In a flat on Kalycha Hora Street in Lviv, a medical mercury thermometer was broken. A report of the incident reached the Rescue Service “101” on 25 September at 17:04.
Specialists from the radiation, chemical and biological protection unit of the State Emergency Service in Lviv region were dispatched to the room where the thermometer had smashed. The rescuers carried out mechanical collection of the mercury and performed the necessary demercurisation work.
The rescuers remind residents of the basic steps to take if a mercury thermometer is broken in the home. First of all, you should take children and animals out of the premises and isolate the room where the incident occurred. You should not walk on the contaminated area so as not to spread mercury around the flat.
You must not touch mercury with bare hands, nor collect it with a broom or vacuum cleaner. It is recommended to collect the mercury beads using a syringe, rubber bulb, sticky tape or adhesive plaster, after which the mercury, thermometer fragments and other contaminated materials should be placed in an airtight glass container with water and sealed tightly.
After collecting the mercury, the premises must be thoroughly ventilated. It is important not to dispose of the mercury, thermometer parts or contaminated materials in the rubbish or down the drain and to act calmly, following the rescuers’ recommendations.