Have you broken a mercury thermometer or a mercury-containing fluorescent lamp and are worried about your loved ones’ health? Contact us! Our specialists will assess the risk objectively, without causing unnecessary alarm, and, if necessary, neutralize the mercury according to protocol, completely eliminating any danger.
Mercury Decontamination Service
Mercury decontamination must include all listed treatment stages, be carried out exclusively by specially trained personnel using certified equipment and effective, non-household chemical agents that are safe for humans.
Worried about mercury exposure? Call us now for safe and professional decontamination!
If a Mercury Thermometer Breaks
What Not to Do
- Don’t panic! It is impossible to suffer mercury poisoning in a short time from a broken thermometer. Chronic mercury poisoning occurs only with prolonged inhalation of high mercury concentrations over several months.
- Do not attempt to collect mercury yourself. Without proper experience and lighting, you risk spreading contamination and complicating professional cleanup.
- Do not use a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum filters do not trap mercury vapors. Instead of collecting mercury, the vacuum disperses it, contaminating itself and becoming unusable.
- Do not wet the spill area with water or any solutions (such as potassium permanganate, baking soda, household soap, or bleach) and do not sprinkle anything over it. This complicates the decontamination process.
- Do not pour mercury down the drain. Due to its high density, mercury cannot pass through plumbing traps and will remain inside, continuing to evaporate even while submerged in water.
- Do not allow children or pets near the contaminated area. Mercury droplets can easily stick to shoes, paws, or clothing and be carried to other rooms, spreading contamination further.
What You Should Do
- Stay calm. In the case of a broken mercury thermometer, it’s better to do nothing than to make mistakes in a panic.
- Think about what you need to take from the room where the thermometer broke. Carefully make a list, including pets, houseplants, and essential items you’ll need for the next 12-24 hours.
- Remove all necessary items from the room. Try to minimize the number of trips in and out. Avoid stepping close to the spill, watch your footing carefully, and do not step on mercury droplets. Leave the shoes you wore inside the room.
- Open the windows in the affected room and close the door. If possible, lower the heating. To seal the door, you can place a damp towel under the gap, provided the flooring allows it.
- Contact us. If the thermometer broke outside working hours or on a weekend, you can safely postpone the issue until morning, request a callback, and get some rest.
- A readily available antidote for mercury ingestion is egg white. If mercury enters the body, consuming raw egg whites may help. Just remember to sanitize the eggshell before use.
Why Mercury Decontamination Is Necessary
Acute Mercury Poisoning
Acute mercury poisoning occurs from prolonged inhalation of mercury concentrations exceeding safe limits by more than 167 times, ingestion of a significant amount, or direct contact. In case of acute mercury poisoning, immediate medical attention is required, as delayed treatment can lead to severe and irreversible consequences. The mercury concentration that causes acute poisoning depends on the route of exposure, duration of contact, and individual susceptibility.
Symptoms of Acute Poisoning
Symptoms of acute mercury poisoning may vary depending on the route of exposure and the amount of mercury absorbed.
- Headache
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal and chest pain
- Metallic taste in the mouth
- Excessive salivation
- Lung inflammation
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Gum bleeding
Mercury poisoning symptoms can appear within a few hours to several days after exposure. Acute mercury poisoning may lead to irreversible consequences, including impaired coordination and cognitive decline, severe mental and emotional disorders, lung and respiratory tract damage, and kidney failure.
Acute poisoning from a broken mercury thermometer is virtually impossible!
Chronic Mercury Poisoning
Symptoms of Chronic Poisoning
Symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning may vary depending on mercury concentration and duration of exposure.
- Headaches
- Sleep disturbances
- Irritability
- Memory impairment
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Loss of sensation in limbs
- Coordination problems
- Neurological and mental disorders
Chronic mercury poisoning can cause severe and irreversible damage to the nervous system, kidneys, heart, and other organs. Exposure during pregnancy may lead to congenital developmental disorders in the child.
The development of chronic mercury poisoning takes a long time—several months or even years. However, individual sensitivity to mercury varies, meaning even low concentrations can cause health issues in some people, especially children, pregnant women, and individuals with certain medical conditions.
Still Have Questions?
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In the vast majority of household medical thermometers, metallic mercury is used. However, mercury-free medical thermometers exist, where metallic mercury is replaced with safer gallium-based alloys, such as gallium-tin (Galinstan), gallium-zinc-indium, and others.
Mercury-free thermometers are usually marked with a wide green stripe at the end of the scale, feature special mechanisms to “reset the temperature,” and some gallium alloys may give the scale a blue tint. There are no alcohol-based thermometers for measuring body temperature.
Mercury-free medical thermometers are still relatively rare. When mercury thermometers were widely available, they were significantly cheaper than mercury-free alternatives, making an accidental purchase of a mercury-free thermometer highly unlikely.
A modern mercury thermometer (transparent plastic case) contains 1.5 to 2 grams of metallic mercury. In Soviet-era medical thermometers (cardboard case), the mercury content can be up to 8 grams.
The amount of mercury in a thermometer does not determine its danger. When a thermometer breaks, only a fraction of the mercury evaporates, while the rest remains in the scale, in the tip, and does not have time to fully vaporize.
Considering that the safe concentration limit for mercury vapor in the air is 0.3 µg/m³, the total mercury content in a thermometer is less significant compared to how it was broken and how the mercury was collected.
When asking this question, people often mean how long ventilation is needed to clear a room of mercury vapor. A precise answer is impossible, but it’s important to understand that evaporated mercury doesn’t simply “leave through the window”—it is highly likely to condense on surfaces and materials. Without specialized decontamination, mercury can circulate in the room for a long time.
Some studies indicate that in school classrooms where students broke a mercury thermometer, traces of mercury were still detected decades later.
A healthy person who spends only part of their time in a room where a mercury thermometer broke is unlikely to experience immediate harm, as long as the body can eliminate mercury and prevent accumulation.
The main issue is that long-term effects of mercury exposure are difficult to track and link directly to the incident. Additionally, individual sensitivity to mercury varies, meaning some people may be more affected than others.
No, mercury should never be flushed down the toilet, bathtub, or sink. Due to its high density, mercury cannot pass through plumbing traps and remains inside them.
A unique property of mercury is that it can evaporate even under a layer of liquid (water, kerosene), meaning that even if flushed, it will continue to release toxic vapors.
Household sewage systems are not designed to process mercury, and any discharged mercury will eventually contaminate water sources, posing a serious environmental hazard.
Additionally, removing mercury from plumbing is a complex process, making cleanup significantly more difficult if it has been flushed.
Other Services
Disinfection Service
Apartment disinfection is a professional service for preventive or targeted treatment to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms during an epidemic or when an infectious disease is detected in humans or animals. In addition to ozone treatment, we use other chemical and physical disinfection methods, including cold fogging, UV irradiation, and steam treatment.
Ozone Treatment
Ozone treatment of an apartment involves high-concentration ozone exposure using powerful industrial ozone generators. In addition to effectively removing mercury vapors, ozone is a highly efficient and safe disinfectant, eliminating viruses, bacteria, and mold spores. This treatment also serves as one of the best and most reliable methods for thoroughly deodorizing indoor spaces.
Pest Control
Chaotic DIY pest control with weak household insecticides often leads to insect resistance, making eradication more difficult and costly over time. In contrast, professional pest control considers pest type, infestation severity, and environmental factors, ensuring the precise selection of insecticides, including those targeting resistant pests for long-term and effective results.