Why did they stop using mercury in thermometers?
The reason: Mercury released into the environment from a broken thermometer is highly poisonous. Pure mercury and its compounds can cause neurological problems and other ailments in people exposed to them.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is working with EPA on this effort, announced on February 2, 2011 that it will no longer calibrate mercury-in-glass thermometers for traceability purposes beginning on March 1, 2011 .
Restrictions on Sales of Mercury Fever Thermometers
At least 13 states – California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Washington – have passed such laws.
While mercury thermometers can measure temperature within one degree Celsius, digital thermometers can be as accurate as 0.001 degrees C a difference of four orders of magnitude in accuracy. This changeover won't be a big deal for the average person "In fact, you can't buy [mercury thermometers] anymore," Strouse said.
Young Children - Children affected by mercury show lowered intelligence, impaired hearing and poor coordination. Long term exposure causes symptoms to increase and to worsen, possibly resulting in personality changes and even coma.
Mercury is a very toxic or poisonous substance that people can be exposed to in several ways. If it is swallowed, like from a broken thermometer, it mostly passes through your body and very little is absorbed. If you touch it, a small amount may pass through your skin, but not usually enough to harm you.
Blood mercury levels above 100 ng/mL have been reported to be associated with clear signs of mercury poisoning in some individuals (e.g., poor muscle coordination, tingling and numbness in fingers and toes).
Push the mercury into an envelope and put the envelope, scotch tape, gloves and the broken thermometer into a sealable plastic bag. Store the mercury in a secure place, preferably away from occupied areas, and contact a licensed hazardous waste vendor for disposal.
Both laboratory and clinical studies show that there is no significant difference in the average accuracy of the two types of thermometers, however there is a greater fluctuation of readings of temperature when using electronic thermometers.
Mercury is the only metal on earth that is liquid at room temperature. Liquid mercury is so slippery that it will fall off your skin if you try to hold it.
Where are mercury thermometers banned?
As a result, a number of states have banned or limited the sale of mercury thermometers, including California, Oregon, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland, Indiana, Minnesota, and New Hampshire.
"When a mercury thermometer breaks, the mercury spilled starts vaporising immediately in temperatures of 22-24 degrees Celsius. The vapours can be inhaled by anyone in the vicinity. It goes straight into the lungs and into the blood and the brain. It is very dangerous.
Once in your body, metallic mercury can stay for weeks or months. When metallic mercury enters the brain, it is readily converted to an inorganic form and is “trapped” in the brain for a long time.
How can I tell if my thermometer has mercury? Mercury is a silver-white to gray substance. If your thermometer is filled with a red liquid, your thermometer contains red dyed alcohol or mineral spirits and not mercury. These are safer alternatives to mercury fever thermometers.
Mercury does not absorb through your skin instantly. Elemental mercury does absorb through your skin, but at a very slow pace (very slowly). As long as you don't expose your skin to the metal too much and you wash your hands after then you would be fine.
That is, if it touches gold it will immediately break the lattice bonds of the precious metal and form an alloy in a process known as amalgamation. A process which, when catalyzed between a dab of mercury and a sheet of gold leaf, looks like the ignition of a metallic fire in reverse.
Mercury is legal for sale and purchase within the United States, with very few restrictions. Export of mercury is limited to 1g per order and Luciteria Science cannot ship to countries under trade embargo or interdiction by the USA.
- Swordfish. A predatory fish that inhabits several ocean zones, swordfish is one of the highest sources of mercury. ...
- Shark. The shark has a similarly high mercury load to that of swordfish. ...
- Tilefish. ...
- King Mackerel. ...
- Bigeye Tuna. ...
- Marlin. ...
- Orange Roughy. ...
- Chilean Sea Bass.
Two familiar US brands, StarKist and Chicken of the Sea, accounted for 60 percent of our light tuna samples. The overall average mercury levels in the two brands were 0.131 and 0.126 µg/g, respectively, and one set of samples of each brand had much higher than aver- age levels.
A large overdose of inorganic mercury may cause massive blood and fluid loss, kidney failure, and likely death. Chronic brain damage from organic mercury poisoning is difficult to treat. Some people never recover, but there has been some success in people who receive chelation treatment.
Is salmon high in mercury?
Salmon is low in mercury.
Both wild and farmed Atlantic salmon have much lower mercury levels than most other fish species. Farmed salmon has on average, 0.05 micrograms of mercury per gram.
Ethanol-filled thermometers are used in preference to mercury for meteorological measurements of minimum temperatures and can be used down to −70 °C (−94 °F). The physical limitation of the ability of a thermometer to measure low temperature is the freezing point of the liquid used.
Both laboratory and clinical studies show that there is no significant difference in the average accuracy of the two types of thermometers, however there is a greater fluctuation of readings of temperature when using electronic thermometers.
Since 2001, many states have passed legislation banning the use and sale of mercury-added thermometers and other measuring devices.
Exposure to small quantities of mercury can cause serious health problems affecting the nervous, cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. This can also harm a child's brain development, both before and after birth.
