The question of where to throw the thermometer sooner or later appears in any family. After all, it is with the help of this uncomplicated medical device that the easiest way to measure the temperature is for an adult or a child. But over time, thermometers become unusable, often they break, and there is a need to dispose of them. But you can not throw the thermometer into an ordinary garbage container, because mercury is a dangerous metal that can cause harm to more than one person in this case. What to do in this case, we will tell further.
The thermometer crashed …
A thermometer is an indispensable thing in a home medicine cabinet, but, in the end, you have to get rid of it. Where to throw the thermometer and why you can not dispose of it like all ordinary garbage?
When using this device, you must be extremely careful and accurate. But often the thermometer can break accidentally or, for example, because of childish pranks. Then the question immediately arises, where to throw the mercury thermometer and how to behave in general if mercury spills in the house.
How does mercury enter the body?
It is not mercury in itself that is dangerous for a person, but the vapors that it emits. They can cause real harm to human health and even life. From a broken thermometer, a dangerous substance can enter our body in two ways. Either by mouth or by inhalation of toxic fumes.
We recognize that the first option is extremely rare. There is a danger that a small and thoughtless child may taste beautiful silver balls to taste. Therefore, if there are children in your house when the thermometer crashes, the first thing you need to isolate them, and then decide where to throw the thermometer.
If this nevertheless happened, and the baby swallowed several mercury balls, then you should act immediately. They should spend as little time as possible in the body. Therefore, immediately induce vomiting in the child and call an ambulance. Experienced doctors know how to help a person in such a situation, the main thing is not to hesitate. Otherwise, the consequences can be the most sad, even fatal.
But the option, when a person can inhale mercury vapor, is common enough. Usually, this is due to the most common negligence, unwillingness or ignorance of what to do in such situations, where to throw a broken mercury thermometer.
Why is mercury dangerous?
As a result, a person may begin mercury poisoning. Its main danger is that in the first hours it is almost impossible to determine whether a substance has entered the body, symptoms do not appear immediately. For a sufficiently long time, mercury poisoning can occur without any visible consequences for the body.
The first symptoms are irritability, sudden weight loss, fatigue. Very often they do not attach any importance, attributing everything to fatigue and workload at work. But at this time, mercury slowly gets to the central nervous system and kidneys.
Therefore, it is very important, as soon as the thermometer crashes, remove everything as soon as possible, act carefully, but do not neglect the safety rules.
Action algorithm
If your thermometer crashes, you should clearly know where to throw the thermometer with mercury, how to proceed. First of all, there is no need to panic, then everything will definitely be in order. A broken thermometer is not a tragedy, but rather a common everyday problem.
First of all, open the window in the room in which this happened, or rather a window. At the same time, tightly close all the doors to other rooms so that the pairs remain in a confined space and gradually evaporate into the street. It is important to prevent the spread of toxic mercury fumes throughout the house. Ventilate at least one hour.
It is not worth it to go to the place where you broke the thermometer without special need once again. Mercury can easily stick to your sole, so the likelihood that you will spread it throughout the apartment increases.
Mercury must be thoroughly cleaned. Before proceeding with this operation, take precautions. You should wear rubber gloves on your hands and plastic bags on your feet. Also, one must not forget about the respiratory system, to protect them, use a bandage soaked in a solution of soda.
Why do we need a can of water?
Now we need to solve the question of where to throw the mercury from the crashed thermometer. Prepare a glass jar with cold water, it is in it that you must collect mercury. Water must be poured, it will not allow mercury balls to evaporate. Collect the dangerous substance calmly and carefully, without missing a single square centimeter of the room in which it could be. Usually, poisoning occurs due to a negligent attitude to a broken thermometer, therefore, in order not to gain unnecessary worries, take this as seriously as possible.
Useful advice: the smallest mercury balls will be easier to assemble if you use tape, a syringe or plasticine. If the search and collection of mercury is delayed, then take additional safety measures: every 15 minutes, go outside to get some fresh air, to be in the room in which the thermometer crashed is not recommended for more than a quarter of an hour. In this case, there will be a high probability of poisoning by mercury vapor.
When all the balls from the broken thermometer have been collected, carefully close the jar with a tight lid and make sure that it is not next to the heating devices. Remember that it is strictly forbidden to throw such a can into a regular garbage container, it must be disposed of in accordance with all the rules.
How to take mercury?
When finished collecting hazardous substances, you need to decide where to throw the broken thermometer. After all, leaving a deadly toxic substance at home is extremely dangerous.
When the broken thermometer is carefully cleaned, according to the instructions already described in this article, you need to call the duty department of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Rescuers need to tell about this incident. The team will come to your home and pick up a jar of poisonous substance, as well as the remains of the thermometer itself and all the materials that you used when cleaning (syringes, gloves, bags). The responsibilities of the Ministry of Emergencies include mandatory thorough disinfection of the room in which the thermometer crashed.
Health prevention
When disinfection is carried out, pay attention to the prevention of your health. Even if you are 100 percent sure that mercury has not entered your body, preventative measures will not hurt. Remember that the signs of poisoning do not appear immediately, for the first few days you may not even suspect that your body is affected.
So, for prevention, take a weak solution of potassium permanganate, which must be thoroughly gargled, the entire oral cavity, and then also brush your teeth. It will be helpful to take a few tablets of activated carbon. The next few days after the incident, you need to drink as much clean water as possible, since all harmful mercury formations are most effectively excreted through the kidneys.
And you can not call the Ministry of Emergencies?
Of course, not everyone will want to call employees of the Ministry of Emergencies due to a broken thermometer. Disinfection can take a long time, and indeed some simply will not want to see strangers at home. Therefore, if you are convinced that you yourself have carefully cleaned the room of all traces of mercury, you can not do this. But in this case, the question arises, where to throw the broken thermometer.
Take the jar of mercury in which you collected all the balls, as well as the remains of the thermometer itself and everything that you used in the cleaning process, even the clothes that were on you at that moment, especially if you suspect that mercury could get on it. All this must be attributed to a specialized company that deals with the disposal of waste containing mercury.
After that, also take care of your health, because it is better to take preventive measures than to be treated for heavy metal poisoning later.
If the city does not have a specialized enterprise …
Note that there are specialized enterprises for the collection of mercury waste only in large cities. If there is no such company in your village, the problem becomes where the thermometer can be thrown.
In this case, it is recommended to contact an organization that specializes in the distribution of medicines. In such a company, special containers should be available to dispose of mercury-containing wastes, as well as other chemical wastes that could threaten human life and health. To find out if such companies exist in your village, please contact the help desk.
If they were not available, then you can take the broken thermometer to the sanitary epidemiological station or to any state pharmacy, they are required to take it from you. To do this, you need to fill out a special application. Now you know where to throw the thermometer.
Places for mercury disposal in Moscow
In the capital there is a lot of place in which you can pass a broken thermometer. Firstly, they should be accepted in DEZs - these are analogues of management companies.
Secondly, you can contact NPP Ekotrom (LLC Mercury Service). They are located in the vicinity of the Yuzhnaya metro station, from where a free shuttle bus runs to the enterprise. Address: Dorozhnaya street, house 3, building 16. Here they will definitely help you, and you will no longer be tormented by where to throw the thermometer with mercury in Moscow.
Thirdly, the companies should accept a thermometer:
- ecological enterprise "Inter Green";
- LLC Merkom;
- group of environmental companies "Econ";
- venture company "Fid-Dubna".
