Thermometers, which are an indispensable tool for determining the human body temperature, are used in almost every family. Although modern advances in electronics have long been able to use substances that are completely safe for the human body in the manufacture of this medical accessory, the most common in our country are mercury thermometers that carry a potential danger. Everyone knows - that mercury, or rather, the fumes of this metal are extremely dangerous components of the thermometer, which, if it enters the human body, can cause extreme harm to health. Despite this, many forget about precaution and find themselves in a situation where the thermometer is broken and the harmful metal leaked to the floor. What to do if a thermometer crashes? It doesn’t matter how the thermometer crashed, the consequences of this can be disastrous, therefore it is necessary to carry out a number of procedures for demercurization of the room, where the thermometer crashed, how to collect mercury is described below.
1. In the case when the street has a lower temperature than the room should open the windows - low air temperature reduces the evaporation of toxic metal. At the same time, a draft should not be allowed to occur, which can lead to the fact that mercury balls will scatter throughout the apartment or house, and it will be extremely difficult to assemble them.
2. What should I do if a thermometer crashes in a dark room and mercury balls are not visible? It is necessary to highlight the place of incidence, using, for example, a table lamp. Once the drops of mercury are visible, you can begin to collect them.
3. When collecting mercury, it is necessary to wear rubber gloves and also to prevent metal droplets from getting on the skin. The most convenient way to collect mercury peas is to roll them onto a piece of paper using another piece of paper or a soft brush. Do not use a hard brush or a broom, as these tools can crush poisonous balls. Mercury that has clogged in the floor gap can be removed with a brush, but for this it must first be sprinkled with sand. In addition, to clean hard to reach places, you can use a piece of cotton wool, which is moistened with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After collection, the mercury is gently shaken off in a glass container filled with water or a potassium permanganate solution. Sand containing mercury particles, as well as a broken thermometer, goes there. A good way to render mercury harmless is to suck it into a rubber bulb.
4. What should I do if the thermometer crashes should already be clear - to collect mercury, but what to do with the already collected toxic metal? Firstly, in no case should it be thrown into a sewer or garbage chute. In general, mercury should be subjected to special treatment, without which it will release toxins anywhere wherever it appears, and this further worsens an unfavorable environmental situation. To neutralize the consequences for the residents of the room in which the thermometer crashed, it is necessary to call specialists working in the Civil Defense and Emergencies Department.
5. The final stage of demercurization is the neutralization of all mercury particles, even the smallest. For this, the mercury spill site is wetted with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (0.2%). You can also use a soap-soda solution, which is prepared from soda taken in an amount of 30 grams, soap - 40 grams, water -1 liter. This solution wipes all areas that could have been exposed to mercury. After two days, the disinfectant solution is washed off with clean water.
We hope that the above steps will help everyone understand what to do if a thermometer crashes.