How to collect mercury from a rug

All houses have mercury thermometers. Situations where the thermometer breaks and mercury scatters throughout the room are not uncommon. The metal is also found in some other devices. For example, in quartz irradiators, some energy-saving and gas-discharge fluorescent lamps. Its leakage from household appliances is dangerous, since some of the mercury balls can penetrate into the cracks of the floor, parquet, get into the carpet pile, and remain on the shoe sole.

The substance is very toxic and contains toxic fumes, which is especially harmful to small children and animals. Help from specialists in this matter will not hurt, but there are some tips on how to collect mercury from the floor yourself, without consequences for yourself and your loved ones. This is not so difficult and the main thing is to quickly begin eliminating the mercury accident.

It is important that mercury itself is the most toxic substance. But the most dangerous thing about it is its vapors. They scatter throughout the room in a matter of seconds due to evaporation. Poisoning by its vapors when inhaled has a delayed effect with serious consequences. Toxins accumulate in the lungs and penetrate the skin. Fever, cough, and swelling of the airways may develop. Intoxication in some cases leads to death. Therefore, it is important to start the process of removing harmful substances in a timely manner.

First steps when mercury gets on the carpet

Mercury leakage or demercurization, that is, its neutralization and elimination, involves the following measures:

• Remove children, animals and family members from the premises
• Make sure that balls of the substance do not remain on shoes and clothes.
• Close the room door
• Isolate the metal spread area
• Open the window to ventilate the vapors, but do not allow a draft to prevent the balls from rolling out over a larger area.

Advice! After the demerculization procedure, the room where the substance was spilled must be ventilated daily for at least a week.

How to collect mercury?

Before beginning the collection process, it is important to neutralize the areas of the body that are most vulnerable to contact with a toxic substance.

The following precautions must be taken

• Put rubber gloves on your hands
• Protect your feet with shoe covers or regular plastic bags.
• To protect your nose and mouth, wear a damp gauze pad with soda solution or a respirator

Advice! When eliminating the consequences of a leak, go out into fresh air every 10-15 minutes and drink plenty of water.

Removing mercury from the carpet

Carefully place the remains of a broken thermometer or lamp into a glass container with water and seal it well. It is convenient to roll mercury balls from the carpet onto paper sheets using moistened cotton wool, tape, or adhesive tape. A regular syringe will also work, with which you can draw out the remaining substances from cracks and carpets. Don't forget to place the used syringe in a jar of water. It is recommended to carry out demerculization with a damp cloth or napkin soaked in vegetable oil.

Important! You cannot use a broom. It will not only crush the balls, but also spread them over the entire area of ​​the room.

Next, you should treat the floor.

Wash the rug several times with a solution of soap, potassium permanganate or chlorine. If the area of ​​contamination is large, then it is worth disinfecting furniture, walls and kitchen appliances.

Removing mercury from shag carpet

If the carpet pile is long, you can collect the dirt with a syringe (rubber bulb), periodically separating the fibers of the floor covering. A magnet to which the balls stick will also help. The carpet should then be washed with soapy water, a solution of potassium permanganate and a cleaning agent. Having carefully rolled up the floor covering, you need to take it outside, where it is carefully knocked out and left to ventilate to disperse the mercury particles.

Important! You cannot use a vacuum cleaner, as the device will have to be thrown away, and when you try to clean the affected area with it, it heats up and accelerates the process of releasing toxic mercury vapor.

After cleaning, all used materials are collected in a separate sealed container for subsequent disposal.

Advice! You should not wash the clothes you worked in, as this can lead to toxins getting into the machine. It's better to recycle it too.

Where to put the collected mercury

You should not flush a toxic substance into the bathroom, as it will settle on the pipes and its vapors will pass into the air. Never throw toxic waste into a garbage chute or window. Just one thermometer can worsen the environment in an area of ​​up to 10 sq.m.

Where to go:

• To the Ministry of Emergency Situations by calling 112
• To a specialized demerculization service or sanitary epidemiological station
• Use the paid services of mercury cleaning centers

Specialists will help you solve the problem. Hazardous materials will be removed. They will carry out the necessary analysis, measuring the concentration of vapors, and find the most harmful area of ​​contamination.

Make sure that no unexpected situation occurs in your home. And if toxic metal gets in, take immediate action following our advice.