MERCURY DISPOSAL SERVICE №1
It is extremely important to know how mercury is weathered during its bottling, because such situations are equated with emergencies. The danger of toxic fumes lies in a serious toxic effect on the human body: the more metal enters the lungs when inhaled, the higher the risk of dangerous health effects, including damage to the nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular systems, and even death. Information about how mercury is weathered will allow you to save health, and possibly life, in emergency circumstances.
Metal that has entered the room from a broken thermometer or a cracked fluorescent light bulb begins to evaporate very quickly. If no measures are taken, in just a few hours, 1-2 grams of mercury (this is the amount that an average Soviet-style thermometer contains) that enters the atmosphere is transformed into vapors with a concentration of 8 mg / m3, and this is just the beginning, because over time this indicator will only increase.
To assess the entire degree of danger, simply compare this number with the MPC, which is 0.0003 mg/m3. Normal ventilation does not give a significant short-term result, due to the replacement of air. The concentration of mercury vapor drops from 80 thousand ng/m3 to 3000 n.g./m3-5000 n.g./m3 at a rate of up to 300 n.g./m3. This means that even after standard ventilation, the maximum permissible concentration (MAC) is exceeded by 10 to 20 times. Living in such a room is FORBIDDEN, and very DANGEROUS for health.
The first thing to do is to lower the temperature to less than 18 degrees, because in the cold the metal ceases to form vapors. You can open the window, but make sure that this does not lead to a draft – gusts of wind can blow crumbs of metal over the entire surface. Then you should remove the visible sources of evaporation, that is, mercury balls, in a tightly closed container. Such actions will in no way help to completely weather the mercury, but will significantly reduce its concentration in the air. Therefore, it is urgent to call demercurization specialists – they will help stop a life-threatening situation. Just imagine even one rolled ball of mercury, depending on the size, will completely evaporate from 1 to 5 years. And all this time, all living things, will be subject to daily poisoning with mercury vapor. This poisoning is called “Mercurialism”. Learn more about the signs of mercury poisoning:
By knowing how mercury weathers, you can reduce its concentration in the atmosphere in the event of a metal spill. However, it will not be possible to 100% clean the room – the microparticles of the substance will still remain on the surface, continuing to evaporate. Remember – only professional demercurization will save you from any dangerous chemical compound that appears in the air!
Call consultants «mercury expert» by number +7(812)309-13-43 for detailed information on how to deal with metal spills at home and at work, as well as to call specialists in the neutralization of mercury and its compounds.