Fever is the most important symptom of people infected with the new coronavirus, and measuring body temperature has become the main monitoring method to observe changes in the condition. There are two main types of household thermometers: electronic thermometers and mercury therm

2025/10/1907:52:36 regimen 1627

Recently, the poisoning consultation hotline has received a sharp increase in inquiries about broken mercury thermometers.

Fever is the most important symptom of people infected with the new coronavirus, and measuring body temperature has become the main monitoring method to observe changes in the condition. Current home thermometers mainly include electronic thermometers and mercury thermometers. Mercury thermometers are more commonly used . They are generally used to measure armpit temperature. Before measurement, the thermometer should be lowered to below 35 degrees Celsius. During measurement, the thermometer needs to be placed under the armpit for 5-10 minutes. Shake the thermometer too hard before use or touch a hard object. If the thermometer slips and falls during measurement, or if the thermometer is not installed in the protective cover and falls off, the thermometer may break and the mercury may spill.

When mercury thermometers break, the public has two main problems: One is how to deal with spilled mercury, and the other is whether it can cause human poisoning.

Mercury is the common name for metallic mercury, which is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. When the thermometer is broken and the mercury falls to the ground, it will form many small silver balls of different sizes. If the is not collected and processed in time, it will quickly volatilize into the air and turn into mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is very toxic. Inhaling high concentrations of mercury vapor (greater than 1.0mg/m³) in a short period of time can cause acute mercury poisoning, manifested by dizziness, headache, fatigue, fever, etc.

1. How to deal with a broken thermometer?

Immediately clean up the mercury beads scattered on the ground or on the surface of objects. Use paper or thin plastic plates to collect the mercury beads and put them into plastic or glass bottles. Broken thermometers can be put into the package together, tighten the bottle cap, make a "broken thermometer" mark and put it into hazardous waste.

Personnel should try not to stay in the room where the thermometer was broken. Open the windows and ventilate the room for two days before the mercury vapor in the room can reach a safe level.

2. Can mercury released from a broken thermometer cause acute poisoning in humans?

A standard mercury thermometer used daily contains about 1g of mercury. If all the mercury evaporates after crushing, the air mercury concentration in a room with an area of 15 square meters and a height of 3 meters can reach 22.2mg/m³; and my country's ambient air quality standard stipulates that the safety limit of mercury vapor concentration is 50ng/m³. Therefore, mercury spilled from broken thermometers must be dealt with carefully, but there is no need to panic. If the scattered mercury strains can be collected in time and windows are opened for a certain period of time for ventilation, it will not have any health effects on the human body.

Judging from past clinical practice, broken thermometers will not cause severe poisoning. If you have any questions, please call the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention poisoning consultation hotline (010-83132345) or go to a nearby hospital for treatment.

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Source of material | Edited by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League

| Reviewed by Wang Xinyu

| Bai Shipeng

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