What to do if the thermometer breaks?
It is well known that mercury is deadly to humans. It enters the body through the digestive or respiratory systems. Only a child can be poisoned through digestion, and in this case it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance. And almost any person can inhale mercury vapor by accidentally breaking a thermometer. As a thermometer crashedresult, he gets mercury poisoning without any alarming symptoms, he is slightly worried about nausea, irritability, weight loss, but all this is more often attributed to nerves, fatigue, and city smog. And poisonous vapors slowly attack the kidneys and central nervous system.
Broken thermometer - remember that you need to remove mercury quickly and very carefully.
What to do if a thermometer breaks
Protect your hands with rubber gloves: do not allow exposed areas of the body to come into contact with mercury.
Protect the place where the mercury balls fall so as not to spread them on the soles of your shoes to other rooms.
Gently and carefully collect all the mercury balls and broken fragments of the thermometer and place them in a glass jar with a tightly screwed lid, filled with cold water. The water will keep the mercury from evaporating. Keep the jar in a cool place.
The tiniest droplets of mercury will help to collect an adhesive plaster, scotch tape, a syringe, a rubber bulb, at worst a wet newspaper or two sheets of paper.
As soon as possible, hand over to the bank to the employees of the "01" service.
Ventilate the room thoroughly by opening all windows to allow fumes to leave the room.
The accident site should be treated with a solution of chloramine or bleach to oxidize the mercury and prevent its volatility. As a last resort, prepare a hot soapy-soda solution by mixing 40 grams of grated soap and 30 grams of baking soda in a liter of water.
What is desirable to do:
Seek advice or call the EMERCOM employees for help by the well-known phone number 01.
Use a lamp or flashlight to collect mercury balls so you don't miss the smallest ones.
If the air temperature outside the window is lower than in the room, put the jar with the collected mercury on the balcony. Let her wait there for the possibility of transferring the poisonous contents to the representatives of the Ministry of Emergencies.
To prevent complications, drink more diuretic fluids, that is, tea, coffee, juices. Mercury compounds are excreted from the human body through the kidneys using the urinary system.
What not to do if the thermometer breaks
Throw the broken thermometer into the garbage chute. If only two grams of mercury gets there, they will pollute six thousand cubic meters of air upon evaporation.
Collect mercury with a broom. The stiff twigs will crush the poisonous balls into the finest mercury dust.
Disinfect the room with a vacuum cleaner. The air, driven through it, will accelerate the evaporation of this liquid metal several times. In addition, after this operation, the vacuum cleaner cannot be used in the future; all that remains is to throw it away.
Create a draft in the room until all traces of spilled mercury are completely destroyed. Otherwise, small balls will scatter throughout the room.
Wash the clothes and shoes you were wearing on the rescue mission in the washing machine. Ideally, of course, it's best to throw everything away.
Allow mercury to enter sewers. It will settle in the sewer pipes and gradually contaminate the environment, and it is very difficult to remove it from there.
In addition to all of the above, remember that mercury compounds are also found in other objects, such as some paints, fluorescent lamps, batteries. Be careful, read the instructions carefully and follow them strictly!