In a flat in a residential building on Pasichna Street in Lviv, a medical mercury thermometer was broken. A report of the incident was received by the Rescue Service “101” on 12 August at 16:55. The incident occurred in the kitchen of a flat located on the second floor of a ten-storey building. A team of radiation, chemical and biological protection specialists from the Lviv region State Emergency Service was dispatched to the scene.
The specialists carried out mechanical collection of the mercury and performed decontamination work in the premises, after which they gave the residents recommendations on further actions.
The rescuers remind people of the basic safety rules in the event that a mercury thermometer is broken in the home. First of all, it is necessary to take people and animals out of the room, not to touch mercury with bare hands, not to gather it with a broom or a hoover and not to walk over the contaminated area so as not to spread the mercury around the flat.
It is recommended to collect the mercury beads using a syringe, rubber bulb, sticky tape or medical adhesive tape, and to collect the glass fragments separately. Everything collected should be placed in a sealed glass container filled with water and tightly closed. The home should be thoroughly ventilated, and if possible the spill area isolated from other rooms.
In the event of a major mercury spill, rescuers advise against trying to clean it up yourself, to leave the premises and call 101. It is also important not to dispose of mercury, thermometer fragments or contaminated materials in the rubbish or down the drain.