Cleaning up a broken mercury thermometer

If the liquid in a glass fever thermometer is any color but silver, it's most likely alcohol. If it's silver, it may be mercury. A paper scale inside that says "mercury free" means it isn't. Without those words, treat it as mercury. Mercury is a liquid metal whose droplets join into balls that roll and break apart again, so move slowly to avoid scattering it.

If you have questions about health effects after the spill, call your doctor or Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

What never to do

• Don't vacuum it. A vacuum puts mercury into the air.
• Don't sweep it with a broom. That breaks it into smaller droplets and spreads them.
• Don't pour it down a drain. It can lodge in the plumbing or pollute a septic tank or sewage plant.
• Don't walk around in shoes that may have mercury on them. Clothing can spread it too.

What you need

• 4 or 5 zip-top plastic bags
• Trash bags, 2 to 6 mils thick
• Rubber, nitrile or latex gloves
• Paper towels
• A piece of cardboard or a squeegee
• An eyedropper
• Duct tape, or shaving cream and a small paintbrush
• A flashlight

Steps

1. 1

   Clear and air out the room

   Have everyone else leave without walking through the mercury, and take the pets out. Open the windows and doors to the outside and shut the doors to the rest of the house. Don't let children help.

   5 min

2. 2

   Pick up the glass

   Put on the gloves. Lift any broken glass carefully onto a paper towel, fold it and seal it in a zip-top bag.

   5 min

3. 3

   Gather the beads

   Push the visible beads together with the cardboard or squeegee, using slow strokes so they don't scatter.

   10 min

4. 4

   Find the ones you missed

   Darken the room and hold the flashlight low to the floor. Look for glints across the whole room and in any cracks, since mercury rolls a long way on a hard floor.

   5 min

5. 5

   Draw them up

   Pull the beads into the eyedropper and squeeze them out onto a damp paper towel, or roll them onto it with two pieces of cardboard. Seal the towel in a bag.

   10 min

6. 6

   Pick up the smallest beads

   Dab the spot with shaving cream on the paintbrush, or press duct tape down and peel it up slowly. Seal the brush or tape in a bag.

   5 min

7. 7

   Bag everything and set it outside

   Put the bags, the gloves and everything else you used into a trash bag. Set it in a secure spot outdoors and label it the way your local health or fire department directs. Ask them, or the waste authority, how to dispose of it.

   5 min

On carpet or fabric

Mercury doesn't clean up from carpet, curtains, upholstery or other absorbent surfaces. Throw those items away the same way as the cleanup materials. For carpet, cut out and bag only the affected piece.

After the cleanup

Keep the room ventilated to the outside, with windows open and fans in the windows blowing out, for at least 24 hours. Keep children and pets out of it. A contractor with monitoring equipment can screen the room for mercury vapor if you want it checked. If anyone feels ill, get medical care right away.

These steps cover spills the size of a thermometer or smaller. A broken fluorescent bulb has its own cleanup steps.