Broken Mercury Thermometer (Para): Safe Clean-Up and Disposal (Video)

Transcript

Half a gram of mercury can linger for weeks, how to clean it safely?

Half a gram of mercury can linger for weeks, how to clean it safely?

Broken Mercury Thermometer

Welcome. If a mercury thermometer cracks, the tiny silver beads can release invisible vapor that lingers for days. Stay with me and I’ll walk you through a quick, safe clean-up, and reveal the one tip that stops the vapor from building up.

First Five Minutes

First, get children, pregnant women and pets out of the room and close the door behind them. Then switch off every fan, air-conditioner and heater, moving air spreads vapor. Open windows for at least fifteen minutes before you start handling the spill.

Clean-up time

The entire clean-up process usually takes about twenty to thirty minutes, so keep your tools ready and work methodically to finish before the mercury vapor can build up significantly.

Avoid Broom or Vacuum

Never use a broom or vacuum. A broom shatters each bead into many tiny pieces that slip into cracks, increasing surface area and vapor release. A vacuum heats the mercury inside its motor and can blow vapor back into the room, contaminating the machine.

Step-by-Step Clean-up

Put on gloves and lay a damp paper towel on the broken glass, then fold it and place it in a sealable container. Shine a low-angle torch across the floor; the beads sparkle and become easy to spot. Use two stiff cards to coax the beads together into a larger one, then draw it up with a plastic dropper or a needle-free syringe, and finally seal everything in a tightly-closed jar.

Remember, the beads are easy to see with a torch held low to the floor, but the mercury vapor is completely invisible, so you won’t notice it without proper ventilation.

The one tip to avoid vapor

The single most effective step is to gather all the beads into one larger bead and seal it immediately in a sturdy, airtight jar; this stops the mercury from vaporizing and makes disposal safe and simple.

Like, subscribe and comment

Useful? Like and subscribe, and tell us in the comments what we should check next.

Read the full guide

The full guide is on thecareonline.com. General information only, so check with your doctor for your own case.