How to properly dispose of a mercury thermometer. Where you can dispose of the thermometer. How to dispose of a broken thermometer at home

Each of us has a mercury thermometer at home. It is designed to measure the human body temperature and is available in every first -aid kit. This device is considered the most accurate, unlike electronic thermometers, but, alas, not the safest. The narrow part of the thermometer contains a chemically dangerous substance - mercury. If you use a measuring device carefully, this device does not represent the danger to the health of people and animals, but if the thermometer crashes, and the mercury leaked, the evaporation of this substance is dangerous for all others.

How to properly dispose of a mercury thermometer. Mercury is dangerous

An ordinary mercury thermometer does not have a shelf life, it can serve for years and even decades with careful handling. But this thing is very fragile and can easily break through with careless handling. What happens if the contents are on the floor, clogs in the cracks?

Mercury is a very dangerous chemical substance that can cause a strong intoxication of the body. For this reason, in Europe they have long abandoned thermometers with mercury. But in Russia and other countries, people still use mercury devices to change body temperature, because they are the most accurate.

But this is if a thermometer was used carefully and he was not injured. What if he burst, the mercury remained on the floor in the living room? How dangerous is this?

Mercury consists of the smallest balls, which, with the slightest fluctuations, can roll from one place to another, divide or vice versa, merge into one clot. Mercury easily fills the smallest cracks in the floor, can hide in a pile on the carpet and pets wool. This substance is very dangerous for human health. If mercury vapors fall into the lungs, after a few hours a person can feel weak, dizziness. 2 g of mercury, which are in thermometer, can cause irreparable harm to human health.

Inhaling mercury vapors in a closed room can affect work:

• kidneys;
• lungs;
• gastrointestinal tract.

A person who has long inhaled mercury pairs can suffer from symptoms such as:

• decrease in performance;
• decrease in concentration and attention;
• memory decrease;
• insomnia;
• difficulty breathing;
• weakness, dizziness;
• lack of appetite;
• apathy, decrease in performance.

If you accidentally crashed at your home, how to dispose of mercury, you can find out by calling special services: the Ministry of Emergencies, the sanitary and epidemiological service or to the Demerkurization Center (located only in large cities).

What to do if a mercury thermometer crashed

At home or at work, you are used to using a mercury thermometer, with the slightest ailment to measure body temperature to yourself, children and even colleagues at work. This is very convenient, as the device shows the exact temperature, unlike electronic modern thermometers.

What if with careless handling with a thermometer, did he break? The first is not to panic. Remember that if in a house where the thermometer crashed, small children, pregnant women and people of advanced age live, you need to urgently call special services to understand how to dispose of a broken armometer and what can be done before the arrival of specialists.

How to dispose of a thermometer at home:

1. If the thermometer crashed and the mercury leaked, it is necessary to isolate all family members. Ask people to leave the room, take pets to the street so that they do not smaller mercury balls throughout their wool through their wool.
2. The front door needs to be closed, windows - open wide open. No matter what the weather is on the street, you need to ventilate the room as best as possible. So you can get rid of mercury fumes. It is important to avoid drafts, so that the balls do not fly around the room.
3. What else can be done: you need to take a piece of tissue, moisten in a soda solution (a glass of water, 1 tbsp soda), lay a rag on the floor in front of the front door. Instead of soda solution, a strong manganese solution can be used.

If it is impossible to call a special brigade on the disposal of mercury, you can do this yourself, but you need to know how to dispose of mercury from a broken thermometer.

Preparation:

• put on protective gloves;
• put on a gauze bandage. If it is not, make it independently made of gauze, folded in several layers;
• the bandage must be wetted in water;
• it is advisable to work in shoe covers. If Bahil was not at home, the legs will help to protect ordinary plastic bags;
• you need to work in clothes sewn from synthetic materials, since such a fabric absorbs less mercury vapors than cotton.

If there were no gloves, masks and shoe covers at home - do not waste time looking for protection, since the road is every minute. Start quickly, and the arms and legs can be protected with ordinary plastic bags. Instead of a mask, use a wet scarf or a fabric cloth.

How to dispose of a thermometer with mercury yourself:

1. Prepare a glass jar, half fill it with water, a soap-liner solution or make a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
2. Take a couple of paper leaves or a newspaper, as well as a syringe (you can small medical pear), a small brush and cotton wool. In addition, you may need an awl or a thin knitting needle, a flashlight, adhesive plaster or adhesive tape.
3. Raise the crashed thermometer from the floor and collect glass fragments, everything needs to be put in a glass container with water.
4. With a soft, damp brush, collect mercury balls on a piece of paper. Or you can collect mercury with one sheet of paper, directing mercury balls to another piece of paper.
5. Mercury must be placed in a jar of water or a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
6. All large mercury balls are collected, now it remains to collect small ones. The adhesive plaster or adhesive tape will help in this matter. Mercury, along with tape, must also be sent to a jar with a solution or water.
7. Now you will need a flashlight to carefully examine all the places and cracks where the slightest mercury balls may remain.
8. Of the inaccessible places, mercury is easier to extract with thin sharp objects: for example, a knitting needle, a thin brush. Also faithful assistants will be a syringe (without a needle) or a small medical pear.
9. If there are suspicions that the mercury rolled under the baseboard, you will have to remove it in order to carefully examine everything and collect mercury.
10. After the work done, close the jar tightly with a lid and so far put in an inaccessible place for children until the disposal to the recycling department.

As for the scene of the mercury disposal, there are few of them, but they are. It is enough to find out in the nearest pharmacy where you can give mercury for disposal. In large cities there are special organizations, in small cities mercury can be taken in a pharmacy.

Paul processing in the room:

1. Immediately after collecting mercury, you need to wash the floor, furniture and all objects by manganese solution.
2. The second treatment-after half an hour with a strong soap-liner solution (grate the bar of laundry soap, pour 2 liters of water, warm over low heat until the soap chips are completely dissolved, add 5 tbsp, bring to a boil, turn off the fire, Keep on the stove for 10 minutes). The solution should be thick.
3. Rinse the floor and all objects with clean water.

After processing the room, it is necessary to remove all the clothes, gloves and all the protective equipment (collect rags, cotton wool, medical pear, etc.), put everything in a plastic bag, tie it tightly. Then you can take a shower and be sure to rinse your mouth with a soda solution (on a glass of water 1 tsp, soda). It is advisable to transfer the package together with the mercury located in the bank in a special service for disposal.

How to properly dispose of the thermometer if the mercury has not leaked out

The case of the thermometer is damaged, but the mercury did not lean out what to do in this case:

1. Carefully inspect the thermometer body to make sure that the mercury has not leaked. If it is found that at least a little mercury has leaked, there is a great risk of poisoning with mercury pairs.
2. In order to protect yourself and all family members, a mercury thermometer must be put in a glass jar of water (take a thermometer only with your hands in gloves). All movements should be smooth and careful, in order to avoid cracking of fragile glass.
3. Blows a damaged thermometer into the garbage! It needs to be handed over to the recycling department of old thermometers.

If you throw a crashed thermometer along with household waste into a garbage tank, a person violates the law. According to Article 8.2 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrations, the fine will be 1-2 thousand rubles for individuals, from 10 thousand or more-a fine for organizations.

Where to dispose of the mercury thermometer? We present a list of organizations taking old thermometers and broken for disposal.

Where to dispose of mercury from the thermometer:

How to dispose of a mercury thermometer. What else you need to know

If you have a mercury thermometer at home, it is safe and there is no reason for fear, you still need to know the rules for the disposal of mercury.

What can not be done:

1. Throw a thermometer (both whole and damaged) simply into a garbage tank with other unnecessary things.
2. Collect mercury balls with a vacuum cleaner, as well as collect mercury with a broom. If the vacuum cleaner easily sucks mercury, then this device is already a danger to all family members who live with you. When the vacuum cleaner sucks mercury, the evaporation of the poisonous substance intensifies. For the same reason, it is undesirable to collect mercury with a broom, since it shouts balls into very small particles.
3. The collected mercury cannot be washed into the toilet, since the smallest particles will settle on sewer pipes and then it will be very difficult to extract it from hard -to -reach places.
4. Independently dispose of a thermometer that has broken or disadvantaged. It is forbidden to throw the device into reservoirs, instill in the ground or store somewhere at home or in the country.
5. If the thermometer crashed, the mercury is collected and sent to a special organization for utilization, the clothes in which they worked, and all objects need to be thrown away. If you do not want to get rid of clothes, you need to wash things in a washing machine separately.

Where to dispose of the thermometer? If in your city there is no special organization engaged in the utilization of mercury thermometers, the damaged measuring device can be attributed to the pharmacy. The thermometer will be accepted and sent for disposal. In the meantime, the time does not come, mercury is stored in special protected glass containers in water or special in solution.

Assistance to the victim after the disposal of a mercury thermometer

You already know where to dispose of a broken thermometer, how to assemble mercury yourself. Information will not be superfluous on how to provide first aid to the victim with mercury pairs poisoning.

If a mercury thermometer crashes:

1. Mercury couples are very poisonous, and first of all, mercury is dangerous for young children. The child cannot explain how he feels, so adults should take measures immediately. Immediately, as soon as the thermometer crashed, isolate the child, call a special service that will carry out mercury utilization.
2. A child may rise in body temperature, dry mouth appears 1-2 hours after mercury vapors spread throughout the dwelling. Give the victim a lot of liquid. You can not leave the child and stay in this room yourself.
3. If the mercury came inside: rinse the stomach, give the victim activated charcoal, cause vomiting after abundant drinking. Contact the hospital or call an ambulance immediately.