How to collect mercury from a carpet

Each of us at least once in our lives has encountered such a problem as a broken mercury thermometer. One wrong move, and the most dangerous contents are already on the floor. Now the main task is to collect it from the carpet as quickly as possible.

FOR REFERENCE! The best way would be to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations (free of charge) or a specialized service, whose services are very expensive. If this is not possible, then you will have to clean it yourself at home using improvised means.

Before starting cleaning, it is necessary to remove all household members from the room, including animals, and close the door tightly. In this case, the windows must be opened to allow harmful metal vapors to ventilate.

IMPORTANT! Make sure that there is no draft when the windows are open.

After this, you need to put on household gloves, a respirator or a gauze bandage soaked in water and shoe covers (if you don’t have them, you can use plastic bags).

When mercury gets on the carpet, it becomes difficult to clean it up, because small particles can get deep into the pile and get stuck there, making it very difficult to get them out. The first step is to remove the largest and most visible elements. You should lift the carpet and roll them onto a sheet of paper.

How and with what you can remove mercury from the carpet at home

Now the most difficult thing remains - to deal with the elimination of the smallest elements that remain in the pile. This can be done using regular tape. If you don’t have it on hand, you can use adhesive tape, self-adhesive paper, paper towels or napkins, which are recommended to be soaked in vegetable oil.

FOR REFERENCE! If suddenly there are no paper towels or napkins in the house, then cotton wool discs soaked in water are quite suitable.

When cleaning using these methods, you must use a new piece of material each time: cut off a piece of tape, bring it to the particles, collect it, and put it in a jar of water. They took a new piece and repeated the procedure. So every time. You cannot assemble the same piece twice.

Another great way is to clean with a douche or syringe. It is necessary to move the carpet pile apart and then collect small particles; these improvised tools do an excellent job of this task.

An ordinary magnet will also help: it will attract all the particles to itself. After this, they must be placed in a jar of water and tightly closed with a lid.

ATTENTION! When disposing of mercury, it must be placed in a jar of water and covered with a lid.

After cleaning, you need to thoroughly clean the carpet. A solution of soap and soda is suitable for cleaning. You can use a carpet and upholstery cleaner. The carpet must also be taken outside, to a non-residential area, knocked out and left to ventilate. In winter, this will also give it freshness. But it is also necessary to wash all floors.

What not to do if a thermometer with mercury breaks on the carpet in the house

1. Vacuuming. When cleaning, the vacuum cleaner heats up and the evaporation process intensifies. When air is blown out, toxic fumes evaporate. Also, particles remain in the vacuum cleaner; washing and cleaning it will not help. Of course, you can throw away the unit, but not everyone is capable of this.
2. Sweep. When sweeping with a broom or a stiff brush, drops of mercury are not collected, but, on the contrary, disintegrate into smaller particles and then it will be even more difficult to remove them.
3. Dispose of in toilet. The particles will settle on the walls of the sewer pipe, and toxic fumes will evaporate, changing the air in the apartment, increasing the content of toxic fumes. This is fraught with poisoning.
4. For the same reason it is impossible throw in a trash can, garbage chute or outside. Even if you are at a landfill, vapors that poison the air will evaporate.
5. The carpet cannot be washed. During washing, vapors will also evaporate. When rinsing and draining, the remaining particles will fall into the drain system and settle there. And the washing machine may also become contaminated with harmful metals. Items that have been cleaned cannot be washed either; they must be disposed of.

At the end of cleaning, all mercury and things must be put into a bag or sealed containers and taken out onto the street or balcony. In this case, the windows must be open and the door tightly closed.

IMPORTANT! After this, it is recommended to call the service so that they pick up the package with things and send it for disposal. If it is not possible to call the service, then you can call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or a specialized company and find out from them where the recycling points are located and take them there yourself.

If, after all the procedures performed, there are still doubts whether everything has been removed, whether the content of harmful vapors in the air is not exceeded, then it is necessary to call a specialized service. They will measure the air for the presence of harmful vapors and their concentration. If necessary, specialists will treat the premises.

IMPORTANT! Even if all actions were done correctly and on time, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the household. Children can be shown to a doctor. For prevention, take activated charcoal for five days.