Self-demercurization, cleaning and mercury removal - recommendations from Testeco. How can mercury be eliminated from the body?

What is the danger of mercury to human health?

Due to its physical properties, on impact, mercury is divided into small droplets (balls), which "scatter" around the room. At the same time, they easily penetrate cracks in floors, walls, furniture and underfloor space. Evaporation already at a temperature of 18 ° C, mercury poisons the air we breathe in the room.

Since 2001, according to the modern classification of harmful substances and compounds, it belongs to class 1 (extremely hazardous substances).

Mercury can enter the human body through the skin, through the gastrointestinal (digestive) tract, or through the respiratory tract in the form of odorless vapors (which is the most dangerous!).

Once in the human body, it has not only a local irritant effect, but also, which is especially important, causes a deep internal poisoning of the body: it affects the cardiovascular system, poisons the kidneys, and suppresses the central nervous system.

If mercury enters the body through the digestive tract (this can happen to a small child), it is necessary to induce vomiting and urgently contact an ambulance.
If you inhale vapors for a long time, even a small amount of mercury, you can get an extreme form of poisoning for everyone living in the apartment (chronic poisoning). Such poisoning takes a long time without any clear symptoms.

The main symptoms of mercury vapor poisoning: general malaise, drowsiness, dizziness, irritability, loss of appetite, nausea.

The first signs of acute poisoning are: a metallic taste in the mouth, acute headache, runny nose, pain when swallowing, redness and bleeding of the gums, increased salivation, fever, stomach upset (frequent loose stools). On the 3-4th day after poisoning, symptoms of kidney poisoning (toxic nephropathy) appear.

1. Immediately remove all people from the room where the thermometer crashed. This primarily applies to children and the elderly. Don't forget about your pets.
2. Limit the site of the "accident", as mercury adheres to surfaces and can be easily carried on the soles of shoes (paws of animals) to other parts of the room. To avoid the spread of mercury outside the contaminated area, demercurization (removal of mercury and its compounds by physicochemical or mechanical methods) is carried out from the periphery towards the center of pollution.
3. If the outside temperature is significantly lower than indoors, you need to open the windows, because at a lower temperature, the release of mercury vapors decreases. However, before you collect the mercury, the draft is completely unacceptable, as it will cause the mercury balls to "scatter" around the room and break into small particles that will settle on the walls and furniture. Therefore, isolate the room as much as possible - close all doors tightly.
4. The place where the mercury has crumbled must be illuminated. A flashlight or an electric table lamp is suitable for this purpose. To ensure maximum visibility of all droplets for good collection, position the illumination to the side.
5. Now the most important thing is remove metallic mercury thoroughly and quickly... For these purposes, you need to prepare:

• a jar filled with cold water, which is tightly closed with a lid. Water is needed so that the mercury does not evaporate. Instead of water, there may be a potassium permanganate solution in the jar (two grams of potassium permanganate per one liter of water);
• ordinary soft brush;
• a sheet of paper or foil;
• a rubber bulb or disposable syringe;
• adhesive plaster (scotch tape, masking tape);
• rag;
• potassium permanganate solution.

6. Before you start collecting mercury, take care of protection:

• put on rubber gloves on your hands (try not to get mercury on exposed skin during cleaning);
• protect the respiratory system with a cotton-gauze bandage moistened with a solution of soda or water;
• put plastic bags or shoe covers (if any) on your feet.

7. It is more convenient to collect the balls of mercury in the following way: use one sheet of paper or foil in the form of a scoop, and roll the balls onto a paper scoop with a soft brush or other sheet. Do not use a broom or a hard brush for this purpose, which will make the poisonous mercury balls even smaller. You can use a piece of cotton wool soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate (0.2%) to collect mercury. Gently shake the collected mercury from a piece of paper or cotton wool into a prepared glass container filled with a solution of potassium permanganate or just cold water.
8. Then you need to draw smaller balls into the prepared rubber bulb or syringe.
9. Stick very small droplets on tape or adhesive plaster.
10. Sprinkle the mercury in the cracks in the floor with sand, with which it can be easily swept onto the paper with a brush.
If the floor is wooden and there are gaps between the boards, there is a high probability that a few silvery drops "hid" in the shelters and room temperature will do their dirty work. In this case, the owner will have to deal with unscheduled renovation of the apartment - there is no other way to get rid of the uninvited chemical guest.
11. In a jar of water, place sand containing mercury particles, a rubber bulb (or syringe), and mercury from a broken thermometer. Close the jar tightly and keep it away from heating appliances.
12. It is very difficult to collect mercury if the thermometer is broken on a sofa, rug, or other porous or fluffy surface. In this case, it is better to call professionals for demercurization (mercury removal). This is the easiest and smartest way (ask for an accreditation certificate).
13. If you step on mercury, clean and rinse the soles of shoes with a strong, almost black solution of potassium permanganate.
14. If the collection of mercury is delayed, then every 15 minutes take a break and go out into fresh air.
How to treat the surface after collecting the mercury:

The room must be properly ventilated within 2-3 hours. If there are any particles left, they will safely evaporate and erode out the window.

Option 1: Spread the cleaned surface and nearby metal and wooden surfaces with a soap and soda solution (50 g of soda and 40 g of grated soap per 1 liter of warm water) and leave for 2 hours. After 2 hours, wash the treated surfaces first with soapy water and then with water. Repeat this procedure over the next few days. Daily wet cleaning of the premises and frequent ventilation are recommended.

Option 2 ("Whiteness")- complete chemical demercurization takes place in 2 stages:

1st stage: Prepare a solution of chlorine-containing bleach "Whiteness" (1 liter of "Whiteness" per 5 liters of water) in a plastic (not metal!) Container. With the resulting solution, using a sponge, brush or floor cloth, rinse the contaminated surface. Pay particular attention to the gaps in the parquet and skirting boards. Leave the applied solution for 15 minutes, then rinse with clean water.

2nd stage: Re-cleaning the floor with a chlorine-containing solution is best done several times over the next 2-3 weeks. Do not forget about airing the room. However, it should be remembered that at low temperatures (when the room is constantly "frozen" through a wide open window) the volatility of mercury drops sharply, i.e. it evaporates more slowly from the room. Therefore, the ideal option is to keep the window slightly ajar for a long time.

Attention: Because the solution at the first use is contaminated with mercury, it is better not to pour it into the sink or toilet bowl, but hand it over with the collected mercury. The same goes for rags and other items used to collect the mercury.
after all work has been done :
(preventive measures for the person collecting mercury)

1. Rinse your mouth and throat with a mild pink potassium permanganate solution.
2. Brush your teeth thoroughly.
3. Take 2-3 tablets of activated charcoal.
4. Drink more diuretic fluid (tea, coffee, juice), as mercury formations are excreted from the body through the kidneys.

1. In no case Do not use a vacuum cleaner to collect mercury! The air blown through and heated by the vacuum cleaner accelerates the evaporation of this liquid metal. In addition, mercury, once inside the vacuum cleaner, lingers on its parts and makes the vacuum cleaner itself a distributor of mercury vapors. Because of this, the vacuum cleaner, after collecting the mercury, will have to be thrown away.
2. You cannot sweep mercury with a broom! Rigid rods will only crush the poisonous balls into fine mercury dust.
3. Do not try to wipe the mercury with a rag! This will only lead to its smearing and an increase in the evaporation surface.
4. Do not throw a broken thermometer into the garbage chute! 2 g of mercury evaporated there can pollute 6000 cubic meters. m of air in your home.
5. Mercury must not be discharged down the drain. It tends to settle in sewer pipes, and it is incredibly difficult to extract mercury from sewers.
6. Can't wash clothes in contact with mercury, in the washing machine... If possible, it is better to throw these clothes away, making them unusable so that no one will use them, to their own misfortune.
7. Rags and materials used to remove mercury must not be rinsed or washed in a sink. Pack them in a transparent and dense plastic bag and hand them over with the mercury that you collected to the Ministry of Emergency Situations or another specialized (collecting or disposing of mercury-containing waste) facility.

If these conditions are not met, you endanger not only others, but also yourself!
What to do with the collected mercury?

The jar must not be thrown away! It must be handed over to the representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (service - "01") for further disposal.
Call by phone 01 and tell that you need to hand over the mercury from the broken thermometer - you will be switched to the operator rescue services 112 which will write down the address... A specialist will come to you during the day and pick up the bank is free.

Before it becomes possible to give the collected mercury and the means for collecting it to the representative of the special structure in a hermetically sealed glass container, put the jar on the balcony or in the garage, provided that the temperature there is lower than in the room.

If you are not sure if the air in the house has become safe after cleaning, conduct a laboratory test for the content of mercury vapors. On the issue of measurements, it is necessary to contact the regional centers of hygiene and epidemiology.

***

Unfortunately, in practice, it often turns out that rescue service operators are trying to redirect people to district administrations, DEZs and, sometimes, specialized firms that collect and dispose of mercury-containing waste for money. But in DEZ they are engaged only in the collection of energy-saving lamps (also containing mercury), and they do not want to hear about broken thermometers. It is hoped that you will find yourself with a competent rescue service operator ( I personally had to call 01 three times until another operator agreed to write down the address - approx. Admin).
electronic thermometers

In the EU, it is prohibited to manufacture and distribute at points of first sale (shops) medical and physical devices containing mercury (due to the danger of mercury). There, citizens are advised to massively abandon potentially dangerous thermometers. At the same time, politicians and environmentalists argue that: “It will be beneficial for the European ecology and the health of our citizens,” and urge not to throw away the thermometers, but to hand them over to special reception points, which are mainly in European pharmacies. The elimination of thermometers is part of the EU's global plan to end the use of mercury in industry and households.
In general, in order not to face the above problems, buy an electronic thermometer, and you will not break it. It is always easier to prevent a negative situation than to eliminate its consequences.

In preparing the article, we partially used
materials by Gennady Murashko (http://sos-ru.info/),
and materials from the site http://vperedi.ru/.

Demercurization is the removal and neutralization of mercury, cleaning the premises from its traces and elimination of mercury pollution.

We draw your attention to three points:

I. Before reading of this manual, read the article. Because the main thing is BEFORE processing a contaminated place at first you need to be very careful and correct COLLECT the mercury itself.

II. All of the following tips apply to dealing with minor mercury contamination (eg, from a shattered thermometer). But even so and, moreover, in the case of serious pollution (when a large amount is spilled mercury) it will be better if demercurization is carried out by accredited specialists. Do not risk your health!

III. Now, actually, how to eliminate the consequences of mercury pollution.
After the mercury from the shattered thermometer correctly and carefully assembled, it is necessary to treat the place of the mercury spill with a concentrated solution of potassium permanganate and (or) bleach (in the common people - bleach). This will oxidize the mercury and render it non-volatile (the purpose of this is to prevent harmful health effects).

Attention! Cleaning with bleach more preferred in comparison with the use of potassium permanganate, since chlorine is more chemically active and therefore will react more effectively with mercury.

Demercurization option No. 1: Cleaning the contaminated place using potassium permanganate

1. An aqueous solution of potassium permanganate should be dark brown, almost opaque.
From the solution on the floor or things may remain indelible stains!

For a liter of solution, add 1 tbsp. l. salt and any acid (for example, 1 tbsp. l. vinegar essence, or a pinch of citric acid, or a spoonful of rust remover).

2. Treat the contaminated surface (and all its crevices!) the resulting solution with a brush, brush or spray.

Leave the applied solution for 1-2 hours, periodically, as the solution dries, wetting the treated surface with water.

3. Then wash off the reaction products soap and soda solution(for 1 liter of water - 40 g of soap and 50 g of soda).

Repeat this procedure over the next few days, with the only difference that keep the potassium permanganate solution for a shorter time, and not 1-2 hours.

Demercurization option No. 2: Cleaning the contaminated place using bleach

Demercurization with bleach takes place in 2 stages.

1st stage: in a plastic (not metal!) Container prepare a solution of CHLORINE-containing bleach "Whiteness" at the rate of 1 liter of "Whiteness" per 5 liters of water (17% solution). Note, there is also an OXYGEN-containing “Whiteness” on sale, but it will not work! With the resulting solution, using a sponge, brush or floor cloth, rinse the contaminated surface. Pay particular attention to the gaps in the parquet and skirting boards.
Leave the applied solution for 15 minutes, then rinse with clean water.

2nd stage: Re-cleaning the floor with a chlorine-containing solution is best done several times over the next 2-3 weeks.

Because the solution at the first use is contaminated with mercury, it is better not to pour it into the sink or toilet, but hand it over with the collected mercury. The same applies to rags, etc. How, why and where -.

Do not forget about airing the room. But keep in mind that at low temperatures (when the room is constantly "frozen" through a wide open window) the volatility of mercury drops sharply, i.e. it evaporates more slowly from the room. Therefore, the ideal option is to keep the window slightly ajar for a long time.

A person encounters mercury every day, because it is contained in fluorescent lamps, thermometers, refrigerators, and other household appliances. But what if this metal gets on open surfaces? Then it needs to be assembled quickly and competently, because time delays can be very expensive. To do this, you need to carry out demercurization.

What is this metal, the effect on the human body

Metallic mercury is the only heavy metal that is not excreted from the human body. It accumulates in the kidneys, liver, and leads to cancer. Metallic mercury poisoning is not as severe as exposure to its vapors. The vapors are very toxic, quickly adsorbed by the blood, over time, severe intoxication of the brain begins, deaths are frequent, patients can remain disabled for the rest of their lives.

Mercury itself is a very heavy liquid. It has the ability to evaporate at room temperature, but the mass of the ball itself practically does not change from this. Even 5 mg of mercury in an ordinary thermometer can pollute up to 30 cubic meters of air, the concentration of vapors is sufficient to cause severe poisoning. The only way to eliminate spilled mercury is to demercurize the room (another name for mercury is mercury).

What is demercurization

It is the process of removing mercury from contaminated surfaces. The technology can differ significantly depending on the level of pollution, the volume of spilled mercury, the size of the room, and the wind speed. There are physical and chemical methods of demercurization, only physical methods are practiced at home. For industrial spills of mercury, sorbents are used that precipitate mercury, reduce its volatility, and speed up the cleaning process. Sorbents are expensive, they are used by specialists, and the call is always paid.

How to do it yourself

First, you need to isolate mercury vapors in a separate room to protect other people. Therefore, the demercurization process is divided into two stages: ensuring the safety of others and assembling the spilled metal. For this you need:

1. Remove all people from the premises, close the entrance doors tightly so that there is no draft;
2. Open the windows, turn on the air conditioner (if there is one) to cool the room as much as possible. The lower the temperature, the less vapors of the dangerous poison will spread;
3. Cover the spill area with a damp, dense cloth, preferably as tight as possible. Remove all things that could have been splashed with toxic liquid;
4. Close the door tightly, seal the cracks with tape, leave the window open. It is necessary to ventilate the isolated room for at least an hour to reduce the temperature inside and the concentration of vapors.

After carrying out emergency work on safety and blocking the spread of vapors through the rooms, you can proceed to the physical collection of the metal.

Further actions

After isolating the center of air pollution with mercury vapors, experts do not recommend rushing. Considering that mercury is a liquid, it actively adsorbs dust and dirt onto its surface. As a result, the volatility will decrease significantly in just a few hours. It is advisable to start demercurization one day after the spill, but if the room is living and there are no other options, then you can start immediately.

Collect mercury:

1. Calling specialists. Firefighters, specialists in this industry, and a sanitary and epidemiological station will help to collect mercury. Typically, a few visits, up to a day apart, are sufficient to completely clean up a mercury spill. Such activity is licensed, therefore, you must first check the availability of the necessary permits. The presence of mercury vapor, its concentration, is checked by a special device, which is checked annually.
2. Carry out demercurization independently by physical, chemical methods.

Necessary materials and tools for demercurization in-house:

• Special clothing: respirator, overalls;
• A glass sealed jar of a small capacity for collecting mercury with further neutralization;
• Airtight bags for contaminated clothing;
• A syringe with a thick needle for collecting mercury;
• Cotton wool, bandage or thick tape;
• Gloves;
• Lamp;
• Sorbents (bleach, soda ash, whiteness, potassium permanganate or iodine).

When collecting mercury, it is strictly forbidden to use a vacuum cleaner, broom or other methods that can break large balls into smaller ones. Then it will be more difficult to collect the metal, you cannot do without special equipment.

Stages

First you need to collect the largest drops. They have a large surface adjacent to air, therefore, a lot of vapors are generated. It is better to use thick paper, scotch tape. As the sheet of paper advances, you can collect all the large drops, combine them into a single whole and pour the resulting mercury into a jar. It is better to collect small drops with a syringe, but be careful not to break them into small fragments. Scotch tape and adhesive plaster are excellent for such purposes. All scrap materials contaminated with metal must be placed in an airtight container to restrict air access. To collect mercury in hard-to-reach places, it is better to use tampons soaked with potassium permanganate or bleach, they also need to be moved to a container.

If the metal has got under the plinth, behind the parquet, then dismantling is mandatory.

It is strictly forbidden to dispose of mercury in landfills, in a garbage bin - the degree of pollution will increase significantly. Each city has a collection point for this liquid metal. If you throw poison into a garbage chute, then the whole house can be poisoned, albeit in small concentrations.

Once all visible metal droplets have been collected, chemical demercurization can be started. The optimal solution is to make an aqueous solution of potassium permanganate, soda ash, iodine in proportions 1: 1: 1.5 ml per 100 ml of water. You can also add vinegar, citric acid for more effect. This solution is needed to disinfect small droplets that splash onto carpets. It is technically impossible to delete them in the usual way.

Chemical demercurization

1. Preparation of a physical solution. Better to use potassium permanganate, berthollet salt. These are the most active sorbents against liquid poison. If they are not at home, then an aqueous or alcoholic solution of iodine, soda ash, bleach. It is necessary to work with chlorine carefully so as not to damage the upper respiratory tract with chlorine vapors.
2. Demercurization process. Pour the solution into each gap, you can also apply it on natural carpets, but not on carpets. The stains after the product will remain forever.
3. Leave the solution for several hours, ideally a day.
4. Carry out a wet cleaning of the room, while removing all floor coverings, sending them to a dry cleaner. Then carry out daily wet cleaning in order to minimize the concentration of metal vapors. The optimum ambient temperature is up to 15 degrees.

There are also industrial synthetic demercurization products. These are polymer esters, surfactants based on isobutylene, formaldehyde, butyl alcohol. The funds are relatively cheap, detailed instructions are attached to each drug. Such mixtures do an excellent job even with large pollution, only they are toxic to others, you need to take precautions.

Let's start with the definition of the term in the title of the article. Demercurization - methods of protection against harmful fumes of mercury. As you know, it is a highly toxic metal, the fumes of which are easily poisoned, so everyone should definitely know what to do if, for example, you accidentally break a mercury thermometer. Today, a systematic presentation of the entire set of issues related to demercurization as a preventive measure does not yet exist. That is why its implementation (determination of indications, techniques, methods, means, requirements ensuring its effectiveness) meets certain difficulties both among the organizers of production and among practical hygienists who are called upon to control its progress and evaluate its effectiveness.

Demercurization works are classified depending on the tasks, objects and methods of their implementation. Taking into account the tasks solved in the process of its implementation, distinguish between current and final demercurization. The first is used when the task is to temporarily reduce the intensity of re-pollution of the air, mainly by reducing the area and intensity of evaporation of fallow mercury.

The final demercurization is carried out when the problem of complete cessation of air pollution due to the evaporation and desorption of mercury from all types of secondary pollution sources is solved. The final demercurization differs from the current one not only in the content of the assigned task, but also in a much wider volume of work performed.

Demercurization in everyday life: broke the thermometer - what to do?

If you have broken the thermometer, firstly, there is no need to panic. The short-term effect of mercury vapor in the quantities in which it is in the thermometer does not have a significant effect on the human body and health. However, you still have to collect the mercury. Here you need to act calmly and collected. Mercury from the broken thermometer should be collected with a brush in a paper envelope and wipe the remnants on the surface with a soft, preferably filter paper, but never with your hands. A wet wipe will work as well. When collecting spilled mercury, it is absolutely not necessary to use a vacuum cleaner or a broom, while large drops break into small ones, which impairs their subsequent complete collection. The collected mercury should be placed in an airtight container such as a glass jar. This mercury cannot be poured into the sewer system or simply thrown into the trash, they must be handed over to special organizations. The next step is the treatment of the room from mercury vapors, because they are the most dangerous. The simplest formulations for demercurization available in everyday life are an aqueous solution of 0.2% potassium permanganate with the addition of 0.5% hydrochloric acid.