How to neutralize mercury at home?

Almost every house has a mercury thermometer, which must be handled with extreme care, because it contains particularly hazardous metal mercury.

If it crashes, how to neutralize mercury at home? We will talk about this and much more in our article.

How to neutralize mercury when a thermometer crashes

The first thing to do is calm down and stop panicking in order to gather your thoughts and begin to act quickly.

And second - you need to remember the main three rules:

1. Never collect dangerous balls with a rag. Because the metal has the property of decaying into smaller particles, which will be even more difficult to collect.
2. You can not resort to the help of a vacuum cleaner. This is extremely dangerous! The lesion is increasing. Together with the circulating air flow, the vapors will again return to the room. The device will have to be thrown away, since the remaining substance will settle on the internal parts, creating a film, the poisons of which will evaporate each time it is turned on, and the mercury droplets fall on all surfaces in the room. Moreover, even in a landfill, such a technique will exude a hazardous substance.
3. Do not use a broom. The rods will crush the balls, turning them into mercury powder. This dust penetrates the smallest cracks and has a toxic effect for many years.

In order to properly neutralize mercury at home, one must not forget these basic rules. It is very toxic, has the main property - to evaporate indoors. Vapors are the strongest poisons.

Before we get down to the question of how to neutralize mercury from a broken thermometer on our own, we’ll talk about how this metal is dangerous.

What is the threat?

Mercury is a liquid metal that can vaporize. Its smallest particles can penetrate into all cracks, under the baseboards, into the pile of the carpet. Under the influence of room temperature, they turn into vapors that poison the air.

Through inhalation, these poisons penetrate into all internal organs and accumulate there. Manifested in the form of dermatitis, stomatitis. A metallic taste and excessive salivation are characteristic. Subsequently, the nervous system is affected, which leads to various serious diseases. Therefore, it is imperative to know how to neutralize mercury.

There are complex forms of poisoning, which are characterized by the appearance of nausea, accompanied by vomiting. Inflammation of the lungs, pain in the abdomen, diarrhea may occur. In case of severe intoxication, even death occurs.

We learned the danger of this metal. We proceed directly to the question of how to neutralize mercury.

First steps

We will consider the basic rules and give examples of how to neutralize mercury from a thermometer at home. The following requirements must be met:

1. We bring people and animals out of the affected area so that the children do not touch the dangerous balls and the pets do not swallow them.
2. It is necessary to close other rooms in order to prevent further penetration of vapors, and this room in particular.
3. It is necessary to open the windows so that it is well ventilated, but drafts should not be allowed.
4. On the threshold of the infected room, lay a rag soaked in manganese solution.
5. Protect yourself, put on a gauze bandage, shoe covers, if there are none, ordinary plastic bags will come down, rubber gloves on your hands.
6. First, fragments of a thermometer are collected, then mercury itself.
7. When collecting, you can not step on unfortunate drops, otherwise you will have to throw out your shoes.
8. Collect them from the edges to the center.

These are the first actions to be performed. Of course, you can resort to the help of specialists. EMERCOM employees will measure the level of mercury in the room and will perform a full cleaning. This service is paid and expensive.

Let's figure out how to neutralize mercury from a thermometer at home from different surfaces

First you need to prepare a container (jar) with a solution of potassium permanganate. To collect silver beads, you need a directional artificial light source: a flashlight or lamp.

With a soft art brush, gently roll the balls on a paper sheet and pour it into the prepared container with pink water.

A broken thermometer, from which mercury did not leak, must be completely lowered into a prepared container and taken to the Ministry of Emergencies for further destruction.

What else can neutralize mercury? We will need:

• Pear for douching.
• Syringe.
• Any little brush.

So, let's start collecting mercury.

If the balls crumbled on the wooden floor

Here you need to pay special attention. They could roll under the baseboard, into the gap between the floorboards. To remove particles, you need to fill in the sand there and then gently sweep with a brush. You can use a stick with wound cotton wool soaked in sunflower oil, and after collecting the balls, do not shake them off, but completely remove them into the solution.

To remove dangerous balls from hard-to-reach places, you need to know what neutralizes mercury from a thermometer. Need a regular syringe with a thin tip or a syringe with a needle.

We remove the silver particles from the carpet

Adhesive tape or adhesive tape will help us in this. You can use a magnet. It is better to make the palace for ventilation in open air for a period of at least a month, if this is not possible, it must be washed in a soda soap solution.

Copper wire, to which the balls easily adhere, eliminates metal well.

If mercury gets on the bed

In this case, you still have to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations to measure the level of pollution with toxic fumes that could be absorbed into the mattress. But first, you must independently remove the dangerous balls with two sheets of paper or with hands in rubber gloves.

You cannot flush mercury into the toilet. If she did get there, it is necessary to drain the water in the sink and remove the metal with a magnet, with protected hands or an enema.

To clean the furniture, you need to work the surface with a rag soaked in a strong manganese solution, but care must be taken so as not to spoil it.

We examined mechanical cleaning methods, followed by ventilation of the infected room. And now we begin to discuss the third stage.

Chemical demercurization

We figured out how to neutralize mercury at home, and now let's talk about the next step.

Once the balls are removed, there is no guarantee that mercury dust will remain. It is also necessary to get rid of it. To do this, you will need any chlorine-containing liquid, a tool for processing tiles or plain whiteness.

We dilute a liter of chlorinated substance into a ten-liter bucket. Be sure to protect your skin with gloves. Squeezing the cloth slightly, carefully wash the infected surface. You can even fill the gaps with this liquid for additional disinfection. It is necessary to process also walls.

Then you need to wash the walls and floor with soap and water. For a liter of hot water you will need 70 grams of baking soda and the same amount of crushed laundry soap. In gloves it is necessary to process the entire surface.

Fourth step - fresh air purification again

Airing should take several hours, while still no one should be allowed into the room.

The final step is to dispose of things in contact with the hazardous metal.

Rags, syringes, needles, paper, a jar of mercury, gloves, and even contaminated shoes and clothing must be destroyed. They must be taken to a special organization for subsequent disposal.

For two weeks, you need to carefully ventilate the room for several hours daily. To calm conscience, you can call the Ministry of Emergency Situations for a control measurement of air.

Safety precautions

We learned how to neutralize mercury, let's talk a little about safety.

This is a difficult process that can take several hours. Therefore, every fifteen minutes it is worth taking a break, going out into the fresh air. You need to drink plenty of fluids, as the metal is eliminated from the body by the kidneys.

What you should pay attention to:

1. Do not wash clothing in contact with mercury in the washing machine.
2. It is strictly forbidden to throw silver balls into the toilet bowl, they will sink onto the walls of the pipes and will continue the poisonous evaporation and poisoning of the inhabitants of the whole apartment building. The same applies to the garbage chute.
3. When processing an infected room, do not turn on the air conditioner; particles will settle on the filters.
4. Do not throw mercury balls into the oven; poisonous substances escape into the atmosphere with smoke.

To avoid this problem, it is necessary to store the thermometer in a secluded place inaccessible to children. And it is better to use electronic versions.

Final actions

After all stages of cleaning the room from mercury, you must perform the following steps:

1. Using a weak solution of potassium permanganate, gargle and brush your teeth.
2. Drink plenty of any liquid.
3. Take a few tablets of activated carbon.
4. Do not forget to ventilate the room and process the walls and floor with the above means.
5. If liquid metal gets on the surface of the skin, the affected area must be treated with a lime solution. May leave a small burn, but this is minor health damage compared with poisoning.

Following these simple guidelines will help avoid negative consequences.

Remember, a broken thermometer carries a great danger!

A tiny ball is able to evaporate for about a year. The speed of this process will directly depend on the following factors:

1. Room air temperatures.
2. From the amount of mercury poured.
3. The area of ​​the room in which the accident occurred.

Even a small volume of this metal can cause serious health problems. After all, it is able to accumulate inside our body, which causes chronic poisoning.

Signs are not detected immediately. They appear later, this is an irritable state, problems with sleep and the nervous system.

And finally, how to neutralize mercury if it gets inside

There are some good recommendations:

1. The first thing to do is to induce vomiting in the poisoned person.
2. Rinse the stomach with a solution of activated carbon or protein from the egg.
3. Then drink a glass of milk.
4. And wait for the ambulance.

If a person has been poisoned in pairs, he must be taken outside before the doctors arrive.

Knowing these simple recommendations, now you will not begin to experience panic and fear if a similar situation occurs. The main thing is to calm down and follow the above instructions.