MERCURY
Elemental mercury, the form
found in thermometers, thermostats and other household products, creates hazardous
vapors at room temperature. Exposure to very high mercury vapors can cause a variety
of symptoms including chronic inflammation of mouth and gums, personality change,
nervousness, fever, or a rash.
To avoid accidental mercury poisoning in your home, follow these tips:
- Avoid purchasing mercury-containing products, with the exception of fluorescent
lamps, which save energy and have very small amounts of mercury. Good mercury-free
alternatives exist for all other mercury-containing household products, such
as thermometers and thermostats.
- If you spill a small amount of mercury, for instance by breaking a fever
thermometer or thermostat, you can do the cleanup yourself. For larger spills,
that leave a pool of mercury the size of a quarter or bigger, evacuate the
area and call 911 or your local fire department.
- When cleaning up a mercury spill, do NOT use an ordinary housekeeping
vacuum cleaner, since this will spread the mercury over a larger area. There
are special vacuum cleaners designed especially to cleanup mercury spills,
but this equipment should be used only by staff trained in its operation and
maintenance. Be sure to prevent people and pets from stepping in the mercury,
to avoid spreading it around. Contain the spill to make sure that it doesn't
get into floor drains or seep between floorboards. If the heat is on, turn
it down, and ventilate the area to the outside air, but not to the rest of
the house. Pick up broken pieces of glass and spilled mercury using rigid
paper, such as index cards, and place the mercury and the paper into an airtight
plastic container, such as a film cannister or a ziplock plastic bag.
- Seal the plastic container or the ziplock bag. Pick up any remaining mercury
using an eyedropper or adhesive tape. Put the broken glass, the items used
to clean up the mercury, and all the items into another plastic container
or ziplock bag.. If mercury was spilled onto into a carpet and cannot be recovered,
it may be necessary to dispose of the carpet.
- Contact your State or local environmental agency to find out about options
for disposing of the mercury properly. When mercury gets into the environment,
it can be converted to a highly toxic organic form and contaminate fish. This
contamination makes the fish unsafe for human consumption. Therefore, proper
disposal of mercury is important.
More detailed advice, from Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality,
on cleaning up spills can be found at:
For small spills: http://www.deq.state.mi.us/ead/pub/p2/mercspills.pdf
For large spills: http://www.deq.state.mi.us/ead/pub/p2/lgmerc.pdf
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