My son broke a mercury thermometer (maybe)

[Cecropia]

I couldn't find the digital thermometer last night and he was vomiting, so I gave him the only one I could find... the old-school glass one.  Said to be really careful...

 

He broke it this afternoon over his bed.  He said a silvery liquid poured out.  That's the story but I didn't see the broken end or little beads of mercury (the comforter is star wars and has a really busy grey print)  I gingerly gathered the bedding into a contractor bag and put it outside.  He showered and put his clothes in a bag.  I wasn't aware that I'm not supposed to walk around the house after being in there and it took a while for me to figure out that the air purifier should be shut off in his room.

 

The company that made the thermometer has been useless in figuring out whether it has mercury.  There are some numbers on the thermometer and an outdated logo, and I'm fairly certain it was bought in Illinois in 2004 or later.  I thought that would be plenty of information for them to tell me something concrete, but no.  They direct me to the EPA fact sheet, which directs me to poison control, which directs me to some other state agency closed until tomorrow...

 

I have a 4 mo old and a 2 yo, so it is concerning that I don't know if it was mercury and that I didn't see the actual mercury (could it have rolled off the bed onto the carpet?  Passed through to the mattress? Did I track it everywhere? What needs to be thrown away?)

 

Balancing my worries are the memories of mercury thermometers from my childhood.  There was probably a mercury thermometer in most households and they'd get broken all the time.  I might have even broken one.  I remember kids playing with little beads of mercury on their desks in elementary school.

[maize]

I'd air out the house, throw away the comforter, and let it go. It's mercury in the air that is the danger, but if you leave all the windows open for a few hours it should be completely dissipated.

 

Broken thermometers happened in my house during childhood too--one of my brothers broke one then stuck the broken end back in his mouth! I haven't actually seen a mercury thermometer in ages--our glass thermometers have red liquid inside, alcohol I think?

Edited December 27, 2016 by maize

[FaithManor]

Dating back to 2002 about 20 states banned the sale of mercury thermometers but many were manufactured using a silverish looking compound that confuses consumers.

 

So you might try googling your state law and see if it is banned and when that took place since you are fairly sure it was purchased in 2004 or after.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Honestly, despite the websites, I wouldn't worry so much due to your last paragraph. 

 

I think you are more than fine with what you have done already. 

[maize]

Reading this made me think about how I almost never take anyone's temperature--I can usually tell by feeling a child's skin if they have a fever, and most of the time the advice now is to let a fever do its job and run its course. I guess the exception would be a young baby or a child who seemed exceptionally hot or was acting listless. Mostly I just go by "how sick does this child seem and are the symptoms worrisome enough to warrant a visit to the doctor?"

Edited December 28, 2016 by maize

[MercyA]

I played with mercury once as a child and lived to tell the tale. I'm pretty sure no special clean up was done. I wouldn't worry too much about one exposure.

[Jean in Newcastle]

The sale of mercury thermometers were banned in Illinois on July 1, 2004

[Garga]

A kid I was babysitting when I was a teenager bit through a mercury thermometer and then spit the glass and mercury out onto the kitchen floor. It was a bear to try to clean up. It just rolled away no matter how I tried to gather it. It didn't help that I blurted out, "THAT'S POISON!" at the little girl. There was screaming and crying. Not my finest moment. (I was 15.)

 

We went to the neighbor's house who called poison control. They said she'd be fine if she spat it out. They didn't say we needed to do anything else. Nothing about airing things out or anything.

 

I'd take a flashlight and search really hard for any mercury balls. You don't want the littles to swallow them.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Garga

[Cecropia]

The sale of mercury thermometers were banned in Illinois on July 1, 2004

 

Thank you.  That puts my mind a little more at ease.

[Daria]

My college roommate bit through a mercury thermometer in 1989 and called me at my babysitting job in a panic.  I called poison control, and while I don't remember the details, they were very reassuring.

 

What I do remember, is that poison control called back a few hours later to ask how "the girl who swallowed the mercury" was doing. Needless to say, my boss (mother of 3 young girls) freaked out.  I hadn't thought to tell her what had happened, because it hadn't involved her child.  Luckily she reached me pretty quickly, but for a few moments there I thought I was going to be unemployed.

 

I would call poison control.  I have had very good experiences every time I've called poison control.  They are very good at putting people's minds at ease.  I remember once calling them because the liquid in my son's g-tube turned neon green, and I was convinced he had found antifreeze or something.  The woman almost immediately said "Any chance he's been sucking on a black washable marker?  The colors in those break down, except for the green . . . "  and sure enough, that was what had happened.  

[gardenmom5]

there is mercury in most high fructose corn syrup.  comes from caustic soda.  (i had to look it up.  but dudelings mercury test was pretty definitive.  he was drinking pop when they did the blood draw.)

tuna fish has mercury.

 

at this point, you can calm  down.

 

our bodies can detox mercury as long as it isn't getting a new supply.

when he did that blood draw - his mercury level was the same as if he'd ingested the entire mercury thermometer himself.  and it hadn't gone anywhere else.  his provider was freaking out when she saw his results.

we did do three months of gluathione injections (he was probably fine with two.)  glutathione is a strong antioxidant that is naturally occurring.  some people dont' produce enough (like my family.)  you can buy glutathione capsules otc - but they are not very effective at getting into the cell.

 

the next test - he'd had nothing with hfcs, no tuna - and  his mercury level was 0.

[Janeway]

I am pitiful. I would not worry much. We used to play with that stuff when the thermometers would break when I was a child.

 

But then again..I am kind weird......lol

[Classic Mom]

We used mercury on our desks in school for science labs. I think we were supposed to use a straw to push it around, but many kids used their hands. It was the early 1980s in Virginia.

[Cecropia]

So I called the state agency that poison control directed me to, and they cannot determine from the emailed picture of the thermometer whether it contained mercury or not.  They are sending .gov people here with a mercury vapor meter.  It will be a 3 hour round trip for them.  No charge to us.

 

I am amazed at all this fuss over a very small amount of Hg, but looking forward to knowing for sure.  Hoping very hard that it's not in the carpet or something that's going to need expensive remediation.

[Kassia]

I am pitiful. I would not worry much. We used to play with that stuff when the thermometers would break when I was a child.

 

But then again..I am kind weird......lol

 

I did this, too.  I remember chasing the silver balls around the bathroom tile floor.

[nrg]

As a child back in the early 60's, I played with mercury and so did my friends. We broke open thermometers and played with the fun little silvery balls. We brought them to school and shared with our friends. We experimented with them. Eventually the little blobs got smaller and smaller until the stuff was gone. This was not a one-time event.

 

Our friends whose parents were dentists brought amalgam to play with. We hammered it and make tiny "sculptures." Recently I found a blob of this in a memory box from my childhood.

 

So...my take on this is to be sure there are no tiny rogue mercury balls in the bedding or on the floor. wash everything and check for obvious bits, and then move on. Like is interesting.

[Hot Lava Mama]

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Hot Lava Mama

[Cecropia]

Well, it was mercury.  They found that the bedding was contaminated and his bagged up clothes were slightly contaminated.

 

The good news?  No perceptible readings anywhere else.  I had cleaned it all up safely and thoroughly, and my often absent-minded 12 yo remembered everything I needed to know to do it right. :party: Even the air purifier that was running at the time of the incident is clean.  Thank you, God!