Mercury demercurization at home

Broken thermometer or mercury lamp - many people have come across this. Especially many fears arise if there are small children in the house. But not everyone knows how to deal with spilled mercury correctly. In this case, demercurization of mercury must be carried out, that is, elimination of all its traces and mercury contamination. When cleaning, you can use only proven techniques and observe a number of rules. Any mistake can cause health problems. There are few chances that insignificant contact with mercury vapor will cause a serious illness, but it is better to secure yourself and your loved ones for sure. Moreover, it is not so difficult to do this.

What is demercurization

Demercurization is cleaning the room of mercury and the remaining traces. It can be carried out both mechanically and physico-chemical. It is best to combine these methods. The first is to remove the bulk of the substance. The second is for cleaning and eliminating traces.

Important!

Mercury is found in mercury thermometers, mercury lamps, manometers.

If you do not conduct demercurization, after a while you will experience symptoms such as:

• drowsiness;
• fatigue;
• headaches;
• hand tremor.

In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor!

Procedure

If the thermometer is broken, first of all you need to remove all people and animals from the premises. Then you should call the Emergency Service at number 112.

It will be more correct to apply to specialists. A person without experience can not cope with the procedure. But if for some reason you do not have the opportunity to call for help, demercurization at home can be done on your own. But you need to strictly follow the rules.

Collection of mercury

The algorithm for mercury removal must be observed exactly.

• Remove all strangers from the room that do not participate in cleansing.
• Open all windows in the room, and lock the doors( if possible, close all the slots).
• Put rubber gloves on your hands and shoe covers on your feet. Protect your face with a damp gauze.
• Collect the balls with a syringe or a newspaper soaked in sunflower oil - mercury will adhere to it.
• Place the balls in a jar of water and contact the MES.Transfer to the service the bank and all the funds that you used to collect mercury.

When removing a substance, you must follow a number of important rules.

• Do not use the vacuum cleaner. Mercury will remain inside, therefore from it it is necessary to get rid. In addition, the device heats the mercury that has entered into it, because of which its vapor will spread more quickly around the room. Even a vacuum cleaner thrown in the trash can be dangerous.
• You can not use a broom - because of it, the balls become smaller. Collecting them will be much more difficult.
• Do not attempt to connect the balls into a single mass. So you just waste time and leave more traces of stuff in the room.

Carefully, when cleaning, it is necessary to check the cracks in the floor and the plinth.

"Miss Purity" advises - if mercury has got on the carpet, it must be carefully rolled and shaken off in the street, laying under it polyethylene or wet paper.

Demercurization by potassium permanganate

But simply collecting mercury is not enough. After that you need to clean the room of her tracks. Various chemical substances are used for purification. One of them is manganese.

1. You need to prepare a solution of potassium permanganate. It should be dark brown. It is important to understand that after such cleansing, there may be stains on the surface that can not be removed.
2. Add salt and acid( eg, acetic essence or citric acid) to the solution. One liter of diluted potassium permanganate needs a tablespoon of salt and the same amount of essences or a pinch of citric acid.
3. Treat the surface on which there were balls( especially slits and plinths), mortar. You can use a brush or spray.
4. The product should be left for an hour and a half. When the product starts to dry, it will be necessary to periodically wet the surface with water.
5. Prepare another solution - in a liter of water add forty grams of grated soap and fifty grams of soda. Wipe them all the places that were applied to the potassium permanganate.

Purification should be repeated for several days in a row. The first solution in the following days can be left for half an hour. In doing so, do not forget to ventilate the room.

Demercurization of sulfur

Another substance that is often recommended to use for disposal of mercury is sulfur. Allegedly, during their interaction, a harmless mercury sulphide is formed. However, this method has always been controversial. Experiments proved that sulfur in this case is useless.

Sulfur powder almost does not react with mercury at room temperature. If you heat them to a hundred degrees, the result will hardly change. At the same time, because of such heating, the harm from mercury will become stronger.

Demercurization by bleach

But chlorine is a more effective remedy. And it's much easier to get it. To cleanse this way, you can use a conventional bleach.

1. In a plastic bucket or pelvis, mix a liter of bleach and five liters of water.
2. Wash the surface with a sponge. The main thing is not to forget about the cracks and skirting.
3. Leave the solution in a ventilated area for fifteen minutes.
4. Wash surfaces with clean water.
5. Repeat the cleansing every day for another month.

The first two solutions are contaminated with mercury. They can not be poured out, but it is necessary to hand them over to the Ministry of Emergency Situations along with the balls themselves and all the means that were used for cleaning( including sponges).

Demercurization in health care facilities

Thermometers and light bulbs are broken not only at home. In medical and preventive institutions this happens quite often. Therefore, a special instruction has been developed for their employees.

• Persons responsible for the demercurization of the health facility are trained based on this instruction.
• They are provided with a special protection: gloves, aprons and shoes that are protected from possible vapors from rubber, as well as masks and respirators.
• After the procedure, the person should take a shower and rinse the mouth with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Procedure

1. Wear protective equipment.
2. Assemble mercury beads with rubber pear.
3. Pour into it one of the special solutions and leave for two days.
4. Transfer the contents to the jar.
5. Transfer it for recycling.
6. Clean clothing and rubber pear.

Solutions that are used for purification are referred to as demercurizers in the health facility. These include:

• solution of potassium permanganate, discussed above;
• aqueous solution of sodium sulfide with a concentration of five to ten percent;
• solution of hydrochloric acid with the same concentration;
• iodine solution with a concentration of two to three percent in an aqueous solution of potassium iodide at a concentration of 30%.

Conclusion

Thus, it is important to understand that even a broken thermometer poses a threat to health. But if you follow the rules, you can protect yourself from the consequences. The easiest way to contact a specialist. However, you can get rid of mercury on your own.