What happens if you swallow mercury beads from a thermometer?

What happens if you eat mercury? This is a question parents often ask themselves when a child bites off the tip of a thermometer.

Answer: In liquid form, mercury is not as dangerous as in gaseous form. In addition, metal molecules are practically not absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract. If you eat a small amount of mercury by accident, it will simply come out naturally after 1-2 days. The real danger is posed by mercury vapor and thermometer fragments in the gastrointestinal tract.

Mascot

Just a couple of centuries ago, people believed that if purified mercury was turned into a solid, it could be turned into gold. But they relied even more on the magical properties of this substance. For example, the priests of Ancient Egypt put several grams of mercury in a wooden or granite vessel and placed it in the throat of the pharaoh's mummy - they believed that after death this would protect their ruler. Ordinary Egyptians also counted on the help of mercury, carrying a bottle of it as an amulet. Many believed and still believe that mercury brings good luck, which is why mercury talismans are not uncommon these days. They are used by fans of horse racing and card games. To ensure that the toxic properties of mercury do not adversely affect health, the substance is placed in a hole made in nutmeg and sealed with wax. And among modern magicians you can see glass rings in which mercury is sealed.

What happens if you eat mercury? List of possible symptoms

Ingested mercury balls that enter the body from a mercury thermometer can cause general malaise, accompanied by the following symptoms:

• nausea, single or repeated vomiting, pain in the epigastric region, bloating, loss of appetite;
• general weakness, decreased physical activity, drowsiness;
• aching headache.

All these symptoms are only possible consequences of ingested mercury, since in most cases the incident will not affect the state of the body in any way, except perhaps causing panic due to an emergency and atypical situation, which cannot be said about inhaling vapors formed from the same amount of metal.
The same gram of mercury, breaking down into vapor in a room, can cause more serious consequences that will affect all internal organs, cause a characteristic clinical picture of acute poisoning and can even lead to total failure of the body systems and subsequent death. This is the main feature of the toxic effect of mercury on the body: questions about what will happen if you eat mercury or inhale its vapors have radically different answers! However, it is worth taking into account that the relative safety of such an incident is permissible only if a small amount of mercury is swallowed (up to 1 gram) - for example, a few drops that accidentally entered the oral cavity from a broken thermometer or other sources containing a toxic metal.
Larger amounts of mercury entering the body through the gastrointestinal tract can lead to toxic damage, which primarily affects the stomach and intestines. Also, symptoms may be deeper and more serious if there are chronic lesions of the gastrointestinal mucosa, for example, ulcers or gastritis.

Medicine

Due to its high toxicity, mercury is now practically not used in medical preparations, with the exception of perhaps a thermometer, which contains about 2 grams of this metal. Mercury can also act as a preservative for vaccines. However, back in the 1970s, mercury was readily used in medicine. For example, mercusal, containing mercury ions, acted as a strong diuretic, mercuric chloride was used as a laxative, and mercuric cyanide was part of antiseptics and ointments. Silver amalgam, consisting of mercury, was recently used in dentistry as a filling material. The traveler Francois Bernier (1620-1688) during his visit to India noted that local yogis live surprisingly long - up to 200 years. Bernier wrote that yogis drink a drink that contains mercury and sulfur. Yogis have confirmed that a few drops a day of this drug help keep the body in good shape, but most importantly, it promotes longevity. It is also known that in ancient times the Chinese made “immortality pills” based on mercury.

First aid for mercury poisoning from a thermometer: necessary actions

The most important requirement is to call an ambulance. But everyone can alleviate the patient’s condition. To do this, arm yourself with some knowledge of first aid for a victim of poisoning with chemical poisons.

• The patient needs clean and fresh air!
  Therefore, take it outside or open the windows as much as possible so that the person does not breathe accumulated mercury vapor.
• Treat the skin with potassium permanganate. If possible, it would not hurt to rinse the mucous membranes with at least clean water in order to wash off the substance as much as possible.
• If the person is conscious, then rinse the stomach
  . This will slightly reduce nausea and remove toxins.
• To do this, follow these steps: mix
  potassium permanganate or activated carbon at the rate of 1 g tablet per 1 kg of body weight with 2 liters of water. Don’t forget to grind the coal first so that it dissolves faster;
• allow the victim to drink, if possible, all the liquid;
• press on the root of the tongue with your fingers or another object to induce vomiting.

Be sure to give activated carbon!
It perfectly helps remove toxins from the body. Of course, it won’t cope with mercury, but it will make you feel a little better. You can also give any absorbent that is at hand.

Provide the patient with bed rest and make him as comfortable as possible.

Also, do not forget about drinking plenty of fluids, which is simply necessary when the body temperature is elevated and the respiratory system is damaged. This will also increase the release of toxins in the urine.

Important

: Milk perfectly removes toxins and poisons from the body! Therefore, it will not hurt the patient to drink at least half a liter of milk or protein liquid. To prepare it, beat 2 egg whites with 1 liter of water.

• If the victim is unconscious, then you need to free him from constricting clothing and lay him firmly on his side. Avoid tongue retraction and do not move away from it until the doctors arrive.

Medical assistance consists of:

• in mandatory outpatient treatment! The decay and half-life of toxic metal metabolites depends on individual indicators and varies from 40 to 75 days;
• the first week an antidote is administered - Unitinol. Use a 5% solution at a rate of 50 ml of liquid per 10 kg of weight. On the first day, 3-4 infusions are given, then the dose is reduced to 2-3 times, and from days 3 to 7 the patient takes the medicine 1-2 times. Injected into the body using nebulizers or inhalers;
• Be sure to wash the stomach with an umbrella, and the intestines with an enema. Absorbents are used as auxiliary components;
• The patient is also prescribed calcium disodium salt EDTA for outpatient treatment. For the first 4 days, the dose is 3 times 50 ml. Then the dosage is reduced;
• if mercury has been swallowed, then Strizhevsky’s antidote is prescribed. A sufficiently strong alkaline solution that a 100 g size can neutralize 4 g of mercury;
• Vitamins and restorative drugs must be prescribed, which will improve the functioning of the immune system. Selenium, which is consumed with vitamin E to remove mercury;
• If the victim has any allergic reaction, be sure to indicate this when admitted to the hospital. You may also need antihistamines.

“Living silver” arouses great interest among children, which often becomes the cause of complex poisonings

Victim of treatment

When exhuming the body of Ivan the Terrible, scientists determined that the mercury content in the king’s body was 5 times higher than the permissible standards. It is known that in Rus' mercury was used to treat syphilis back in the 15th-16th centuries. Some researchers have suggested that Ivan the Terrible, who suffered from this dangerous illness, was treated with “liquid silver.” N.M. Karamzin wrote that the tsar “changed so much that it was impossible to recognize him: gloomy ferocity was depicted on his face, all his features were distorted, his gaze faded, almost not a single hair remained on his head and beard.” Sudden hair loss is one of the obvious signs of mercury poisoning, as are the epileptic seizures that tormented the king. Mercury intoxication is the cause of death of Ivan the Terrible, according to modern experts.

Consequences

As a result of poisoning, unpleasant consequences will soon arise, fraught with complications:

• possible development of pneumonia, hypotension;
• the functioning of the thyroid gland will go wrong;
• hypertension will occur;
• pathologies will appear in the functioning of the kidneys, liver and gall bladder;
• the risk of tuberculosis and atherosclerosis increases.

Poisoning with concentrated mercury vapor can lead to serious pathologies.

"Mercury" fish

It is known that mercury is contained in sea water. It was recently discovered that small fish are capable of accumulating this substance. At the same time, predators, both fish and birds that hunt small fish, can retain mercury in their bodies at even higher concentrations. For example, if a herring contains 0.01 ppm of mercury, then a shark has an indicator of more than 1 ppm. American scientists who examined fish for mercury content found this substance in every fish! At the same time, 25% of fish have mercury levels above the permissible level. Tuna and lobster are at risk. Environmentalists have already begun to sound the alarm, warning about the dangers of eating fish and other seafood, however, fishing companies, for obvious reasons, call this “horror stories.”

Quarantine measures

Taking care of the health of loved ones, it is better to temporarily, for about a week, make the room where the thermometer was broken uninhabited. Open the windows there and constantly ventilate, wash the floor daily with soap and soda solution.

It is extremely important to close the door to the room - you do not need drafts in an infected room.

If you are very concerned about the risk of vapor poisoning, simply call the laboratory service. From there they will bring special instruments and measure the level of mercury concentration in the room and near the floor.

Poisonous, but not always dangerous

"The more we study mercury, the more toxic it becomes," says David Evers of the Biodiversity Institute. “The threat from trace amounts of mercury is greater than previously thought.” Indeed, people previously clearly underestimated the toxic properties of mercury. For example, it was part of the felt from which hats were made. Those who wore hats gradually undermined their health by accumulating toxic substances in their bodies. Even more were poisoned during the production of hats - the expression “old hatter’s disease” clearly demonstrates this. Today, people who primarily suffer from mercury poisoning are those who live by fishing and actively eat fish (heat treatment, as is known, does not remove mercury from food). A large number of such people live in Canada, Brazil, Colombia and China. According to statistics, an average of 8 children per thousand from a dangerous region have chronic disorders, manifested in weakened memory and mental retardation. But the danger of mercury vapor poisoning, according to some experts, is greatly exaggerated, since the density limit of mercury vapor is much lower than that of air, and therefore their concentration in dangerous indicators is possible only with a large amount of this substance. Liquid mercury is not so dangerous. If you swallow metal balls of mercury from a thermometer, they will pass through the entire intestine without causing harm. This is explained by the consistency of mercury, which the gastrointestinal tract is not able to absorb.

Disposal requirements

Self-disposal is a step-by-step set of actions. The following tools will help you clean up:

• adhesive tape, plaster, electrical tape;
• flashlight - illuminate hard-to-reach areas;
• two sheets of thick paper (you cannot use a broom or vacuum cleaner);
• cotton wool;
• syringe or medical bulb.

Do not collect spilled mercury with a vacuum cleaner. Firstly, it will evaporate even faster, and secondly, it will not be possible to clean the vacuum cleaner; it will be easier to destroy it.

Please note that collecting mercury balls with a broom is extremely inconvenient: you will simply drive them across the floor. Pieces of paper are much more reliable in this case.

It is better to dispose of spilled mercury using a rubber bulb or a medical syringe.

You will also have to cook in glass jars:

• soap and soda solution for cleaning the floor;
• high concentration manganese solution;
• ordinary water, put fragments of a thermometer and mercury in it.

What is the danger?

We know from school that mercury is extremely poisonous. Its vapors, once in the respiratory tract, can either simply make you feel a little worse or seriously disrupt the functioning of your internal organs, depending on the dose received. The most serious consequence is that a person will have to treat diseased internal organs for a long time.

Mercury begins to evaporate when the room temperature exceeds 18°. Vapors enter the body not only during breathing, they can seep through the surface of our skin, however, in the case of very high concentrations in the air.

Mercury vapor affects:

• mucous membrane of the nose and throat;
• gums;
• central nervous system.

Since a child’s body is weaker than an adult, it is, of course, more dangerous for him to be in a room with mercury vapor.

Expert opinion:

“Fortunately, household injuries from contact of mercury with skin are quite rare, since a regular thermometer contains a small amount of this metal. However, if an accident does occur and mercury comes into contact with the skin of a child or adult, immediately rinse the area of ​​the body that came into contact with the mercury with running water. You need to wash very thoroughly, for at least 15 minutes, using soapy sponges or washcloths. To get rid of mercury fractions that have managed to penetrate the pores of the skin, take a hot bath - the pores will open and the mercury will evaporate. If mercury gets on your hair, you should also wash it thoroughly.”

Valentin Drozdov, general practitioner

Even if you are sure that you have collected all the mercury balls in the apartment, be sure to call a special service. The fact is that liquid metal often penetrates into the most inaccessible places in the house (cracks, openings, chips), and you simply cannot detect them yourself. Demercurization specialists will carefully treat every centimeter of your home and clean it 100% of traces of mercury.

Help with mercury spills.

Searching for mercury, collection, demercurization is the job of professionals.

Demercurization Center. Environmental service "Expert Mercury", assistance 24 hours, St. Petersburg and Leningrad region.

Prevention of disaster

Young children have to take their temperature quite often. Therefore, it is better to buy not an ordinary thermometer for your home, but a special safe one - infrared and electronic. The baby will no longer be able to see through the tip of this device, bite it off no matter how hard he tries, and it is much more convenient to use such a device - the temperature values ​​​​are clearly visible on the electronic display.

Using a mercury thermometer the old fashioned way, follow the rules:

1. Do not give the device to small children.
2. Store the device in a special case and out of the reach of children.
3. When measuring your baby's temperature, carefully hold his hand.
4. When shaking the device, keep your hand away from objects that could easily break it.