Got an old mercury fever thermometer in the medicine cabinet? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says please replace it right away with one of the new digital types, and dispose of the old one properly.
Mercury, a silvery metal that is liquid at normal temperatures, is one of the most dangerous pollutants known, especially if it gets into a stream where it can build up in the bodies of fish. Even the apparently tiny quantity in a thermometer is enough, if it gets into a stream or pond, to become a serious environmental hazard.
Mercury can become concentrated in the bodies of fish that live in mercury-poisoned water, until it reaches levels that may be high enough to poison anyone who eats those fish.
Exposure to mercury can cause damage to the nervous system, particularly in children, because their nervous systems are still developing. That is why the AAP, the professional association of children’s doctors, was concerned enough to publish a special warning in the current issue of its journal Pediatrics.
The small amount in a thermometer is not enough to cause such a disaster, but it should still be treated with extreme caution.
The Environmental Protection Agency says if a mercury thermometer breaks, put it at once into a wide-mouthed glass jar and screw the top on. If some has spilled, never try to clean it up with a vacuum cleaner. That can turn the mercury into invisible droplets which may be inhaled, and are more dangerous than the liquid metal.
The best thing to do is call the local health department or poison control center and ask for help or advice. If that is impossible, put on plastic gloves, try to scrape the mercury onto a clean piece of cardboard without breaking it up into smaller droplets, and put that into the jar. If you wipe it up with a cloth or paper towel, put that into the sealed container too. It’s especially important to keep even a tiny amount from going down the drain.
A growing number of cities and counties have prohibited the sale of mercury thermometers. Several large drug chains, including Walgreen’s and Rite-Aid, have taken them off the shelves. In some localities, public health agencies have offered to swap digital thermometers for mercury ones.
Do not throw it out with the rest of the trash. Check with the local recycling agency, if there is one, on when and where you can dispose of hazardous materials.
Mercury may be found in other objects, including thermostats, barometers, silent electrical switches, old clock pendulums, high intensity light bulbs and some athletic shoes, the kind that light up or make noises.
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