Disposal of mercury thermometers. How to properly dispose of a broken mercury thermometer

08.11.2018

Many of us use mercury thermometers. They are more familiar than electronic ones, and they work flawlessly, unlike their newfangled counterpart. A glass thermometer costs several times less than its electronic counterpart, which is important. True, there were some downsides. The largest one - the glass thermometer contains mercury - a substance dangerous to humans and the environment. Such a thermometer is quite fragile, and it will not be difficult to break it, which happens periodically. Simply throwing the fragments in the trash is not enough. You need to know where to dispose of broken mercury thermometer and how to collect dangerous contents.

The metal itself is not dangerous, but its fumes are poisonous. If measures are not taken to remove traces of mercury in time, inhalation of poisonous air will result in serious problems, up to severe poisoning.

Infected air enters the lungs, where it enters the blood with oxygen. With the blood flow, mercury particles enter all organs, settling in them. In an attempt to remove the poison from the body, the main filters - the liver and kidneys - are activated. They take the hit.

As a result severe poisoning mercury vapor will inevitably cause the following symptoms:

sleep disturbance;
memory impairment, absent-mindedness;
malfunctions of cardio-vascular system, shortness of breath.

The danger of mercury lies in its invisible, systemic effects on the body

Of course, if you break one thermometer containing mercury, it is impossible to get serious poisoning, but if you do not take measures to eliminate the poisoned residues, disruptions in the body’s functioning are inevitable.

Important: The danger is that already at 18 degrees Celsius, mercury begins to evaporate. Considering that one thermometer contains two grams of a hazardous substance, approximately 0.18 milligrams of metal enters the air per hour. This amount is enough to “infect” a room of up to 600 cubic meters.

The thermometer broke: what to do?

No matter how careful we are, such situations happen from time to time: glass can burst or break. Simply throwing a mercury thermometer in the trash is not a solution to the situation. Follow the rules; to do this, you need to know how to dispose of a mercury thermometer at home. The algorithm of actions directly depends on the degree of damage to the thermometer.

If the mercury does not leak out

Take an airtight container. It is good if the dishes are glass and the lid is screwed on.
Then we work with gloves, put them on and begin to carefully collect the fragments. We put them in a jar.
Make sure once again that the flask with mercury itself is undamaged and that the mercury has not leaked out. We also put it in a jar. Screw the lid tightly.
All that remains is to take the container to a collection point for recycling of thermometers.

How to remove the consequences of a broken thermometer

If the mercury has leaked

Remove children and animals from the premises. In addition to the fact that mercury vapor is dangerous, babies can be attracted to shiny balls rolling on the floor. If you don't keep an eye on the child, he can pick them up.
Call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and report the incident, they are obliged not only to collect all the spilled metal, but also to carry out a procedure for cleaning the room from traces of mercury - decontamination. If for some reason it is not possible to call service employees, there is nothing left to do but collect mercury yourself.
First of all, put rubber gloves on your hands, shoe covers or strong plastic bags on your feet, and a gauze bandage on your face. It would be a good idea to change your clothes to synthetic ones - mercury will not linger on them. These measures will help protect against harmful fumes and close contact with hazardous metals.
Carefully inspect the room, determine where the contents of the thermometer have spread. Please note that the balls can break up into small particles, do not rush, look around carefully.
Mark items on which you notice traces of mercury; chalk or a felt-tip pen will do.
If the spill area is small, fence it off. This can be done with a wet cloth. This measure will help avoid further spreading of the metal.
Prepare a container and pour cold water into it. You don’t need to fill a full jar, 3-4 cm in height is enough. Cold water will help prevent further evaporation.
Even if you wear gloves, do not take mercury balls with your hands; you can do this with cotton swabs or disks. The particles will stick to the surface, after which they are carefully transferred to a jar of water. For better adhesion, moisten the cotton surface with sunflower oil or potassium permanganate. Use a piece of paper and slowly roll the balls onto it with another piece of paper.
It's easier to collect larger balls, so try rolling small balls into one. To do this, take a thin object such as an awl or needle.
Using the same awl, you can pull out small balls that have rolled down the cracks. In such a situation, you can use a syringe or tape. The syringe will have to be disposed of after this procedure.
If the room is dimly lit, use a flashlight; metal glows well when light hits it.
The process of collecting mercury balls is a lengthy undertaking, so do not forget to leave the room every 15-20 minutes for fresh air.
When particle collection is complete, close the lid of the jar tightly. Get rid of gloves, shoe covers and objects used to collect mercury. If dimensions allow, put them in the same jar where you put the fragments, otherwise pack shoe covers, gloves and available supplies in a separate plastic bag and tie it tightly.
Ventilate the room; it is better not to go there in the next 24 hours. Every other day, carry out a thorough wet cleaning.

How to properly remove mercury

Remember, no matter how well you remove mercury, you still won’t be able to do it completely, the best thing is to call special service. She will take the necessary measures to disinfect the premises. The best option is to dispose of all items that have been touched by mercury. If among these things there are valuable ones, put this item out for a couple of weeks to air out.

Note: If mercury gets on the carpet or upholstered furniture, it is impossible to cope without a team of demercurization service workers; in this case, the surface is cleaned with chemical solutions. You won’t be able to just throw away a damaged item; you will harm the environment.

Where to take a damaged thermometer

The best option is to contact a specialized point. Such points for receiving broken thermometers are available in many major cities, but in small ones populated areas Finding an organization where you can return a broken thermometer is more difficult. By the way, you can scrap not only broken, but also faulty old thermometers that are not damaged in appearance.
Call the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The specifics of this service also include the decontamination of hazardous substances, such as mercury, and further disposal of the remaining fragments. As a last resort, if for some reason the employees are unable to go to the site, they will be able to tell you where to put the broken mercury thermometer.
Contact the nearest clinic, pharmacy or sanitary epidemiological station; it may turn out that employees of these organizations also accept broken thermometers.
There are private organizations that accept hazardous waste, call them. They will not only take away the remaining thermometer from you, but will also analyze the air in the room to determine the content of harmful vapors.

Addresses of recycling points

We could only use mercury thermometers, but now electronic and even infrared devices, which allow you to find out the result in just a couple of seconds. Modern thermometers are very convenient, especially if the patient is a child who cannot sit quietly for ten minutes (that is how long doctors recommend keeping a mercury thermometer in the armpit), but in most cases they show the result with an error.

The most accurate measuring instruments- thermometers containing mercury. In addition, mercury can be easily disinfected. To do this, you just need to immerse it in a special solution. Therefore, hospitals and clinics will not abandon such devices very soon.

However, mercury is a dangerous substance, so you need to know how to dispose of mercury thermometers. It is unlikely that such a device will simply stop measuring temperature. This can only happen if the mercury thermometer breaks and therefore spills.

It is not so much the mercury itself that is dangerous, but the vapors it produces. They can cause severe poisoning, so you need to collect the metal balls as quickly as possible. If you don’t know how to dispose of mercury thermometers, it’s best to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations, they should give you detailed instructions. Ideally, rescuers should arrive and properly process the home, but in reality this happens in rare cases (mainly in large cities).

How to dispose of mercury thermometers?

Children, adults and animals must be taken out of the room in which the thermometer has broken so that they do not trample and spread balls of mercury throughout the apartment. The door should be closed and the windows and vents should be opened if there is no draft and the room is warmer than outside. Cold air will slow down the evaporation process.

Now you need to start collecting toxic substance. You should protect yourself from contact with mercury by wearing rubber and shoe covers. To avoid inhaling fumes, use a cold water gauze bandage.

Large balls of mercury are easily collected using two sheets of paper, a dustpan and a brush or shaving brush, a medical bulb or a syringe without a needle. Do not use a broom; its hard rods will separate the mercury into tiny particles. But collecting small balls is difficult, you have to tinker. To do this you will need tape, plasticine, adhesive tape, and wet cotton wool. Do not use a vacuum cleaner! The mercury will remain inside the device, so you will have to throw it away. Clothing and carpet that have been exposed to mercury will also need to be disposed of.

All collected mercury must be placed in a glass container with cold water and close the lid tightly. All items that came into contact with it must be collected and wrapped in film or placed in a bag and closed. Areas exposed to toxic metal must be washed several times with soapy water or a solution of potassium permanganate, and the room must be thoroughly ventilated.

Now you know how to dispose of mercury thermometers, all that remains is to figure out where to put the jar with the toxic substance? To do this you will have to call different authorities. It is quite possible that you will never get a clear answer. In any case, it is extremely dangerous to throw mercury and all the items you used during cleaning down the garbage disposal, burn them or flush them liquid metal into the sewer.

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Not all ordinary people know how and where to dispose of a mercury thermometer. The reason for this is the lack of a centralized system for recycling heavy metals in Russian Federation, included in household items for various purposes.

Disposal of used mercury thermometers in industrial scale- it's complicated technological process, but people who are faced with the need to destroy the remains of a mercury thermometer in everyday life are not familiar with its features. The shelf life of mercury thermometers is usually unlimited. But due to their fragility, they quite often, due to the carelessness of users, become unusable.

Mercury flowing out in the form of small balls is dangerous, or rather, its vapors are dangerous. If a thermometer breaks indoors, it must be ventilated for a long time. But what to do with the remains of the thermometer and collected balls mercury, not everyone knows. So, let's look at the instructions on how to dispose of mercury correctly.

Nothing is eternal. Do not forget that after 5-8 years of using a mercury-based thermometer, it must be replaced. At the same time, it should be replaced with more advanced models - electronic thermometers, which are the most practical and safe for people around them and nature.
Mercury vapor is dangerous for both humans and animals. A typical thermometer contains about 2 grams of mercury. This amount is quite enough to poison a person and even put him in a coma. Some people believe that for safe disposal it is enough to simply bury the thermometer away from people. But this position is fundamentally wrong, since metal does not decompose, so animals can easily find the “treasure” and die.
The pharmacy is the main point for recycling thermometers. It is to pharmacies that thermometers that have already served their useful life should be taken.

Safety instructions for disposing of a thermometer

Disposal of used thermometers that do not have external damage, but have already served their useful life, is carried out by specialists in this field. To ensure safety, sealed special containers are provided to ensure the safety of thermometers during transportation. This scheme is provided by the state, but it does not work everywhere.

So where should you dispose of mercury thermometers? Today, in a number of regions there are private firms and organizations that buy out-of-date thermometers from the population for a penny, usually no more than 10 rubles. a piece. But there are also very few such entrepreneurs. By the way, those who managed to find such a company should not lose contact with it, since mercury is also contained in energy saving lamps mercury type, and they also need to be destroyed correctly.

Thus, for most citizens, disposal of used mercury thermometers becomes a big problem. Those categories of citizens who were unable to find a recycling company will have to dispose of mercury on their own. In this case, the series brief recommendations related to safety issues, it will be useful for such citizens to know.

So, we will tell you how to properly dispose of mercury without harm to health in the instructions below:

In a situation where the thermometer breaks and mercury leaks out of it, all children should initially be removed from the room.
Children's bodies are most vulnerable to toxic metal vapors. Symptoms of poisoning in a child appear within a couple of hours - dryness and a metallic taste in the mouth and elevated temperature body (at first about 38 degrees Celsius).
Mercury balls should only be collected with gloves, using a rubber bulb or rag moistened with oil, and only in tightly sealed glass containers
The fragments and mercury collected in a container must be filled with water and closed tightly with a lid.
The “accident site” should be treated with a solution of chlorine, manganese or a soap and soda mixture.
The room in which cleaning is carried out must be ventilated, but under no circumstances should a draft be allowed. Mercury vapors are volatile and are able to “move” around the apartment.

If you live in apartment building, the container with the remainder of the thermometer and mercury should be handed over to the service organization, since in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 3, 2013 N 290, it collects waste mercury-containing lamps and thermometers.

Prohibited actions

When a thermometer breaks, people, trying to simplify and speed up the cleaning process, do serious mistakes which may affect their health in the future.
Below is a list of what is strictly prohibited:

Create a draft. This was mentioned above. Mercury is a volatile metal, which is already difficult to remove, and if it also scatters throughout the house, you will have to treat the entire room.
Throw harmful substances into trash cans for household waste or down the drain. By these actions you create a danger not only for yourself, but also for surrounding nature and people.
Use a broom and vacuum cleaner. These everyday cleaning items only make matters worse by spraying droplets of mercury into smaller particles.

In general, it is not recommended to dispose of mercury yourself. the best option The solution to the problem will be to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations. They always respond to such requests, especially if there are children in the apartment.

Recycling of mercury from a used thermometer, as well as the thermometer itself, if it is not damaged, but is outdated and not suitable for use, can be done in a simple way. The thermometer is placed in a glass bottle in a manganese solution and tightly closed with a lid. Such a bottle can be handed over to a specialized collection point.

The main thing to remember: a properly disposed thermometer will protect you from unwanted problems.

Mercury is a fairly common metal and, despite its toxic properties, is used in many industries, manufacturing and medicine. Often at home people use mercury thermometers. We will talk about what to do if their integrity is damaged, how to act to protect yourself and your family from the harmful effects of the toxin, what is released when the sealed cylinder of the device is damaged, and what to do with a broken mercury thermometer in this article.

Why is mercury so dangerous?

Mercury belongs to toxic substances that have an extremely negative effect on the human body. The evaporation of this metal begins at room temperature(about 18 C), therefore, if the thermometer is damaged, the toxin begins to evaporate almost immediately, poisoning the air in the room. In such a situation, disposal of a broken thermometer is extremely necessary, since this device contains about 5 g of a toxic substance, which, when released into a medium-sized room (for example, 40-50 sq. m.), increases the temperature to the maximum. permissible norm mercury concentrations in the room are 50-100 times.

Mercury pours out in the form of round balls different sizes and diameter. They are small enough that they can get into crevices between the floor, baseboards, carpet lint, clothing, and the like. At the same time, failure to dispose of mercury in a timely manner can lead to poisoning and pose a health hazard to those who are constantly in the affected area.

Mercury, as a substance of the first class of danger, has an extremely negative effect on human health, causing a number of pathologies. Therefore, if objects that contain it are damaged, they should be immediately neutralized in order to reduce negative impact on the body.

How to properly dispose of a broken mercury thermometer

Since mercury, as already noted, is a toxic metal and has a very negative effect on the body as a whole, the relevant questions are: “Where should I put the thermometer after its expiration date?”, “Where should I put a damaged thermometer with mercury?” and “Where should I throw away the mercury from a broken thermometer?” We will try to describe all this step by step.

To begin with, it is worth noting that even with very careful handling, such a device has a shelf life of about 10 years, so speaking about where to put an old thermometer with mercury, it should be noted that after its expiration date, you need to take it to the nearest pharmacy , where medical personnel will take care of its safe neutralization. It is noteworthy that the answer to the question “Where should I put a damaged thermometer with mercury?” will be similar to the previous situation, however, here it is necessary to observe safety rules as much as possible so as not to harm both your health and the health of the pharmacy employee.

In order to neutralize a damaged medical instrument and answer the question of how to dispose of a broken mercury degree, here are some tips for this, namely:

If the thermometer is damaged, open the windows to reduce the concentration toxic substance per unit area
Remove people from the premises and limit their access to the premises to reduce the harmful effects of the toxin on their health
Recycling mercury begins with limiting its spread to other rooms. To do this, you should lay a rug or rag soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate at the entrance.
Ensure your protection we're talking about about a person who does this important matter how to dispose of mercury from a thermometer)

Wear a mask, gloves, and, if possible, goggles, and then begin the process of demercurization, that is, neutralization of the dangerous metal. To do this, you need to collect all the fragments from the thermometer and the mercury balls directly into a safe, airtight container (for example, a glass jar with a lid).

After the answer to the question “How to dispose of mercury from a broken thermometer?” given, and dangerous substance is in a place where it cannot harm, you should take care of your own safety. To do this, you need to wash your hands with a solution of potassium permanganate, take a shower, brush your teeth, and throw away the protective equipment that was used to neutralize the dangerous metal.

When answering the question of where to throw away a broken mercury thermometer, it is worth noting that this should under no circumstances be done by taking it to a landfill or burying it. This may have negative consequences for environment. Therefore, when the question arises, “Where can I take a broken thermometer?” It is worth consulting and contacting an enterprise in your region that has the right to process and neutralize this toxin.

The effect of a damaged thermometer on human health

Answering the questions “Where can I take a broken thermometer?” and “Where can I take mercury from a broken thermometer?” It is also worth understanding what effect this metal has on the human body and what consequences direct contact can lead to if the integrity of the above-mentioned medical device is damaged.

First of all, we note that this can lead to the following consequences:

Violation of higher processes nervous activity, which manifests itself in frequent headaches, sleep disorders, apathy, depression, etc.;
Metallic taste in the mouth, possible salivation disorders;
Swelling of the gums, in certain cases - bleeding;
Pathologies of the stomach and intestines, which at the initial stage are manifested by vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.

This list is not exhaustive and characterizes only general signs poisoning by mercury vapor due to damage to a medical thermometer and untimely collection of toxic substances in such a situation. Some consequences of such exposure are individual and depend on the functional state of the body, other factors of endogenous and exogenous origin.

However, the answer to the question “Where to put mercury from a broken thermometer?” is very important and requires a solution in each individual situation (similar to the previous paragraph). If this harmful substance is untimely or incompletely disposed of, it may be converted into a gaseous mixture. Such vapors are extremely toxic and directly or indirectly affect human health.

In addition to the list of consequences given above, such an influence can lead to a disruption of the general homeostasis of the entire organism at virtually all levels of its development, starting from the molecular. The consequence of this is the violation of many internal organs and their systems, the development of severe diseases and irreversible pathological changes bodies.

Therefore, when talking about what to do with a broken thermometer, it is considered very important process, on which the health of people located in a conditionally dangerous territory directly depends.

A little about safety when neutralizing mercury

After talking about where to take a broken mercury thermometer and describing specific examples of what can happen if such consequences in relation to the human body are not eliminated in a timely manner, it is worth noting several extremely necessary safety measures that will help partially neutralize the effect of the toxin. First of all, it is worth noting aids. Only sealed containers are suitable for disposal, which will subsequently be transferred to the specialized institution. In no case should rags or brooms be used for collection, since particles of a toxic substance will not only remain on such household items, but will also most likely be divided into smaller pieces (subject to disposal in a solid state of aggregation), which will complicate their collection in the future.

After completing the collection of mercury and the remains of the thermometer, all the means that were used for this, as well as things personal protection must be destroyed, or at least removed from household use to increase the level of safety. It is a known fact that potassium permanganate (a solution of potassium permanganate, in other words) partially neutralizes the effect of the harmful toxin, so after finishing the work you need to thoroughly treat all surfaces with this water mixture.

Having dealt with the questions about where to throw away a thermometer with mercury, as well as how to throw away a thermometer with mercury, it is worth recalling once again potential danger, which is caused by damage to such a small medical instrument. Since , is quite large, and this is a potential threat for the emergence of certain harmful consequences for the human body, you should be extremely careful both when using and when disposing of medical thermometers that contain this heavy metal.

A device that measures temperature is available in any home medicine cabinet, but not everyone knows exactly how to dispose of it if the mercury column begins to show incorrect data. An even more difficult situation is when the thermometer breaks and balls of mercury roll across the floor.

A device that measures temperature is available in any home medicine cabinet, but not everyone knows exactly how to dispose of it.

In this case, the main thing is not to panic, but to do everything necessary actions to eliminate negative consequences the situation.

What to do with a broken thermometer

The thermometer contains about 2 g of mercury, enclosed in a glass tube, which is very easy to break. Mercury itself is not dangerous to humans, but its vapors are extremely harmful. By inhaling them, you can get severe poisoning, the consequences of which will be very serious, even fatal. Therefore, a spoiled or broken thermometer must be disposed of urgently so as not to endanger your health and loved ones.

If the thermometer itself is not damaged, but its service life has expired and it shows incorrect data, you must return it to special item reception where mercury thermometers are disposed of. This is done by organizations that have containers for mercury waste, pharmacies or private companies that collect used energy-saving mercury lamps. If you cannot find a point where you can return the mercury device, you need to place it in a jar with a strong solution of potassium permanganate and bury it as deep as possible in a place away from people and animals.