I broke a thermometer

You need to collect all the balls and wash them immediately with a solution of potassium permanganate.

and to ventilate the room from mercury vapours

and only after opening the windows wide, this is very important because the draft will blow away all the mercury beads.

There isn't so much of it there to be dangerous.

Where should I throw the balls then?

I really don't quite understand the media hysteria over mercury in the last 10 years. Back in my childhood (the 70s), we used to break thermometers and play with those little beads; it was especially fun to roll them across dusty surfaces. And no one ever got sick or died from it, as far as I know.

The last time I broke a thermometer, I didn't sleep in my bedroom for a month, and the room had its balcony doors wide open for over a month.

Exactly. We broke thermometers, played with the droplets—they roll so neatly—gathered it all up in a cloth, threw it in the bin, mopped the floors, and everyone's still alive. In our maternity ward, a thermometer broke in the room, and nothing happened! But of course, they had those special lamps there that sort of disinfected the place.

And even earlier, people drank fizzy drinks from non-disposable cups in vending machines! And no one died from that either.

There's nothing to disinfect with mercury, it's not bacteria or viruses. I could understand the panic if a litre had been spilled, but nothing will happen from a thermometer.

I've heard that even the Emergency Services were called in such situations.

In the amount contained in one thermometer, it's not dangerous. The dose is too small. Besides, it's the mercury vapour that's hazardous, not the mercury itself. If you were to heat these beads and breathe in the fumes, you might cause some harm. Otherwise, there are known cases where people have even swallowed it and nothing happened.

When my mum broke a mercury thermometer, she called the Ministry of Emergency Situations. They explained to her over the phone in great detail and clearly how to properly collect those little beads, what precautions to take, and how to dispose of the gathered mercury.

I don't remember the specifics (it was a long time ago), so I won't relay what was said to avoid getting anything wrong. In short, ladies, if anyone needs to—call the Ministry of Emergency Situations' contact centre; they'll give you expert advice.

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In my youth, I broke a thermometer on the stove and didn't know, and the stove was warm every day. Imagine the evaporation that occurred, and I was pregnant too. Now my daughter has allergies to many things. Could that have been the cause?

No, the cause lies elsewhere. I'll tell you more—at our factory, the inclinometer for combat tracked vehicles (tanks, BMPs) broke. There were about 150 grams of mercury. Well, it spilled, no one panicked, no one felt unwell, some of it seeped into the crevices of constantly operating equipment with casing temperatures around 50 degrees. No one would dismantle a 10-ton unit over this nonsense. We just collected what was on the floor (about half), and the rest is still there. About 15 years have passed since then, and none of the workers have fallen ill or developed allergies. It's all rubbish.

Usually, it doesn't lead to anything serious, but there is a risk of heavy metal poisoning (and subsequent allergies and tissue diseases). It's advisable to wipe the area with potassium permanganate. Contact the Ministry of Emergency Situations for advice.

Generally, after mercury vapour poisoning, hair and teeth start to fall out. As for it being fatal, it's unlikely from a small amount like that from a thermometer. The most effective method after collecting the beads is to treat the floor surface with ferric chloride. It neutralises the mercury. The issue is, it's not readily available in ordinary household conditions.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations must carry out demercurisation.

I had this situation... I broke a thermometer and couldn't find a single mercury bead... panic set in. I called a specialist office, and they scared me even more, saying I urgently needed to call an expert with equipment to find those mercury beads... The call-out fee was 6,000... What a predicament, and not a small sum either, just hand it over and that's it... I pulled myself together. I took a magnifying glass and went to look for the beads myself, without any gadgets, and upon closer inspection of the broken thermometer, the part where the mercury is was actually intact... That's happiness for you, there you have it, both the money and the thermometer are safe, and if I had called those specialists, oh, how they would have had a laugh))))))

The hysteria is being stirred up by newspapers and television. But why, exactly? Someone's making money off demercurization, it seems.

I remember, back in my distant childhood, we used to deliberately break thermometers and rub two-kopeck coins with mercury to make them look like ten-kopeck ones. You could buy a lot with those! No hair fell out, and my teeth are still intact... and I'm already 50... But for those who fear poisoning, you can cleanse your body with Polisorb. It's excellent at removing toxins.

We had a thermometer break, didn't air anything out, didn't clean anything up, etc. My husband broke it. Moreover, after he broke it, he decided to throw it down the toilet and flush it. Nothing happened, everything's fine). We did have to fish the thermometer out later and throw it in the bin, though).

Today, a thermometer was broken in the hospital at night, everyone woke up, the lights were turned on, and with the help of available materials, it was collected, wiped with a cloth, and checked. We were quick! Woke everyone around, then closed the door and slept peacefully, while the whole ward didn't sleep until morning, but we were unfazed—efficiency is key!

I've taken apart a thermometer, and not for the first time; as a child, I was always breaking them, and the mercury ended up in the room and even in a pot of water when I heated the thermometer over steam or on radiators. And nothing happened, everyone's alive, and I'm alive too... I cleaned up as best I could; with the pot, I just poured the water out and didn't tell anyone. Today, I think I collected everything and threw it in the bin in the room. I didn't go in for about an hour and a half, then came back, looked closely, and there was still some mercury. I finally gathered it into a bag, then dealt with it all because I'd already read up about poisoning. I washed the floor with some terribly smelly cleaning product, and it seems fine. On top of that, I'm two months pregnant, and all sorts of things are written on the internet, but I believe that the vapour from the amount of mercury that couldn't be collected on the floor is really very minimal. And also: it's better to buy an electronic thermometer!!!

Today at the hospital, I saw a broken thermometer thrown in the bin in the toilet. I went and told the nurse, and she said, "So what? Where else should it be?" And with so many pregnant women here, I guess we'll be lying here until morning, inhaling the fumes, until the cleaner comes in the morning.

We need to call the emergency services to avoid poisoning.

My husband, when he was a child, once checked the temperature on a frying pan where fried potatoes were cooking without telling his mother. As a result, it burst from the heat, and all the mercury ended up in the food. Everyone ate it, and when his mother was serving the last portion, she noticed some little balls at the bottom—turns out, it was mercury. After that, she called the authorities, and they reassured her because the mercury in thermometers is treated and there's no reason to worry. Everyone is alive and well! Don't worry. I'm currently two months pregnant myself and broke a thermometer, but we didn't do anything about it!

Mercury vapours are hazardous. For the size of our apartments, even if it's 200 m², they pose a risk. Conduct a vapour measurement, and it will become clear whether it's present in the room or not. Vapours can penetrate through water!!!!!!!!!!! And as for using potassium permanganate, baking soda, and vinegar, you definitely won't capture it with those; that's an internet myth. Read websites by professional chemists, http://rtuti911-net.ru/, and look for information on verified sites, at least Wikipedia.

Yes yes, nothing except exceeding the maximum permissible concentration by 300 times - that's exactly the measurement result I got after a broken thermometer.

You need to carry out mercury decontamination of the premises - http://expert-rtuti.ru. They will assist and explain what needs to be done first, before the specialists arrive.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations won't come out for a thermometer, they don't waste time on such nonsense, they might explain what to do. But all sorts of paid services, yes, they're a money scam, fear has big eyes.

Today, before reading the instructions, my husband broke a thermometer and collected the mercury with a juice straw. He says he swallowed it. Afterward, we decided to check the manual—wish we hadn't. Now he's lying down, waiting for his demise and chuckling. Pity, the man is glowing like a £15,000 lamp from IKEA. As long as he's glowing, I won't call the emergency services.

За год 2 градусника уже разбила. С первым паниковала сильно, т.к. до этого никогда их не била и что делать не знала. Пока собрала всё, обработала и проверила на психосоматике нашла у себя все признаки отравления ртутью)) Недели 2 комната была закрыта и проветривалась. Со вторым разбитым градусником всё прошло гораздо спокойнее. )) Аккуратно все собрала, помыла и купила тест полоски на обнаружение паров ртути. Все чисто. Только слегка изменила цвет одна полоска. Значит надо в этом месте посмотреть получше. Возможно небольшие остатки ртути. Главное не паниковать.

А если идиот мужик в семье сказал только к вечеру про разбитый градусник и что все убрал, а я нахожу штук 10 довольно крупных шариков через 3 дня? Что тогда делать. В комнате побывали уже все домочадцы, включая питомцев.

Совершенно верно! Я, лично, будучи ребёнком, натирала этой ртутью медные денежки, они становились серебряными! 😉 А девочка одна, так вообще, во рту ее катала. Все живы, здоровы. Мне сейчас 66 лет. 😊