Is it possible to collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner

Is it possible to collect mercury with a vacuum cleaner? This is not a good idea. When particles of substance get into it, they heat up and increase several times, and breaking on a dust collector turn into hazardous dust. It, in turn, enters your body through the airways and mucous membranes, and also, spraying throughout the room, settles on objects.

Why can't mercury be vacuumed? After such cleaning, the device will emit mercury vapor hazardous to the body.

Even near the unit turned off, a device that captures toxic fumes will show an increased concentration of mercury particles in the air. What can we say about the included household appliance - in this situation, the fumes of this metal will exceed the safe rate by 10 times.

What to do with a vacuum cleaner if it was collected mercury.

If you cleaned the mercury with a vacuum cleaner, what should I do? Make sure that it contains particles of hazardous metal. This can be done using test strips. They can be ordered online. The average price is 600-800 rubles per pack.

Instructions on how to use test strips:

1. Disassemble the vacuum cleaner and put all the parts in a bag.
2. Put a test strip in the bag (Read the instructions carefully).
3. If the strip acquires a light gray color after 1.5-2 hours, then the concentration of hazardous vapors is high.
4. In this case, remove each part of the vacuum cleaner one by one, using the exclusion method.
5. If mercury particles settled on replaceable or replaceable parts, then they can simply be thrown into special containers, replaced with new ones.
6. If the main part of the vacuum cleaner is hit by dangerous particles, there are three options: you can get rid of the old household appliance; try to carry out its demercurization (removal of mercury) yourself; call specialists.

Important! In the room itself, it is also necessary to make measurements of the content of hazardous fumes in the air using test strips.

What to do with a vacuum cleaner that collected mercury? If you do not want to lose the device, there are three ways out of the situation.

The first is to call the BOT command for demercurization. Calling professionals will cost you a lot. This is the easiest and most effective way.

If you, for any reason, cannot call in specialists, special tools are on sale. They are designed just to eliminate mercury vapor by ordinary people.

Another way to fix the problem is with the help of improvised tools.

Action plan:

1. Wear shoe covers, rubber gloves and a cotton-gauze bandage.
2. Mix an aqueous solution for demercurization, in a proportion of 2-3 g of manganese per 1 liter. warm water.
3. Wipe all parts of the vacuum cleaner with it.
4. Dispose of all personal protective equipment after collecting mercury.
5. Replace the filters and dust collector in the household appliance with new ones.

1. Take all people and animals out of the room, close the door tightly.
2. Plug the cracks in the doorway of the room where the incident occurred.
3. Ventilate the room. But do not drafts - dangerous pairs, in this case, will fly around the apartment.
4. Protect yourself by wearing a respirator, rubber gloves and shoe covers.
5. Collect mercury. Use tape, a rubber bulb, a syringe, etc., or call an environmental worker.
6. Cover the vacuum cleaner and other foci with rags.
7. Consume more clean water to reduce the risk of poisoning.Important! You can not collect mercury with a broom or a mop, so you will only carry toxic substances over the area of ​​the apartment. Do not flush mercury into the sewer; this will jeopardize the whole house.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones - do not try to neutralize the threat yourself! Call specialists.