases. Depending on the amount of mercury vapor entering the body, illness can begin either a few hours after the incident or after weeks or even months.

Symptoms of poisoning:

general weakness;
nausea and vomiting;
headache;
drowsiness;
tremor;
metallic taste in the mouth;
diarrhea;
stomach pain.

With prolonged intoxication the situation worsens. Body temperature rises, cough, pain in chest, frequent urination and bleeding gums.

At acute symptoms poisoning, especially if you suspect mercury, you should call ambulance and hospitalize the victim.

Before the arrival of doctors, you can alleviate the patient’s condition with the help of sorbents: white or activated carbon, Enterosgel. Good for removing toxins from the body raw egg white, natural milk.

In the hospital, the patient’s stomach will be pumped out, an antidote will be administered, and the blood will be purified with IVs. If treatment is timely, then recovery period will take 2-3 weeks.

Prevention of poisoning

To avoid mercury poisoning, it is necessary to carefully remove all mercury from the room if the thermometer does break.

Buy a modern thermometer, then the risk of poisoning will be reduced to a minimum.

The following actions cannot be taken.

Touch mercury beads with unprotected bare hands. Why take risks and put yourself in danger?
Treat the site of a mercury spill household chemicals. For these purposes, there is manganese, chlorine solution or soap and soda.
If you wash the clothes you worked in in a washing machine, the smallest particles of poison will settle in the mechanism.
Use a vacuum cleaner or broom. Do you think that by sucking up mercury particles with a vacuum cleaner, you have made your work easier? No, you only made the situation worse. The mercury, breaking into tiny droplets, spread to large area premises and remove it mechanically now impossible. And the vacuum cleaner will now have to be thrown away, since it internal parts retained some of the mercury. The broom also breaks the balls into smaller ones.
Flush down the drain. You worsen the condition of the water and the atmosphere in the toilet room, because mercury will settle on internal surfaces sewer pipes. Your housemates will also be exposed to toxic fumes.
Dispose of in a trash can or garbage disposal. Why poison the air in the entrance and on the street? Someone might get hurt.

When you're done with the hassle of collecting poisonous metal, don't forget about yourself. Wash thoroughly with laundry soap, brush your teeth and rinse your mouth with a pink solution of manganese. Drink as much as possible more liquid, or better yet milk, as in case of poisoning. Take sorbents.

Conclusion

If a mercury disaster did happen, but you carried out demercurization correctly and competently, got rid of all things and objects that were in contact with the toxic metal, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

And for complete peace of mind, purchase a mercury vapor analyzer - test strips that change color. This is much cheaper and more accessible than calling specialists for an inspection.

Mother of two children. I'm leading household for more than 7 years - this is my main job. I like to experiment, I try all the time various means, ways, techniques that can make our lives easier, more modern, richer. I love my family.

Every home has such an item as a thermometer, but not every citizen knows what needs to be done if the thermometer is broken. The most important thing is not to panic. A broken thermometer is not a disaster that cannot be gotten rid of. About how much broken thermometer dangerous and what needs to be done if it is broken - we will tell you further.

Mercury thermometer: a well-known medical device that poses a danger

If a thermometer is broken, what should you do at home?

A thermometer is a medical object, the pointed part of which contains mercury. Vapors released when a thermometer is broken are considered dangerous. The respiratory system suffers especially badly from them.

Remember that if all mercury balls are not promptly removed from the room, this will lead to prolonged exposure to them. respiratory system person.

A broken thermometer is dangerous because the balls flowing from it are highly mobile and roll into the crack unnoticed by a person, far corner rooms. This makes them invisible and difficult to remove. Forgotten mercury balls significantly spoil the air in the room. When the room temperature reaches 18 degrees, they actively evaporate. Such vapors negatively affect all vital systems of the body, especially the respiratory system.

If the balls were scattered in large quantities, then when high temperature such pairs are able to penetrate through:

skin,
mucous membrane,
gums;
kidneys

All this negatively affects the central nervous system.

Many citizens believe that breaking a thermometer is not as scary as many people think. Otherwise, it would not be sold in all pharmacies. Doctors agree with this opinion, since mercury in a thermometer does not lead to acute intoxication of the body, but it can sharply worsen a person’s health.

Safety rules when using a mercury thermometer

To prevent the thermometer from falling and mercury balls spreading throughout the room, every person should be well aware of how to use this item correctly:

Remember that if a person is sick, body temperature is measured 2-3 times a day. It is advisable to install the thermometer at the same time. Also, if he suffers from a strong fever and takes antipyretic drugs, then his body temperature can be measured before taking the medication and 40-50 minutes after taking it.

Remember that if the measuring device is used by several family members, then each time it needs to be wiped with an antiseptic, then with a soft towel until dry and then put in the case.

Temperature is also measured orally. During the procedure, the patient is not recommended to move his teeth. Otherwise he has oral cavity there will be a lot of fragments and mercury balls.

How to measure body temperature orally:

Oral body temperature measurement

The measuring device is being wiped warm water and antiseptic. Miramistin and Chlorhexidine are used as antiseptics.
Before use, shake the thermometer and bring it to 25.5 degrees.
Place the device in your mouth under your tongue and close your lips tightly. It is not recommended to clamp it with your teeth.
The thermometer is kept in the mouth for about 5 minutes.

After measuring it is wiped again warm water and antiseptic. Smoking or drinking hot drinks before inserting a thermometer is not recommended.

More accurately, body temperature is measured in the intestines.

Body temperature is most often measured through the anus in young children.

The patient's procedure should be as follows:

he lies on his stomach and tries not to move;
the device is inserted into his rectum 2-2.5 cm;
It takes 6 to 8 minutes to hold the thermometer;
After the allotted time has elapsed, the device should be removed from the rectum.

Remember that in in this case a temperature of 37.3-37.7 degrees is considered normal.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning

If a person, while observing the above precautions, drops a thermometer, then he needs to immediately familiarize himself with the symptoms that accompany mercury poisoning. If the balls hit the floor in small quantities, then signs of intoxication may not occur or they may be mild. The patient's death is caused only by poisoning with mercury vapor, which is released during major accidents.

Signs of mercury vapor poisoning with a broken thermometer

Frequent headaches are the first sign of mercury vapor poisoning

nausea, vomiting;
severe headaches;
general weakness, drowsiness, apathy;
sharp abdominal pain;
diarrhea;
metallic taste in the mouth.

These signs are typical for both adult patients and children. They usually appear 2 hours after the incident. The more time passes, the worse the patient becomes. In addition to these symptoms, the person has:

body temperature rises sharply,
bleeding appears from the gums,
he coughs and goes to the toilet frequently;
his sweating increases;
he feels pain in his chest.

Remember that for development human lung for intoxication it requires 0.1 grams of mercury, and for the development of intoxication with fatal only 2.5 grams required.

Doctors also highlight chronic mercury poisoning.

The first place rashes appear is on the hands.

It is divided into two types:

Mercurialism. This is the inhalation of dangerous mercury vapor by a person for 2 or more years, exceeding permissible norm.
Micromercurialism. This is a small mercury compound that poisons the life of a person from 5 to 10 years old.

In case of chronic intoxication of the body in a patient:

the daily routine is disrupted;
appears chronic fatigue, fatigue, irritability, anxiety;
depression develops;
rashes form all over the body;
sensitivity to bright colors appears;
hair grows rapidly different parts bodies;
arms and legs swell;
the skin partially or completely loses its sensitivity;
taste preferences are violated;
frequent fainting occurs and excessive sweating occurs.

First aid for mercury poisoning

At present, doctors have not yet developed a medicine that could stop the negative effect of mercury vapor on the human body at home. Therefore, the patient’s family members should help him after the incident and call a doctor.

Remember that a patient with signs of intoxication must be hospitalized.

Many patients ask what to do if a mercury thermometer suddenly breaks? First, the patient's family members should calm down. Next, the victim is taken outside or transferred to another room.

To neutralize the patient, an antidote should be given. Commonly used antidotes are traditional medicine. They are accepted when there is a long wait for doctors to arrive.

But before using them, you should consult with a specialist by phone.

An antidote can be:

activated carbon;
raw egg white;
natural milk.

A mercury thermometer has broken: algorithm of actions and what not to do

If a person began to panic after the incident and forgot about the procedure in this situation, then he should call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or the sanitary service and follow their recommendations. If a person believes that he can cope with the problem that has arisen on his own, then he should immediately take action.

How to remove mercury if a thermometer breaks

remove all people and animals from the premises;
close front door to the room;
Prepare the following accessories:

solution with soap and soda,
water with potassium permanganate,
3-liter jar with cold water or potassium permanganate,
2 sheets of paper;
medical bulb, syringe;
brush, piece of cotton wool;
awl, knitting needle;
electrical tape, adhesive tape, adhesive tape;
flashlight.

Put rubber slippers on your feet or wrap them in plastic bags. Accessories should be thrown away after the procedure. Cover your face with a gauze bandage soaked in water. Wear medical gloves on your hands.

It is important to dress the person neutralizing mercury correctly

To neutralize mercury you will need to do the following:

Remember that neutralization is carried out quickly.

If a person believes that there are mercury balls in the room, then they need to call home the station’s sanitation staff or the Ministry of Emergency Situations. They will determine the concentration of mercury vapor in the air.

In addition, you should remember the list of things that are not recommended to be done when the thermometer in the house is broken:

Remember that if you drop an alcohol thermometer, the neutralization procedure should be the same. Despite the fact that it is considered less harmful compared to medical device with mercury.

How long does mercury disappear if a thermometer in an apartment breaks?

For 7 days, people and animals are prohibited from entering the room where you dropped the thermometer. It needs to be ventilated, but drafts should be prevented. The floor and other surfaces should be treated with a soda-soap solution and washed with bleach.

Thus, if a person wants to get correct information about his body temperature, then he needs to use the thermometer correctly, insert it correctly and follow special safety recommendations. Also, if a person accidentally breaks a thermometer, then you should not try to get rid of the problem yourself. It is better to entrust this matter to professionals.

There are thermometers in every home, because we can hardly do without this device. But at some points it can be very harmful to you and your health. What to do if a mercury thermometer breaks, and how to protect yourself from harmful mercury fumes? Experts say you need to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or special service, which recycles broken thermometers. For those who want to solve all their problems themselves, we will tell you right now how to do the right thing.

If a mercury thermometer was broken in your apartment, do not panic, but follow these instructions:

Remove all people and pets from the premises. Firstly, they may suffer from dangerous fumes, and secondly, they will carry mercury on their soles throughout the apartment;
If it's cold outside, open all the windows wide. This will lower the temperature in the room and reduce the rate of mercury evaporation;
There should be no drafts, otherwise the mercury balls will be spread over a long distance;
For the same reason, you should not change your shoes or change your socks while cleaning mercury;
Soak a gauze bandage in water or a soda solution - it will protect the mucous membranes and respiratory tract from toxic fumes. You can also use a respirator;
Use rubber gloves when collecting mercury;
Be very careful - do not step on fragments and balls of this metal;
Place all items that were involved in the cleaning process (including clothes) in a tight bag and dispose of them;
After cleaning, drink activated carbon and plenty of water or tea;
If you are unable to quickly eliminate the consequences, cover the mercury with a wet cloth. This will slow down its evaporation;
If cleaning takes longer, take breaks every 10 minutes. You need to go out into the air to avoid vapor poisoning;
If the thermometer fell on a wooden floor covered with many cracks, it is better to replace it than to sit and worry about the health of your family;
The same goes for the baseboard - if there is even the slightest suspicion that mercury could have rolled under it, replace the baseboard with a new one.

Learning to collect mercury

How to collect mercury from a broken thermometer? For this you will need:

a jar with a lid filled with cold water or potassium permanganate;
flashlight;
paper or foil;
soft bristle brush;
syringe or rubber bulb;
adhesive tape or adhesive tape;
newspaper;
rag.

The process of removing mercury should start from the edges and move towards the center of the spill, highlighting it with a flashlight. Its light should fall from the side - so you can see even the smallest droplets of the product.

The process itself looks like this:

Wear a respirator and gloves.
Using sheets of paper, roll the mercury balls towards each other until they connect.
Using a brush dipped in potassium permanganate, move the mercury ball into a container with water or solution. Mercury is heavier than water, therefore, having settled at the bottom, it will not evaporate.
Collect the rest with tape and throw it into the container in the same way.
Carefully inspect nooks and crannies using a flashlight.
If mercury is stuck in the cracks, pull it out using a bulb or a regular syringe. You can sprinkle them with sand and sweep them with a soft brush along with the mercury balls.
Wipe the area where the thermometer broke with bleach or a solution of potassium permanganate. You can also prepare a mixture of hot water, baking soda and soap (the latter components are taken in equal quantities) and pour it directly into the cracks. Do not wash off the solution immediately, but leave it for a couple of days.
Ventilate the room well, avoiding drafts.

Close the container with the collected mercury with a sealed lid and immediately dispose of it. IN as a last resort, place it in a non-residential area away from batteries and call the sanitary and epidemiological station or the Ministry of Emergency Situations. They will tell you what to do with both the broken thermometer and the collected mercury.

Collecting mercury from the carpet

It is difficult to remove mercury from a fluffy surface, so it is best to throw it in the trash. If you really hate getting rid of the carpet, try collecting mercury using this algorithm.

Step 1. Collect all the mercury balls as much as possible.
Step 2. Carefully roll the rug from the edges to the center, wrap it in plastic and take it out of the house.
Step 3. Knock out the carpet over the film, moving as far away from residential buildings as possible.
Step 4. Collect the mercury in a container of cold water.
Step 5. Leave the carpet on fresh air or take it out onto the balcony, closing the door tightly. Let it stand there for at least the whole month.
Step 6. Having brought it back into the house, treat the carpet with a warm soda mixture (40 grams of soda and soap per liter of water) or potassium permanganate.

The thermometer was broken by a child - what to do?

If children live in the house, then this dangerous moment cannot be ruled out. So, what should a mother do if her child breaks a mercury thermometer?

Firstly, don’t panic and don’t yell at him, because next time the baby will simply hide this fact, and mercury fumes, which are odorless and colorless, will poison the family. And then follow this pattern.

1. Examine the child’s skin and hair - there may be mercury remaining in them. If there are any, they need to be removed urgently.
2. If your baby has swallowed mercury balls, give him a lot to drink and induce vomiting. If fragments of the thermometer itself were swallowed, this should not be done so as not to injure the esophagus.
3. Change your baby into clean clothes.
4. Give him activated carbon (1 tablet per 10 kg of weight).
5. Remove to fresh air.
6. Collect mercury indoors according to the diagram above.
7. Do not use this room for at least a couple of days.
8. Wash the floor in the apartment with a bleach solution.
9. All family members who were at home when the thermometer broke should drink plenty of water.

Important! If your child swallows mercury, there is no need to worry. In liquid form, the metal is not absorbed, but comes out naturally with food.

What should you not do when collecting mercury?

Use a vacuum cleaner - warm air currents contribute to the rapid spread of fumes;
Sweep mercury balls with a broom - the rods break large balls into smaller ones, allowing the metal to evaporate intensively;
Collect mercury balls with a rag - you can rub it on the floor surface;
Take mercury outside. Even one broken thermometer can contaminate about 6 cubic meters. m. air. This applies to clothing and all materials that you used during cleaning;
Place mercury in a garbage chute - in a closed space the concentration of harmful fumes becomes much greater;
Flush mercury down the toilet or washbasin - settling on the pipes, it can cause poisoning for all residents of the house;
Burn or bury mercury;
Open doors and windows until cleaning is completed, as air currents will carry the balls around the room;
Wash the clothes you cleaned in;
Turn on the air conditioner - mercury will remain on the filters.

A few more points

Readers of our site will certainly be interested in answers to these questions!

Question 1. How long does it take for mercury to erode?
This depends not only on the amount of mercury, but also on the air temperature, as well as open windows. Experts say that with regular and intensive ventilation, the apartment can return to normal only after 1-3 months.
Question 2. Why is mercury from a broken thermometer dangerous?
Metal fumes have negative impact on the nervous, immune and digestive system. Mercury affects the lungs, stomach, liver, bronchi, organs of vision, digestive tract, skin and much more.

The mercury thermometer should be stored away from children in a special case. And the last piece of advice - if you don’t know when and where it was broken, call the employees of the relevant service, who will disinfect the room and measure the exact dose of fumes.

Who hasn’t encountered such a situation: they were taking their temperature, there was an awkward movement and the mercury thermometer slipped out of their hands and broke. What to do? Now they are trying to replace mercury thermometers with electronic ones. But still, many have preserved them and continue to use them.

The situation is unpleasant, and to some extent dangerous. You probably know about harmful influence mercury vapor on the body and that they can be poisoned. But if you remove the remaining mercury from the room in a timely manner, the possibility of poisoning with mercury vapor will be minimal, if not disappear altogether. If the consequences of the “disaster” were completely and promptly removed, then this situation can be forgotten. For information: one medical thermometer contains no more than 1 gram of mercury (imported ones contain up to 2 grams). And this is not the volume that can cause acute mercury vapor poisoning.

But nevertheless, poisoning can occur if you did not notice the remaining mercury or did not remove it at all, if the room is warm and the room is not ventilated. Mercury is a metal, a thiol poison. Belongs to hazard class 1. Under normal conditions, it is a liquid with an evaporation temperature of +18º C. Mercury vapor is especially dangerous.

Mercury vapor easily spreads in indoor air over considerable distances and easily passes through porous bodies. Pure mercury is easily crushed; 5 grams of mercury with a ball diameter of 0.1 mm gives a surface of 1.5 m 2. The concentration of mercury vapor depends on air temperature, distance from the evaporating surface, area of evaporation, air mobility, and purity of mercury.

The effect on the body is local irritant (upon contact with skin), enterotoxic (upon consumption of contaminated food), neurotoxic (upon inhalation of vapors). Mercury can enter the human body by inhaling vapors through the lungs, through food into the gastrointestinal tract, or through contact with the skin. When vapors are inhaled, more than 75% of the mercury is absorbed. Metallic mercury is not absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. 2-5% is absorbed through intact skin. Mercury is excreted through the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.

What are the dangers of mercury?

If the thermometer breaks, the danger will be in the following cases:

mercury balls spill over the floor and roll under the baseboards and into the cracks;
get to upholstered furniture, carpet, soft children's toys, clothes, and can remain there for a long time;
in case of untimely demercurization with shoes or on the paws of animals, mercury spreads further throughout the apartment.

The most dangerous way for mercury vapor to enter the body is when incompletely collected mercury remains on objects or in floor cracks. Further inhalation of mercury vapor occurs. Mercury has the ability to accumulate in the kidneys, heart, and brain. Various microelements and oxygen contained in the blood contribute to the oxidation and formation of mercury salts. They cause a state of acute or chronic intoxication.

Acute mercury vapor poisoning - symptoms

At acute intoxication(poisoning) victims complain of gastrointestinal disorders (nausea, vomiting, loose stools), falls blood pressure, pulse is rare, thread-like, fainting is possible.

Symptoms of the lesion respiratory tract: tracheobronchitis, runny nose, after a few hours severe toxic pneumonia and toxic pulmonary edema may develop. At the same time, symptoms of damage to the digestive organs (frequent loose stools) and the central nervous system (drowsiness, periods of agitation) appear. On the 3-4th day, acute renal failure develops.

Acute poisoning can occur at 0.13 - 0.80 mg/m3. Fatal intoxication develops when 2.5 g of mercury vapor is inhaled.
According to GN 2.1.6.1338-03 “Maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) of pollutants in atmospheric air populated areas" and SanPiN 2.1.2.1002-00 "Sanitary and epidemiological requirements for residential buildings and premises" the maximum permissible concentration of mercury vapor must exceed 0.0003 mg/m3.

Chronic mercury vapor poisoning

At chronic poisoning clinical picture is not so pronounced and develops gradually. A characteristic feature is a metallic taste in the mouth, loose and bleeding gums, excessive salivation. The victims are easily excitable, irritable, they have a weakening of memory, and a decrease in physical and mental performance. They get tired quickly, sleep poorly, and are apathetic.

The likelihood of such poisoning exists in all rooms where mercury is in contact with air. Particularly dangerous are the smallest drops of spilled mercury that have clogged up under baseboards, linoleum, in floor crevices, in the pile of carpets and upholstery.

If you have a problem emergency with a mercury spill and after some time you notice the above symptoms, then you need to urgently contact the nearest medical facility. Take a long time to medical care not worth it.

Demercurization

Demercurization refers to a set of measures to remove mercury from premises using various methods.

Mechanical (sorption, collection of rolled mercury balls, wet mechanical cleaning, removal of contaminated structures, etc.);
Chemical (conversion of mercury to bound state to reduce the evaporation rate).

If the thermometer breaks, the first thing you need to do is not to panic. And if you follow the rules correctly, the consequences of the spill will be minimized. Then proceed as follows.

Take children and animals out of the room where the thermometer crashed.
Put a scarf or a disposable medical cap on your head, rubber gloves on your hands, shoe covers on your feet, or you can use plastic bags instead, and be sure to put on a respirator or just a moistened gauze bandage on your face to protect your respiratory organs.
Open all vents or windows for the entire period of demercurization (4 hours) and after it for 30 minutes.
Remove the curtains from the windows, remove the bedspreads, soft toys. They must be washed in hot soapy water or taken out to open air for a few days.
Prepare a container where you will collect the remaining spilled mercury; it is advisable to fill it with water half the volume of the container.
When carrying out demercurization, remove gold jewelry. Mercury vapor and mercury itself react with gold.

Never use a broom or vacuum cleaner to remove spilled mercury. If you use them, the remaining mercury will subsequently disperse throughout the apartment.

First, we collect the remains of the broken thermometer and large drops of mercury in a container of water using a rubber enema, disposable syringe, pipette or tape. Please pay special attention that droplets can roll into cracks and under baseboards. Place all this in a container with water and close it tightly with a lid.

Floor cleaning

The next step will be washing the floor with a hot (70-80 o C) soap-soda solution (for 10 liters of water, take 40 grams of soap or washing powder and 50 grams of soda ash). Moisten the surfaces generously with the solution at the rate of 0.4 - 1.0 liters per 1 square meter. meter of floor area. We carefully apply it with a rag or brushes over the entire surface, paying special attention to the cracks. Then thoroughly rub the solution with a rag and clean water, trying to prevent flush water from getting under the underground space and flooring.
Then we wash the floors with a 0.2% solution of potassium permanganate (1 gram of KMnO4 per 1 liter of water), leave for 4 hours.
After this time, we thoroughly wash the walls, windows, window sills, and doors. Lastly, wash the floor again with a hot soap-soda solution and ventilate the room.

Final stage

At the end of the cleaning, you need to take off your robe, mask, cap, gloves and shoe covers and put everything in a plastic bag. There we also put the broken thermometer with the remains of mercury and the rags that were used to clean the room. According to the rules, we must hand over all this to the appropriate organization that processes such waste. But not every city or town has such organizations. And because of one thermometer, hardly anyone will even go to the neighboring city to hand over this waste for recycling.

This waste cannot be thrown into a container or garbage chute, and it cannot be buried either. Therefore, it is best to call the medical service and hand over this hazardous waste to them. They are obliged to accept them.

In conclusion, watch the video of the program “Live Healthy!” with Elena Malysheva, where you can clearly tell what to do if a mercury thermometer breaks.

Be careful when using a mercury thermometer. If possible, replace it with an electronic one, it will be safer for everyone.

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Be healthy! Taisiya Filippova was with you.

A mercury thermometer was broken: what to do and how dangerous is it? Every person must know the algorithm for disposing of a broken thermometer and mercury from it. Such thermometers are still the most common in Russia, although they are slowly being replaced by electronic ones. This is due to the accuracy of the measurements.

Why is a broken thermometer dangerous?

Mercury, which we use to measure temperature, is represented by element 80 periodic table Mendeleev. This is metal with high level toxicity. The thermometer contains about 2-3 g. mercury Its vapors belong to the first class of danger and represent a cumulative poison. At a temperature of +18 degrees, the process of metal evaporation begins, releasing very poisonous gases. If mercury begins to evaporate in a closed, unventilated area, for example 20 square meters, then the concentration of mercury will be thousands of times higher than the permissible limit. Therefore, a broken thermometer is very dangerous.

It should be noted that one of the properties of mercury is the possibility of accumulation in human body. This means that even after thorough cleaning, the effects of fumes may take several weeks to appear. You will already forget about the broken thermometer, and it will be difficult for doctors to diagnose the cause of the ailment.

The thermometer broke - how to collect mercury

1. To protect yourself from mercury vapor poisoning, wear things that you can throw away later, this is a must. Put shoe covers on your feet, cover your skin with rubber gloves, and cover your respiratory tract with a mask with damp gauze.
2. Ask everyone present to leave the premises, especially children, and do not forget to remove the animals.
3. Close the doors to adjoining rooms so that the vapors do not penetrate further. Place a wet rag under the door. If the weather is cool outside, open the window for ventilation, but to avoid a draft.
4. Roll the mercury with a wet cloth onto a piece of paper. Small drops can be collected with tape or a medical bulb.
5. Inspect the room: cracks in the floor, baseboards, furniture and under it. If mercury balls have rolled into the gap, try to remove them with a syringe. If they get on the bed, carpet or other soft things, you will not be able to clean them yourself. Will have to recycle.

6. It is better to collect the toxic substance in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour half the total volume of potassium permanganate solution into it. This will prevent further evaporation. You will also need to put the broken thermometer there.
7. When all the mercury has been collected, prepare another solution of potassium permanganate (10 grams of potassium permanganate per 5 liters of water). Soak a sponge or washcloth in the solution, and then wipe all surfaces. Treat the cracks with a spray bottle.
8. Ventilate the room thoroughly without opening doors to other rooms.
9. The area of the surface where the accident occurred must be washed several times with bleach. Wash the floor in the room again.
10. Take off your clothes and all the things you were wearing. Place everything in a bag and tie it tightly.
11. Take a cool shower. Rinse your mouth with baking soda solution several times.
12. The bag with things and mercury must be disposed of.
13. Treat the room with bleach for 2 weeks.

The thermometer broke - the mercury did not flow out

If the thermometer body has been damaged:

1. Look carefully at the broken thermometer and make sure that mercury has not leaked out. If you miss this moment, then you high probability poison yourself with mercury vapor.
2. Take an airtight glass vessel or a regular jar. Carefully, to avoid spilling the mercury, place the thermometer in the jar.
3. Look on the Internet for the address where mercury disposal is carried out in your city.
4. It is prohibited to throw the thermometer into the trash bin along with waste.

Where to throw away the thermometer

Disposal of items contaminated with mercury and the mercury itself should not be carried out independently. This is a dangerous and complicated procedure. Disposal of a thermometer - question personal responsibility person. Every city has district center where such services are provided. We recommend that you call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or the SES, they will do everything. Remember, from proper disposal mercury thermometers The health of our children depends!

What not to do

Never use a vacuum cleaner or broom to collect mercury. The air heated by the vacuum cleaner will instantly spread fumes throughout the house. A broom can only crumble mercury balls. Small particles They will remain in the apartment and poison all the residents. Then it will no longer be possible to do without the expensive services of specialists.

It is strictly forbidden to throw the thermometer into the trash bin. It would seem that such a small dose of a substance cannot harm anyone. In fact, the contents of just one thermometer can pollute 5 thousand square meters of clean air.

It is forbidden to bury a broken thermometer in the ground, since mercury vapor will still contaminate the environment. Yes, you can bury the thermometer far in the forest, but this can harm the animals.

The mercury thermometer should not be thrown into sewer pipes or pits. This can cause fumes to enter someone's bathroom. It is impossible to dispose of mercury from the sewer system. To disinfect, you will have to change the pipes.

What to do if mercury gets on your skin

Rinse skin with cold running water with soap. Then wipe the affected area with cotton wool moistened with a solution of potassium permanganate. Make sure that no allergies appear in the next 24 hours: redness, itching, tingling. In this case, contact the clinic. Drink plenty of water daily over the next week. This will help remove toxins from the body.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning

Mercury vapor poisoning is very dangerous. The fact is that symptoms do not appear long enough after exposure. If you broke a thermometer a couple of months ago, and now you notice the symptoms listed below, quickly see a doctor!

Nausea and vomiting;
bleeding gums, they swell;
increased salivation;
metallic taste in the mouth;
severe headaches;
severe pain in the throat when swallowing;
loss of appetite;
general malaise;
weakness.

If mercury continues to accumulate in the body, more serious symptoms may appear: hypertension, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, disorders of the urinary system, tuberculosis, mental illness, numbness in the legs and arms, trembling of the eyelids and fingers. Particularly severe cases of intoxication lead to death.

Air analysis for mercury in an apartment or house

Many of the people who are faced with disposing of a thermometer with their own hands are interested in the question: is there any mercury left in the house? Mercury vapor is colorless and odorless, so you can independently determine the presence of mercury without using special equipment almost impossible.

If you have any doubts whether you have completely removed mercury from your home, you need to do a chemical analysis of the air for mercury by calling a specialist. In this case, it is better to carry out a comprehensive chemical analysis air.

Buy only electronic thermometers. They do not pose a mortal danger and quickly remove indicators. Mercury thermometers have long been banned throughout the civilized world.