The thermometer crashed: truth and myths about the dangers of mercury. mercury thermometer

What does the average person know about mercury? Firstly, you can often hear the expression “moving like mercury”, and secondly, mercury is often called living silver, because it has a silvery color and is very restless - it strives to crumble into tiny balls, and then completely “run away”. Everyone knows that mercury is poisonous.

In addition, it is known that the countries of the European Union refused to use mercury thermometers back in 2007, since mercury from broken medical devices had an extremely negative impact on the population, and the refusal of these devices was supposed to protect residents of European countries from health risks and with the state of the environment.

Some interesting facts about mercury

Fact #1. Mercury is a metal. One of the most interesting features of mercury is its low melting point. Moreover, it is really low - mercury melts in the cold, and, by human standards, in a rather severe frost: the melting point of mercury is -38.86 ° C. Therefore, frozen mercury can only be seen in Antarctica, where the temperature drops below -70 ° C.

Fact number 2. Mercury is very heavy - its density is 13.5 g / cm 3. If mercury were to be collected in a standard bucket, then its weight would be 162 kg.

Fact 3. Mercury dissolves in aqua regia (a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids).

Fact 4. Mercury is able to dissolve other metals, forming so-called amalgams. Nickel, iron and manganese do not form amalgams (that is, they do not dissolve in mercury).

Fact 5. Mercury in its pure form is extremely rare in nature and in very small quantities - in the form of drops on cinnabar (a combination of mercury with sulfur). Most often, mercury occurs in the form of compounds with sulfur, chlorine, iodine, selenium and silver. The most significant reserves of mercury are in Austria, Spain, California (USA), Peru and Chile, as well as in China and Russia.

Fact 6. The combination of mercury with iodine is explosive.

Fact 7. Mercury was used even before our era - in Mesopotamia, in China and in the Middle East.

Fact 8. Attention! World Health Organization ( WHO ) considers mercury one im out of ten basic chemicals (groups of chemicals ), which I represent t a very significant public health problem worldwide.

On this occasion, the World Health Organization (WHO) in September 2013 issued a special Information Bulletin No. 361.

Mercury poisoning

Mercury is classified as a hazardous substance - it is defined as a substance of the first hazard class, that is, an extremely dangerous chemical. The maximum permissible level of the average daily content of mercury vapor in residential premises is 0.0003 mg/m³. At high concentrations in the air, mercury is able to penetrate into the body even through intact skin.

It is very important to understand that crumbling and “running up” mercury is extremely dangerous, because it evaporates and constantly poisons the body.

Unfortunately, mercury poisoning can begin completely asymptomatically or resemble, for example, chronic fatigue: a person becomes irritable, complains of constant nausea and loses weight rather sharply for no apparent reason.

However, even with such inexpressive symptoms, the kidneys and the central nervous system suffer, which are very sensitive to mercury vapor poisoning.

Among other things (and this is very important), chronic mercury vapor poisoning can make itself felt after a long time, which can be measured not even in months, but in years. That is why mercury vapor poisoning is very dangerous, and rooms where mercury is spilled need careful demercurization.

Attention! Chronic poisoning can make itself felt even several years after the cessation of contact with mercury.

Primary symptoms of mercury poisoning

The primary symptoms of mercury poisoning are clearly neurological in nature, but they can easily be mistaken for symptoms of overwork, for a cold that is starting, or for the harmful effects of some kind of stressful situation.

1. Mercury poisoning causes very noticeable and persistent fatigue.
2. At the same time, there is a strong weakness.
3. In case of mercury vapor poisoning, a person constantly wants to sleep, that is, drowsiness increases, which is often attributed to fatigue or to a starting viral or colds.
4. Inhalation of mercury vapor can cause a headache, which is very similar to a migraine.
5. General weakness and headache can cause dizziness, but dizziness can appear on its own.
6. Mercury vapor poisoning provokes changes in mood and emotional instability: apathy, depression are possible, which are replaced by irritability.
7. When poisoning with mercury vapor, a person complains of a significant decrease in concentration and a significant deterioration in memory.

In severe cases of mercury vapor poisoning, symptoms worsen.

1. Fingers begin to tremble.
2. Some time later, the lips and eyelids begin to tremble, and after some time, the whole body (the so-called “mercury tremor” develops).
3. Mercury vapor poisoning provokes a deterioration in the sense of smell (perception of smells) and touch (the ability to feel something with the help of touch).
4. As a result of mercury poisoning, blood pressure drops.
5. One of the symptoms of mercury vapor poisoning is frequent urination.
6. Mercury vapor poisoning causes increased sweating.
7. One of the symptoms of mercury poisoning in women is. If a woman is pregnant, the extremely harmful effects of mercury extend to the fetus.
8. Chronic mercury poisoning causes an increased susceptibility to the disease.
9. Chronic mercury poisoning causes severe damage and disease to the liver and gallbladder.
10. In chronic poisoning with mercury vapor, blood pressure can become elevated up to the level.
11. One of the significant consequences of mercury vapor poisoning is vascular atherosclerosis.

Attention! Women and children are most sensitive to mercury poisoning.

Hidden danger

Mercury and its effects on humans are very dangerous even with seemingly negligible exposure. Such very slow poisonings with negligible amounts of mercury are called micromercurialism and can develop after five or ten years of such minimal exposures.

It is never possible to rule out the possibility of the negative impact of mercury vapor, because the cause of micromercurialism can even be the diffusion of a minimal amount of mercury vapor from neighboring rooms or a mercury thermometer broken even ten years ago if the mercury was not properly removed.

Attention! Most often, mercury enters the body by inhaling mercury vapor, which does not have any smell or any other signs that can be detected independently without special tests and analyzes.

Preventive measures to prevent mercury poisoning in the home

The most common source of mercury vapor poisoning in everyday life are mercury thermometers that have broken and the mercury from which has crumbled.

The most important preventive measure is to replace mercury thermometers with ones that do not contain mercury.

If the mercury thermometer is broken and the mercury crumbles, care should be taken to ensure that small children do not swallow the beautiful silver balls. If a child has swallowed a ball of mercury, you should immediately seek medical help. On your own, you can give the child to drink milk and induce vomiting, but it is better to get the exact recommendations of the medical service.

Independent demercurization of the premises

It is possible to independently carry out demercurization of the premises only in cases where the amount of spilled mercury is very small.

1. Remove all people, especially children, and pets from the premises.
2. Ensure the inflow of the maximum amount of fresh air into the room, for which open all windows.
3. Before starting independent work on demercurization, protect the respiratory tract - wear a respirator or at least a gauze bandage. Hands must be protected with rubber gloves.
4. Collect the fragments of the thermometer carefully in a plastic bag. Tie the package tightly. How to properly dispose of a broken mercury thermometer.
5. Before starting work, provide very good lighting - under bright lighting, the balls of mercury will be more visible because they shine.
6. Collected mercury should be placed in a hermetically sealed container, in the most extreme case it can be a jar of cold water.
7. Mercury can be tried to collect with duct tape; pieces of wire: a pipette, after which all these items must be disposed of.
8. After collecting mercury, one should not enter the room for at least a day if there is confidence that all the scattered mercury has been collected.
9. After work on the demercurization of the premises, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the mouth with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate).
10. After work on the demercurization of the premises, several tablets of activated carbon should be taken.
11. It is necessary to treat the place where mercury was spilled with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) or an alcohol solution of 5% iodine.
12. The floor must also be carefully processed the next day.
13. It is strictly forbidden to throw the collected mercury into the garbage chute or into the garbage bin.
14. Advice on the correct and safe disposal of mercury can be obtained from the Ministry of Emergency Situations (Ministry of Emergency Situations).

When self-demercurization of the premises is strictly prohibited:

1. Use a broom, because the broom rods break the mercury balls into even smaller ones. Thus, instead of cleaning, you can get a large number of very small balls of mercury, which will be much more difficult to clean.
2. Use a vacuum cleaner to collect mercury. Firstly, the vacuum cleaner heats up during operation, which provokes increased evaporation of mercury. Secondly, mercury will contaminate the inside of the vacuum cleaner, so the vacuum cleaner will be dangerous and will have to be disposed of.
3. Wash clothes in which demercurization was carried out in a washing machine, since in this case the washing machine will also become a source of danger. Hand washing is also prohibited. All things in which demercurization was carried out must be thrown away.

If a significant amount of mercury is spilled in the room (and this also happens), then demercurization includes a complete replacement of plaster throughout the room, replacement of the floor (up to the ceilings between floors), replacement of windows and doors. However, primary demercurization and collection of spilled mercury in this case should be carried out by special services.

Sometimes the room in which mercury is spilled is recognized as unsuitable for further operation.

Attention! Any medical measures and any treatment for mercury poisoning should be prescribed only by a doctor after a very thorough diagnosis and all necessary studies.

Everyone knows well since childhood how dangerous mercury balls are. Severe poisoning, in some cases leading to disability and even death, is one of the possible consequences of such intoxication.

But far from all cases, mercury really poses a significant threat to health. In this article, you will learn when to be wary of it and what to do to minimize the risks.

Why is mercury dangerous?

Mercury belongs to substances of the 1st hazard class. When ingested, this metal tends to accumulate - 80% of inhaled vapors are not excreted. In acute poisoning, it can cause severe intoxication and death; in chronic poisoning, it can lead to severe disability. First of all, those organs that accumulate the substance best of all suffer - the liver, kidneys, and brain. Therefore, a frequent result of mercury poisoning is dementia, kidney and liver failure. When vapors are inhaled, poisoning first affects the state of the respiratory system, later the central nervous system (CNS) and internal organs are affected, and with prolonged exposure, all body systems gradually suffer. Mercury is especially dangerous for pregnant women, as it affects intrauterine development, and children.

However, it is not the metal itself that causes such serious consequences, but its vapors - they are the main danger in everyday life. Balls of mercury from a broken thermometer begin to evaporate already at a temperature of +18°C. Therefore, at home, where the air temperature is usually much higher, the substance evaporates quite actively.

Mercury compounds, such as methylmercury, are no less dangerous for the body. In 1956, a mass poisoning caused by this particular compound was revealed in Japan. Chisso systematically poured mercury into the bay from which the fishermen fished. As a result, 35% of those poisoned by infected fish died. After this incident, such intoxications were called Minamata disease (after the name of the local city). In everyday life, a person practically does not encounter such severe poisoning.

Acute mercury poisoning is characterized by severe symptoms. Typical symptoms include the following:

• Weakness.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Headaches.
• Pain in the chest and abdomen.
• Diarrhea, sometimes with blood impurities.
• Difficulty breathing, swelling of mucous membranes.
• Salivation and metallic taste in the mouth.
• An increase in temperature (in some cases up to 40 ° C).

Symptoms of poisoning develop over several hours after a high concentration of vapors or mercury compounds enters the body. If during this time the victim does not receive qualified medical care, poisoning will lead to irreversible consequences. A person develops a violation of the functions of the central nervous system, damage to the brain, liver and kidneys, loss of vision, and with a large dose of a toxic substance, death can occur. Acute poisoning is extremely rare: more often during accidents at work, in domestic conditions, such a situation is almost impossible.

Mercurialism, or chronic mercury poisoning, is much more common. Mercury is odorless, so it is almost impossible to notice balls of the substance that, for example, rolled under the baseboard, into the gap between the floorboards or remained in the pile of the carpet. But even the smallest droplets continue to emit deadly vapors. Since their concentration is negligible, the symptoms are not so pronounced. At the same time, small doses over a long period lead to serious consequences, because mercury has the ability to accumulate in the body.

Among the first characteristic features:

• General weakness, fatigue.
• Drowsiness.
• Headaches.
• Vertigo.

Long-term exposure to mercury vapor can lead to hypertension, atherosclerosis, brain and central nervous system damage, and increases the risk of tuberculosis and other lung damage. The thyroid gland suffers from mercury vapor poisoning, heart disease develops (including bradycardia and other rhythm disturbances). Unfortunately, the symptoms of mercurialism in the initial stages of poisoning are non-specific, so people often do not attach due importance to them.

In the event that a mercury thermometer breaks in the house or metal enters the open space from another source (for example, from a mercury lamp), it is important to make sure that the mercury is completely collected. It is also necessary to contact the services that will help to dispose of the substance - the collected mercury thrown into the garbage container is no less a threat.

Of course, the main source of mercury vapor in the home is a mercury thermometer. On average, one thermometer contains up to 2 grams of mercury. This amount is not enough for severe poisoning (if mercury is collected correctly and on time), but it is quite enough for mild and chronic intoxication. As a rule, special services of the Ministry of Emergency Situations do not come to domestic calls, but they will give advice on a specific case. In addition, they will tell you where to hand over the collected metal.

A large drop of mercury and the same amount of metal in small balls will evaporate differently. Due to the larger surface area, fine droplets will emit more hazardous vapors in a shorter period. Namely, they are often missed by people who independently eliminate the consequences of a broken thermometer.

The most dangerous situations:

• The metal got on upholstered furniture, children's toys, carpet, fabric slippers (it is impossible to completely collect mercury from such surfaces, things will have to be thrown away).
• Mercury has been in a room with closed windows for a long time (this increases the concentration of vapors).
• Balls of mercury rolled on the heated floor (evaporation rate increases).
• The floor is covered with parquet, laminate, wooden boards. In order to completely remove all mercury, it will be necessary to remove the coating at the place of its spill - small balls easily roll into cracks.

In addition to thermometers, mercury is contained in some devices, in mercury discharge lamps and energy-saving fluorescent lamps. The amount of substance in the latter is quite small - no more than 70 mg of mercury. They pose a danger only if several lamps were broken in the room. Do not throw fluorescent lamps into the trash, they must be handed over to special recycling centers.

The dangers of mercury are often discussed in the context of vaccinations. Indeed, its compound thiomersal (merthiolate) has been used as a preservative in many vaccines. Back in the 1920s, the concentration was quite dangerous; since the 1980s, its content in one dose does not exceed 50 mcg. The half-life of mercury compounds in this amount is about 4 days even in infants, and after 30 days the substance is completely eliminated from the body.

Despite this, most vaccines today do not contain merthiolate at all. This is due not so much to the danger of the preservative as to the scandal that began 20 years ago. In 1998, the most prestigious medical journal Lancet published an article by researcher Andrew Wakefield, who linked vaccination (in particular, the MMR vaccine containing thiomersal against measles, rubella, mumps) with the development of autism. The material caused heated discussions in the medical community and a real panic among ordinary citizens. However, after a few years, it was proved that Wakefield's article was based on fake data, it was based on no real facts, and the connection of autism with thiomersal itself was not proven. A refutation of the material was published in the same Lancet magazine. Nevertheless, it is this article that is actively cited by representatives of the anti-vaccine movement. Today, vaccines produced in Europe and the US do not contain merthiolate and therefore cannot pose any risk of mercury poisoning.

Small amounts of mercury can be found in marine fish and seafood. Ingestion of significant amounts of metal with food, as a rule, causes mild intoxication, the consequences of which are easy to eliminate. First aid for such poisoning is simple - you need to induce vomiting, and then drink a few tablets of activated charcoal or take any other sorbent. After that, be sure to consult a doctor. This is especially important for pregnant women and children, since mercury poisoning is the most dangerous for them.

Symptoms of mercury intoxication:

• Nausea.
• Dizziness.
• Noticeable taste of iron in the mouth.
• Mucous edema.
• Dyspnea.

If a thermometer breaks in the house, do not panic - quickly taken measures will help to avoid negative consequences. Pharmacies sell special kits for demercurization, but you can collect mercury without them.

Ventilation and air temperature reduction
An open window will help reduce the concentration of mercury vapor. It is advisable not to enter the room where the thermometer broke for a few more days, and keep the windows there constantly open. In winter, you should turn off the warm floor and screw on the batteries - the lower the temperature in the room, the less mercury evaporates.

• Collection of mercury

For large drops, you can use a syringe, for small ones - ordinary adhesive tape, plasticine, wet cotton wool. Before cleaning, shine a lamp on the place of the broken thermometer - so everything, even the smallest balls, will be visible. Mercury is collected in gloves, shoe covers and a respirator, only in a sealed container (plastic or glass container). All items that got mercury, including what it was collected with, are also placed in a sealed container.

• Treatment of the place where the mercury was spilled

Surfaces are treated with a solution of potassium permanganate or a chlorine-containing preparation (for example, "Whiteness" at a concentration of 1 liter per 8 liters of water). Leave the floor and surfaces for 15 minutes, then rinse with clean water. The final stage is the treatment of the floor with potassium permanganate (1 g of potassium permanganate per 8 liters of water). As a result, mercury compounds are formed that do not produce vapors.

• What is prohibited

Do not collect mercury with a broom, mop or vacuum cleaner. It is also impossible to wash contaminated clothes, slippers, soft toys - the substance is difficult to wash off, in addition, it can remain in the mechanism of the washing machine. All items contaminated with mercury must be disposed of.

• How to help yourself

The person who collected mercury should wash his hands well after the procedure and rinse his mouth, brush his teeth. You can drink 2-3 tablets of activated charcoal. Gloves, shoe covers and clothing, if mercury has got on it, must be disposed of.

Liquid metal

Mercury is the only metal in the world that is already liquid at room temperature. For a number of reasons, it turned out to be extremely convenient for use in analog thermometric equipment - thermometers and thermometers. Of course, it has its advantages - the expansion coefficient of the metal is such that it allows you to notice even the most subtle temperature fluctuations, with an accuracy of tenths of a degree. There are also disadvantages - in the cold, mercury quickly hardens and loses its properties.

However, the main disadvantage of the metal is its lethal toxicity. Like any high-density liquid, on a horizontal surface, unrestricted mercury clumps into balls that roll across the floor, endlessly crushing and finding the smallest cracks in the floor. After that, when the temperature in the room rises even by a fraction of a degree, the mercury begins to evaporate.

It would seem that there is very little of it in the thermometer - what's the point of panicking? However, do not be mistaken. The volume contained in this small sealed vessel is capable of making six thousand cubic meters of clean air unfit for breathing. It is also worth remembering that mercury is extremely willing to accumulate in the body, causing a number of terrible pathologies, often resulting in death or disability.

That is why it is vital to know how to collect mercury if the thermometer breaks. It is quite possible that this will save the life of not only you and your family, but also your neighbors and potential guests.

Collection of mercury

First of all, you need to drive out of the room (or better - from the apartment) everyone who is not involved in cleaning. Interior doors must be closed, and the window must be opened wide open: in a closed room, mercury intoxication can become dangerous in a few minutes.

A wet cotton-gauze bandage must be applied to the face. It is advisable to wear a bathing cap on your head, rubber gloves on your hands, shoe covers on your feet. After that, you can take an adhesive tape or a napkin soaked in water and simply stick mercury balls on them (trying not to make too much effort - this can crush the balls and complicate the task at times).

The places where the balls of mercury were located must be washed with the use of chlorine-containing detergents or cleaners. At the same time, carpets and any other woven items must first be hung out on the street above a dense cellophane film, slightly knocking them out so that mercury does not scatter throughout the yard, and glass falls on the film.

Naturally, mercury cannot be removed with a vacuum cleaner. Yes, he perfectly takes it inside the pipe, but 90% of the dangerous metal, like from a gun heated by a working motor, flies out through the hole for excess air to escape, bypassing all possible filters and barriers.

Naturally, even before the start of all procedures, you need to call the rescue service. At the very least, with the help of special devices, they will be able to determine if there is still uncleaned mercury somewhere under the baseboard, closet or between the floorboards, and get rid of small dangerous particles.

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Almost everyone who breaks a thermometer is panicked in the first seconds. Since childhood, memories of the deadly effect of mercury vapor have remained, but the voice of reason suggests that such a dangerous object would hardly be stored in an apartment. The Village learned from a professional chemist what to do if the thermometer breaks.

What to do with a broken thermometer?

Yuri Belousov

Mercury toxicity is an issue around which a lot of myths have arisen. A couple of centuries ago, a glass of liquid mercury was used to treat intestinal volvulus. Of course, there is no certainty that such treatment in the long term passed without a trace (rather, you can be sure of the opposite). But the next day, month, year, no one died from a glass of mercury. Soluble chemical compounds of mercury and its vapor are toxic. At room temperature, mercury does not react with water, air or building materials. If you exclude extreme options such as watering the floor in the place where the thermometer crashed with nitric acid, then you have little chance of quickly getting mercury in the form of active chemical compounds.

It will take years and decades for mercury to evaporate from a single thermometer. Therefore, even if the room is well ventilated, it will not help to evaporate all the mercury. But there is good news - the rate of evaporation of a small ball of mercury in an ordinary apartment is lower than the rate of accumulation of the maximum permissible concentration. And if you failed to remove the ball, then, most likely, this will not lead to dangerous consequences.

If you broke a thermometer, you should first of all turn on a bright light. Arm yourself with a copper object: a coin (non-magnetic versions of 10- and 50-kopeck coins with a notch on the end, and even better - Soviet nickels) or a loose bundle of copper wire. They should be lightly cleaned with a knife so that a shine appears. With a copper coin or wire, you can easily collect drops in a paper bag. Examine the scene carefully and try to remove all drops. Don't panic if you miss a small ball. To calm down, you can then wipe the dangerous place with a cotton swab.

A common advice is to remove the mercury with a vacuum cleaner. It is with this method that you will be able to quickly create a dangerous concentration of mercury vapor in the room. And no bag will help you. Another common advice - to cover mercury with sulfur powder - is completely useless. These two substances react extremely slowly outside special conditions. If the surface is not a pity, you can (removing all large drops) fill it with iodine solution, and then wash it well with water. When doing this, wear rubber gloves. But what to do with the mercury collected in a bag - a question that I will not dare to answer honestly. Where do you dispose of burned out energy-saving light bulbs?

If the mercury cannot be removed (the wooden floor has rolled between the cracks), then the Ministry of Emergency Situations will have to be called. Although again this is not urgent, you will not be poisoned tomorrow, but will receive your toxic dose within a week or several. And the Ministry of Emergency Situations will come, measure the concentration of vapors with a special device and, most likely, recommend changing the floor.

Illustration: Nastya Grigorieva