How to remove mercury

Mercury is a heavy metal, silver color, which belongs to the first class of danger, it is used in medicine, metallurgy, mechanics, and most often we encounter it in everyday life when using a thermometer and fluorescent lamps. If you break a thermometer and drops of mercury roll out on small surfaces with small balls, in this case you need to know how to remove mercury so as not to harm your health and the surrounding area. This is extremely necessary, since this element of the periodic table is extremely toxic and poisoning with mercury vapor can lead to hospitalization.

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Why do you need to carefully remove mercury from a broken thermometer?

During evaporation, mercury releases poisonous vapor, which affects the central nervous system and kidney function. It also affects the respiratory system and the gastrointestinal tract. If you are faced with such a nuisance as a crashed thermometer, as a rule, in this situation, you need to contact specialists from the sanitary and epidemiological station. But if there is no such opportunity, do not despair! In the absence of special substances, you can cope with this problem even with the help of improvised means. Below you will find a number of recommendations on how to remove mercury in an apartment in different ways.

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Where to begin?

Before removing mercury from a thermometer from the floor, take the following measures:

1. Evacuate the tenants of the apartment during the removal of the problem so that they do not spread the mercury on the soles throughout the room.
2. Organize good airing and lowering the temperature in the place where the incident occurred, but in no case create a draft.
3. Wear protective clothing, preferably synthetic, which, after use, should be disposed of together with tools, as the substance will not fade or wash.
4. Put on a cotton-gauze dressing soaked in soda solution.
5. Limit the area of ​​contamination with wet newspapers.
6. Prepare mercury removal products and tools.
7. After the procedure, collect all the things and objects that came into contact with or on which mercury has come in, collect in plastic bags and take them out into the open air.

Important! Since the mercury removal process takes a long time, periodically go out into fresh air to avoid vapor poisoning.

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What you can’t do if a mercury thermometer crashes

1. Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean mercury - after this procedure it will not be possible to use it for its intended purpose.
2. Do not mark silver balls with a broom, so you just grind them and complicate the task of cleaning.
3. Clothing that came into contact with mercury should not be washed in a washing machine, and even more so with your hands.
4. It is strictly forbidden to throw a broken thermometer into the garbage chute, since only 2 g of mercury can pollute 6,000 cubic meters of air. If you do this, harmful fumes, mixed with the waste products that are released, will poison all those living in this house for a long time.
5. In no case should mercury be drained into the sewer; it settles in pipes, and it is very difficult to extract it from there.

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How to remove mercury from a thermometer from the floor?

If you decide not to involve a service that specializes in eliminating the consequences of a mercury spill, then in this article we offer you the following tools and methods for removing mercury. Follow the recommendations and use the tools to fix this problem that are most available to you.

You will need:

• glass jar with a tight-fitting lid;
• table lamp, flashlight;
• sheets of paper;
• shaving brush;
• paper napkins;
• wet cotton;
• plasticine;
• vegetable oil;
• suction devices: medical bulb, syringe with a thick needle, pipette;
• adhesive tape;
• mercury neutralizer - “sulfur color”;
• disinfecting and bleaching chemicals that contain chlorine;
• sodium permanganate;
• iodine;
• plastic bags.

Important! You will not need the entire list of funds, but only some of them. So look what methods exist, what exactly you have at hand, and then proceed according to plan.

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How to remove a broken mercury thermometer?

Please note that you can only remove mercury from a broken thermometer only if you strictly adhere to all the recommendations in the proposed instructions. When doing work, you must also be very careful and accurate. If you can’t do this, immediately call a special service to solve the problem of how to remove mercury on the floor in the apartment.

Method 1

If the thermometer crashes and the mercury does not leak:

1. Prepare a glass container with water.
2. Carefully slip a sheet of paper under the broken thermometer.
3. Put the item in water.
4. Contact the Ministry of Emergencies - they are required to take measures for disposal.

Method 2

Clean broken thermometer and spilled mercury in several stages.

Stage 1: Preparation:

1. Prepare a mercury collection facility.
2. Close the door so that the substance does not spread through the air throughout the house.
3. Put a rag soaked in potassium permanganate solution on the threshold.
4. To prevent mercury vapor from accumulating in the room, open windows.
5. Protect yourself with personal protective equipment.

Stage 2. The cleaning process:

1. Turn on the lamp or flashlight and carefully examine the site of infection.
2. Collect fragments of a broken thermometer and put in a plastic bag.
3. Collect mercury using the above devices.
4. On open surfaces:
   • Take two sheets of paper and drive the mercury balls so that they stick together into one big one, you can use a shaving brush in the same way.
   • Small drops of mercury can be collected with adhesives. Apply pieces of plaster, plasticine, scotch tape, bread crumb, wet wipes, rags to mercury places. This method can also collect invisible glass fragments from a thermometer.
   • Put used products in a sealed container.
5. Remove the chemical element from hard-to-reach places using suction tools. As an option, you can use a knitting needle and cotton:
   • Wrap cotton on the tip of a spoke with a thin layer.
   • Prepare a disinfectant.
   • Dip cotton in it.
   • After it has absorbed mercury, replace the tip with a new one.
   • Repeat the process until you have completely collected the contamination.

Stage 3. Surface disinfection:

1. Prepare a special solution to neutralize mercury vapors and wash the surface from traces of the substance. In this case, you can use the following substances laundry soap, “White”, sulfur, potassium permanganate.
2. Dilute in strong concentration with water.
3. Using a spray bottle, brush, brush, apply the solution to the places that you have cleaned from mercury, paying special attention to cracks.
4. Treat the surface several times.
5. Leave to dry.
6. Rinse with soapy water.
7. Re-treat the cleaned area with a solution of potassium permanganate, alternating with plain water.
8. Wet the entire room.

Stage 4. Disposal:

1. Put the used materials in a jar filled with water, so mercury will not evaporate.
2. Close the mercury waste bags tightly and temporarily put them in a non-residential place, away from the heat source.
3. Call a specialist service so that it arrives and collects the collected mercury.

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How to remove mercury from the palace?

The process of cleaning up mercury from fleecy surfaces is complex and practically impossible. Balls of mercury are firmly eaten into the pile, in this case it is best to discard things contaminated with mercury and turn them in for disposal.

But as an option, you can try to place the infected thing under the sun's rays and ventilate for 2-3 months, so the mercury will evaporate.

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Useful Tips

1. To avoid the risk of infection with mercury vapor, use an electric thermometer, it is convenient to use, it can be given to children without fear.
2. If you use a mercury thermometer, store it in a closed case in a medical kit that is out of the reach of children. If the case is deformed, even if the thermometer breaks, the mercury will not leak to the surface, and it will be easy to dispose of.

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We hope that our advice on how to remove mercury has helped you. Henceforth, be extremely careful in handling this medical device and try to keep it away from children.