Anyone Ever Break Mercury Thermometer?

14 years ago

I'm trying to remain level headed here.

We thought that we'd gotten rid of all mercury thermometers in our household years ago after DS1 was born.

Well we must not have and in my clearing out of everything not used/ needed must have inadvertently turned one up. The youngest found one and tapped the end of it on the kitchen gate and the metal tip broke off. She dropped it and ran - she didn't touch mercury or anything.

I went on-line for clean-up instructions and am reasonably sure that I got it all but wonder if I really did. It seemed like such a small amount.

I didn't vacuum per instructions.

Turned off central heat to stop air circulation and opened windows and doors.

Pets and kids are removed from the area.

I taped over any bead that I couldn't suction up or get up on a piece of paper to put in a container.

I went over the area (old hardwood floors w/ cracks) w/ a paint brush and shaving cream to lift up the tiniest bits I could find w/ a flashlight w/ the lights off.

Of course this happened just before having to pick DS2 up so I got everything that I could and then put tape over the whole area to stop any beads I'd missed until I could get in there w/ the flashlight and shaving cream. My kids walked over the taped area before I got to it w/ the flash light and shaving cream and I'd found a few more beads the size of a pin head so now of course I'm worried all over again!

I've been working on the area (very small area) for at least an hour on my hands and knees. Of course it's the doorway into the kitchen and a major thoroughfare.

I left a message for the pediatrician to see what she has to say.

Has this happened to any of you? Am I giving myself a headache for no reason?

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Comments (6)

terezosa / terriks
14 years ago
I remember breaking at least one years ago. Thought it was pretty cool how the mercury formed beads. I have no recollection of how I cleaned it up, but I am still here - alive and healthy to tell about it.
polly929
14 years ago
I remember my mom breaking one when I was a kid. My brother and I couldn't stop laughing at how when we touched the little balls of mercury, they would squirm away from us and we couldn't pick them up. I'm still here to tell the story.
In 7th grade science class my teacher filled a test tube with mercury, and another with water and made all of us hold it to feel the difference in weight.

I know how toxic it is, but didn't back then. I'm sure if you have cleaned for that long you have gotten it all by now. I wouldn't worry too much.
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ttodd
Original Author
14 years ago
Well I just got off the phone w/ poison control to make sure that I covered all of my bases and she said that mercury isn't poisonous if it's touched, handled or even ingested. She said that it's the vapors that it emits that are toxic and that heat amplifies that.

One of the first things that I read before beginning my cleanup was NOT to use a vacuum cleaner because of the heat. Tell me how happy I was that I'd decided to look on-line first before I ran the vacuum over it!!!! Literally I was all ready to turn it on and go to town before I decided to take a moment and go on-line.

I told her that my huge concern was that I may not have gotten all of it because I'm sure beads fell into the cracks of the old wood floor and we're always crossing the threshold there in our bare feet. She said that's not a problem and the fact that I was airing the place out and minimizing air circulation was what was best.
golddust
14 years ago
My father had a jar of mercury. Had something to do with gold panning. My sister and I played with it all the time. Like Polly, we loved the stuff. We're still here but maybe that is what is wrong with my sister... Hmmm. :+)

Heat and fumes? Interesting.
mcmann
14 years ago
Remember good old Mercurochrome? i wonder how many of our Mothers would out that on our scraped? I just checked and it was only banned in the US in 1998 but it's still available in other countries.
neetsiepie
14 years ago
Oh my gosh, I can remember all the toxic things we played with as kids. My Dad used to reload bullets and I played with the lead pieces. In HS chemistry we played with mercury!

Recently I had a run in with a face full of old insulation and dust (ended up with a bad lung infection) and I was worried about asbestos. My brother (an EMT) and a doctor confirmed that short term exposure to asbestos isn't what is carcinogenic. Fortunately it was just old cellulose, but still nasty stuff. I think that the small amounts of toxins out there aren't what is dangerous, it's the long term, repeated exposure that causes the trouble.

Anyone Ever Break Mercury Thermometer?

Comments (6)

terezosa / terriks

polly929

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Anyone Ever Break Mercury Thermometer?

Comments (6)

terezosa / terriks

polly929

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ttoddOriginal Author

golddust

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