Ua gaui le Mercury Thermometer, CFL Bulb, ma le Fa'amama Fa'alava¶

Dropping an antique glass fever thermometer on a bathroom floor, shattering a linear fluorescent shop-light tube in a garage, or breaking a spiral Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) in a child's bedroom releases elemental mercury (\(Hg\)) into your living space. Unlike any other metal on earth, elemental mercury is a dense, silvery liquid at room temperature that evaporates continuously into an invisible, odorless, tasteless mercury vapor. While intact skin absorbs very little liquid mercury from a brief touch, the human lungs absorb roughly 80 percent of all inhaled mercury vapor directly into the bloodstream, where it crosses the blood-brain barrier and the placenta to attack the central nervous system and kidneys.

What turns a small household mercury spill into a permanent, multi-thousand-dollar home contamination disaster is how a homeowner cleans it up during the first ten minutes. Reaching for a household vacuum cleaner, a robotic vacuum, or a stiff broom is the single worst error you can make: when liquid mercury strikes the floor, it shatters into hundreds of microscopic spheres (micro-beads). A broom scatters those micro-beads into every floorboard crack, and a vacuum cleaner sucks the mercury across its hot electric motor housing, heating and vaporizing the mercury into a toxic gas cannon that spikes indoor air concentrations 100-fold while permanently contaminating the vacuum cleaner so every future room you vacuum receives a dose of mercury vapor. Taking disciplined action right now, clearing children, pregnant women, and pets out of the room, turning off your central heating or air conditioning (HVAC) system, opening an exterior window to vent the room for 15 minutes before entering, and using stiff index cards, sticky duct tape, and an eyedropper under a sideways flashlight beam, eliminates the hazard safely without spreading vapor.

Fai nei loa¶

1. Evacuate all people and pets from the room immediately, walking carefully around the spill zone. Have everyone step out of the room without walking through the broken glass or silvery beads. If anyone stood near the impact when the thermometer or bulb shattered, inspect the bottoms of their shoes and socks immediately before they walk across the rest of the house; if shoe soles have touched the spill area, take those shoes off right at the doorway and place them on a plastic trash bag.
2. Shut off your central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and portable room heaters. Walk to your wall thermostat and switch your central furnace or air conditioner blower fan from "Auto" or "On" to OFF. Elemental mercury evaporates exponentially faster as room temperature rises; turning off the heat both lowers the room temperature (slowing mercury vaporization) and prevents the HVAC return ducts from sucking mercury vapor out of the spill room and circulating it into bedrooms.
3. Open a window or exterior door to the outdoors and close the interior room door for 10 to 15 minutes. Before you kneel down on the floor to pick up a single piece of glass or mercury bead, open an exterior window in the room (and turn on a bathroom or kitchen exhaust fan only if it vents directly outdoors, never into an attic or recirculating hood), then step out, close the interior door to the rest of the house, and seal the bottom door gap with a towel. Let fresh outdoor air dilute the initial puff of mercury vapor for at least 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Never pour recovered mercury down a sink drain, flush it down a toilet, or wash mercury-contaminated clothing in a washing machine. Elemental mercury is 13.5 times heavier than water. If you dump mercury beads down a sink or toilet, the dense liquid metal sinks straight to the bottom of the U-shaped plumbing P-trap underneath your sink, where it sits forever, slowly off-gassing toxic mercury vapor back up through the drain strainer into your bathroom while poisoning municipal wastewater treatment systems.
5. Gather your non-sparking manual cleanup kit before re-entering the room. While the room airs out for 15 minutes, assemble: nitrile or rubber gloves (never bare hands, and remove gold or silver rings and watches first because mercury instantly dissolves into gold and silver jewelry to form a permanent dull grey amalgam), two stiff index cards or playing cards, an eyedropper or plastic oral medicine syringe, duct tape or wide packing tape, damp paper towels, a bright flashlight, two wide-mouth glass jars with tight metal screw lids (or heavy zip-top plastic bags), and elemental sulfur powder (optional, from a garden store or pharmacy).
6. Check the size of the mercury spill to decide if professional hazmat response is required. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a homeowner can safely clean up a broken CFL or fluorescent tube (1 to 5 milligrams of mercury) or one broken household fever thermometer (500 to 700 milligrams of mercury, roughly the size of a single green pea or pencil eraser) using the manual steps below. If you spilled MORE than the amount in one fever thermometer (such as a broken antique mercury barometer, blood-pressure sphygmomanometer, tilt-switch furnace thermostat, grandfather clock pendulum, or bottle of lab mercury), do NOT attempt DIY cleanup: keep the room sealed and call your local fire department hazmat team, state environmental agency, or Poison Control (1-800-222-1222 in the United States).

Mercury and fluorescent bulb emergency cleanup decision tree¶

Use this step-by-step triage flowchart to choose the exact containment and cleanup protocol based on which mercury-containing item broke and how much mercury was released.

flowchart TD
    Start["Broken Mercury Item or Fluorescent Bulb Indoors"] --> Evac["1. Clear People & Pets from Room;<br/>Check Shoe Soles at Doorway"]
    Evac --> HVAC["2. Turn OFF Central HVAC System & Heaters;<br/>Open Outdoor Window & Close Interior Door"]
    HVAC --> VentWait["3. Ventilate Room to Outdoors for 10 to 15 Minutes<br/>Before Entering to Clean"]
    VentWait --> SizeCheck{"4. What item broke?"}

    SizeCheck -->|"A. Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)<br/>or Linear Fluorescent Tube (1 to 5 mg Hg)"| BulbClean["CFL / Fluorescent Tube Protocol:<br/>Scoop glass & white phosphor powder with stiff cardboard;<br/>dab surface with sticky duct tape;<br/>wipe hard floor with damp paper towel"]
    SizeCheck -->|"B. Single Glass Fever or Cooking<br/>Thermometer (0.5 to 1.0 gram Hg)"| ThermSurface{"What surface did liquid<br/>mercury beads land on?"}
    SizeCheck -->|"C. Barometer, Blood Pressure Manometer,<br/>Thermostat Bulb, or Vial (>1 gram / >pea-size)"| MajorHazmat["LARGE MERCURY SPILL (Professional Hazmat Only):<br/>Keep room closed & vented outdoors;<br/>call Fire Dept Hazmat, State EPA, or Poison Control"]

    ThermSurface -->|"Hard non-porous floor<br/>(Tile, vinyl, sealed wood, linoleum)"| HardMercury["Hard Floor Bead Collection:<br/>Darken room & shine flashlight at 10-degree floor angle;<br/>herd beads together with index cards;<br/>suck into eyedropper & dab micro-beads with tape"]
    ThermSurface -->|"Porous carpet, area rug,<br/>or upholstered fabric"| CarpetMercury["Porous Carpet Containment:<br/>NEVER vacuum; cut out contaminated section<br/>of carpet/rug, double-bag, and dispose as hazardous waste"]

    BulbClean --> SealJar["5. Seal Debris, Tape, Cards, and Gloves in Glass Jar or Double Zip-Top Bags"]
    HardMercury --> SulfurDust["Optional: Dust floor cracks with yellow elemental sulfur powder<br/>to bind invisible residue and monitor color change"]
    SulfurDust --> SealJar
    CarpetMercury --> SealJar
    SealJar --> FinalVent["6. Keep Window Open & HVAC Off for 24 Hours;<br/>Deliver Jar to Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility"]

Identifying the spill: how much mercury is inside household items?¶

Before you panic over a broken thermometer or light bulb, you need to know two facts first: Does my broken thermometer actually contain mercury at all? and How much mercury is inside the device that broke?

1. Silver liquid vs. red/blue/black liquid in thermometers¶

Nearly all household fever, meat, candy, refrigerator, and outdoor thermometers sold in the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Australia since the early 2000s are mercury-free:

• If the liquid inside the broken thermometer is RED, BLUE, PURPLE, or GREEN: Your thermometer does NOT contain mercury. Colored thermometer liquids are made of harmless dyed alcohol (ethanol), kerosene/petroleum distillate, or citrus-based organic oil. You can clean up a red or blue thermometer exactly like any ordinary broken glass spill using a damp paper towel and soap.
• If the liquid is silvery-white, metallic, and metallic-gray: It is either elemental mercury (\(Hg\)) (found in older pre-2005 thermometers and antique instruments) OR a modern non-toxic Galinstan alloy (a liquid alloy of gallium, indium, and tin used in newer "mercury-free" glass thermometers, which is usually labeled "Geratherm" or "Ga-In-Sn / Mercury-Free" on the thermometer stem).
• How to tell real Mercury apart from harmless Galinstan on the floor: Real elemental mercury has extreme surface tension: it never wets glass or tile, and instead forms perfect, convex, frictionless round silver ball bearings that roll across the floor at the slightest touch without leaving a smear. Galinstan wets surfaces like wet silver paint, smearing across glass and floor tiles rather than rolling into neat beads. If in doubt, always treat any silver liquid metal as elemental mercury.

2. Mercury content comparison across common household items¶

Protocol A: Step-by-step cleanup for a broken CFL or fluorescent tube¶

When a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) or long fluorescent shop tube shatters, about 10 to 30 percent of its tiny 1-to-5-milligram mercury dose escapes into the air as vapor during the first few hours, while the remaining 70 to 90 percent stays stuck to the white phosphor powder clinging to the broken glass shards. Follow the official US EPA cleanup sequence:

Step 1: Before cleanup (The 15-Minute Air-Out)¶

1. Have all people and pets leave the room without stepping on the broken glass area.
2. Open a window or exterior door to the outdoors.
3. Shut off the central forced-air heating or air conditioning (HVAC) system.
4. Close the interior room door and leave the room empty for 10 to 15 minutes so the initial release of mercury vapor vents outside.

Step 2: Cleanup on hard surfaces (Tile, hardwood, vinyl, linoleum)¶

1. Put on disposable nitrile or rubber gloves (never pick up phosphor-coated glass with bare hands).
2. Scoop, do not sweep: Use two pieces of stiff cardboard, index cards, or a stiff plastic squeegee to scoop up all visible glass fragments and white phosphor powder, sliding them carefully into a glass jar with a metal screw lid (or a heavy-duty sealable plastic container).
3. Pat with sticky duct tape: Tear off strips of sticky duct tape or wide packing tape and press the sticky side gently over the entire 1.5-meter (5-foot) radius around the break to pick up invisible glass splinters and fine white phosphor dust. Place used tape strips into the glass jar.
4. Wet-wipe the hard floor: Wipe the area thoroughly with damp paper towels or disposable wet baby wipes (using one pass per fold) to capture any remaining microscopic powder, and place the used wet towels into the jar.

Step 3: Cleanup on carpets or rugs (If a CFL broke over carpet)¶

1. Scoop up all large glass pieces using stiff cardboard and pat the carpet fibers repeatedly with sticky duct tape to lift glass splinters and white powder out of the nap.
2. Do NOT vacuum the carpet during initial cleanup. Keep the room window open and the central HVAC system off for several hours.
3. Future vacuuming precaution: According to the US EPA, the next several times you vacuum that carpet after the spill has fully aired out, shut the interior room door, open the room's exterior window, vacuum the area, and immediately remove the vacuum bag outdoors (or empty the canister into a sealed trash bag outdoors) and wash your hands.

Protocol B: Step-by-step cleanup for a broken liquid mercury thermometer¶

Cleaning up liquid elemental mercury from a broken glass thermometer requires far greater precision than a CFL bulb because a single fever thermometer contains 100 to 500 times more mercury than a CFL bulb, and liquid mercury shatters on impact into tiny rolling beads that travel up to 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) across a hard floor.

Step 1: Preparation and the "Flashlight Grazing Angle" search¶

1. After ventilating the room to the outdoors with the HVAC off for 15 minutes, remove all gold, silver, and platinum rings, bracelets, and watches from your hands and wrists (mercury amalgamates instantly and permanently with precious metals), and put on nitrile or latex gloves.
2. Fill a wide-mouth glass jar halfway with 2 to 3 centimeters (1 inch) of plain water. (Why water? Elemental mercury is 13.5 times denser than water and completely insoluble in water; dropping collected mercury beads into a jar with a layer of water on top creates a water cap that traps the mercury at the bottom of the jar and stops it from evaporating back into the air every time you open the lid during cleanup.)
3. Turn off the overhead room lights and hold a bright LED flashlight horizontally right against the floor at a 5- to 10-degree grazing angle:
4. Liquid mercury beads act like tiny spherical mirrors. Even micro-beads smaller than a grain of salt will glint and sparkle brightly across the floor when a flashlight beam skims horizontally across the floor surface.
5. Search a wide circle at least 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) in every direction from where the thermometer dropped, including under baseboards, radiator feet, and cabinet toe-kicks.

Step 2: Herd and collect liquid mercury beads (Card + Eyedropper + Tape)¶

1. Pick up broken glass shards first: Use tweezers or index cards to pick up the broken glass thermometer stem and place the glass into your sealable disposal jar.
2. Herd beads together slowly using stiff index cards:
3. Hold two stiff 3-by-5-inch paper index cards, playing cards, or stiff plastic postcards at a low 30-degree angle against the floor.
4. Use slow, gentle pushing strokes to herd smaller mercury droplets toward the center until they touch and coalesce into one larger silver puddle (move slowly so beads do not roll away at high speed).
5. Suck up the pooled mercury with a plastic eyedropper or oral syringe:
6. Squeeze the rubber bulb of a medicine eyedropper (or pull back the plunger of a needleless plastic oral syringe) while holding the tip almost flat against the floor at the edge of the mercury bead.
7. Slowly release the bulb to draw the liquid mercury into the dropper tip, hold a damp paper towel under the dropper tip as you lift it, and squeeze the mercury directly underneath the water layer inside your glass disposal jar. (Place the contaminated eyedropper itself inside the disposal bag when finished.)
8. Capture microscopic beads with sticky tape or shaving cream:
9. Shine your flashlight across the floor again. For tiny micro-beads stuck in tile grout lines or hardwood seams that the eyedropper cannot suck up, wrap sticky duct tape or masking tape (sticky side out) around your gloved fingers and dab gently over the area, or dab using a small brush coated in white shaving cream, placing the tape and paper towels into your sealed jar.

Step 3: Optional chemical binding and detection with sulfur powder¶

Emergency hazmat teams and environmental agencies use elemental sulfur powder (flowers of sulfur), sold inexpensively at pharmacies and garden centers as a soil acidifier/fungicide, after picking up all visible mercury beads:

• How sulfur works: Yellow sulfur powder does two helpful things on a mercury-contaminated floor:
• First, it coats microscopic mercury droplets so they stop evaporating into the air, and slowly reacts chemically with elemental mercury (\(Hg + S \rightarrow HgS\)) to form non-volatile mercuric sulfide (cinnabar).
• Second, when yellow sulfur powder touches invisible traces of mercury in a floor crack, the powder changes color from bright yellow to dark brown or black, revealing hidden pockets of mercury you missed.
• How to apply: Lightly dust yellow sulfur powder over the spill zone and rub it gently into floor cracks with a damp paper towel, then wipe up the powder with damp paper towels and seal all towels inside your disposal jar.

Step 4: What to do if liquid mercury spilled onto carpet, rugs, or upholstery¶

If a glass fever thermometer breaks directly onto a carpet, area rug, bath mat, blanket, or upholstered chair, it is physically impossible to remove liquid mercury micro-beads from porous fabric fibers, and leaving them in the carpet creates a permanent indoor vapor source:

1. Never vacuum the carpet, and never put a mercury-contaminated bath mat, rug, or piece of clothing into a household washing machine or clothes dryer. Washing mercury-contaminated fabric contaminates the washing machine drum and drain pump and flushes toxic mercury into your septic system or municipal sewer, while putting it in a hot clothes dryer vaporizes the mercury into a concentrated toxic cloud inside your laundry room.
2. If the spill occurred on a removable throw rug, bath mat, blanket, or pair of shoes, fold the item carefully inward to trap the beads, seal it inside two layers of heavy-duty 6-mil plastic trash bags taped shut with duct tape, and dispose of it as hazardous waste.
3. If the spill occurred on wall-to-wall carpeting, use a utility knife to cut out the contaminated section of carpet and the foam carpet padding underneath it, fold it inward, double-bag it in heavy plastic, and clean the hard subfloor underneath using the flashlight and index-card protocol above.

Health risks and medical triage: what symptoms to watch for¶

Understanding how mercury enters the body helps you distinguish between a low-risk contact and a true medical emergency.

• Pa'i pu'upu'u le sua o le mercury ma le pa'u o le tino: E le lelei le mitiia o le mercury elemene i le pa'u ola maloloina. Afai o oe po'o se tamaititi na pa'i pu'upu'u i se lopa siliva o le mercury, aveese uma mea teuteu, fufulu lelei lima ma lima i le vai mafanafana ma le fasimoli, ma aua le popole.
• Na foloina fa'afuase'i le sua sua o le mekeri (fa'ata'ita'iga, ua utia e se tamaititi le matauila mai se fu'a vevela tioata):
• Muamua, siaki lelei le gutu ma le laulaufaiva o le tamaititi mo ni tamai tioata tioata ma fai i ai e fufulu ma feanu i le vai.
• O le mea e ofo ai, o le meamea mama o le mekuri vai (\(Hg^0\)) e matua le lelei lava le mitiia (itiiti ifo i le 0.01 pasene) e se vaega o le manava maloloina; afai e foloina se tama'i lopa mai le vevela vevela, e masani lava ona ui atu e aunoa ma se afaina i totonu o le vaega o mea'ai i totonu o le nofoa i ni nai aso e aunoa ma le afaina ai o le mekeri (e le pei o masima mekeri inorganic po o le methylmercury, e sili ona oona pe a folo).
• ** Valaau vave i le Poison Control** (1-800-222-1222 i le Iunaite Setete, 1-844-764-7669 i Kanata, 111 i Peretania, 13 11 26 i Ausetalia, po o lou lotoifale numera fa'afuase'i) ina ia mafai e se foma'i oona ona iloilo pe mana'omia se X-ray mo tamaiti e fa'asa'o ai le mata'eta'e po'o le mercury o lo'o saisai i totonu o le fa'aopoopoga.
• Asu o le mercury (O le lamatiaga moni):
• O le manavaina o le ea i totonu o se potu e le'i fa'afefeteina, vevela lea na masaa ai le sua o le mekeri (aemaise lava pe a fufulu e se tasi le masaa po'o le tu'u o lopa i lalo o le fatafa'aaluga laupapa) e mafua ai le afu oona o le mercury ma'i pe itiiti ifo.
• ** Fa'ailoga ogaoga o le manava (i totonu o itula o le ausa maualuga)**: Tofo u'amea i le gutu, ulu tiga, ma'alili, fiva, pua'a le manava, fufusi fatafata, tale mago, faufau, ma pua'i.
• ** Faailoga o le inhalation faifai pea (aso i vaiaso o manavaina le ausa o le potu le mama)**: Tetete lelei o lima ma laumata, itaitagofie, matamuli tele po o le fesuisuiai o lagona (erethism), le mautonu, pa'u lanu piniki/mumu mumu tiga i alofilima ma alofivae o tamaiti laiti (**pinklamynia i le ma'i pipii")
• Su'ega fa'afoma'i: Afai e te masalomia le tele o le manava o le ausa (e pei o le mauaina o se fua vevela gau na fa'amama i aso ua mavae), fa'afeso'ota'i lau foma'i po'o le nofoaga fa'aitulagi e pulea ai mea oona e fa'atonu ai se 24-itula su'ega mekeri urine (le tulaga auro mo le fa'aalia o le ausa o le mercury elemental) po'o le su'ega o le mercury toto.

Lafoa'i saogalemu o le mekuri ua aoina ma fa'amama ea¶

1. Faailoga ma teu le fagu fa'amaufa'ailoga i fafo: Tuu le fagu tioata fa'amaufa'ailoga o lo'o i ai lopa mekeri, tioata ta'e, fa'amau, pepa fa'asino, ma totigilima nitrile i totonu o le pepa palasitika pito i luga mamafa lona lua, fa'apipi'i tapuni, ma fa'aoga se fa'ailoga manino e faitau ai: "DANGER: CONTAINS ELEMENTAL MERCURY / BROKEN THERMOMETER, DO NOT OPEN". Teu le atigipusa i fafo i totonu o se fale loka poʻo se faletaavale e le oo i ai tamaiti ma fagafao seia pa'u.
2. Aua ne'i tu'u le sua sua i totonu o lapisi a le aiga po o talone toe fa'aaogaina: Pe a nutililii e se loli lapisi se taga o lo'o i ai se vevela mekeri gau pe a susunu lapisi i totonu o se afi otaota a le malo, o le mekeri e ausa i totonu o le atemosifia, e to'a i vaituloto ma sami, ma liua i le neurotoxic methylmercury i totonu o i'a. Vala'au lou itumalo po'o le itumalo Tama'i Mata'utia a le Aiga (HHW) fale, matagaluega fuimu, po'o le polokalame e toe ave ai fale talavai i le lotoifale mo le lafoai fua o le mekuri.
3. Ia fa'aalili le potu mo le itiiti ifo i le 24 itula: A mae'a le fa'amamāina o le tusi lesona, ia tatala pea le fa'amalama pito i fafo (ma se pusa fa'amalama e feula le ea i totonu i fafo i le fa'amalama pe a avanoa) ma tapuni le faitoto'a o le potu i totonu mo a itiiti ifo i le 24 itula a'o le'i fa'atagaina tamaiti po'o fafine ma'itaga e momoe i totonu o le potu.

Fesili e fai soo¶

Aisea e mata'utia tele ai le fa'aogaina o se masini mama i luga o se su'ega mekuri gau po'o se matauila CFL?¶

Pe a su'eina e se masini faamama masini matāua elemene elemene po o le pauta phosphor ua ufiufi i le mercury, o le saosaoa o le ea ma le vevela afi afi afi eletise ma faavevesi le u'amea vai, vave ona liua i se ausa oona e le vaaia, e leai se manogi e sasaa mai le faamama ga'o i totonu o le potu i le 1000 taimi maualuga atu nai lo le 100000 maualuga atu nai lo le fa'afefeteina. Ae o le mea e sili ona leaga, o lo'o fa'apipi'iina i totonu o le fa'agao'o, impeller, ma le fale afi i totonu o le fa'amama fa'ameamea, ma fa'aliliu ai le masini fa'amama i totonu o se afi afi ausa feavea'i tumau e toe fa'aleagaina ai lou fale i taimi uma e te ki ai i le lumana'i.

E fa'afefea ona ou iloa pe o lo'o i ai i la'u fuamoa gau le mercury oona po'o le 'ava malosi e le o'ona?¶

Va'ai toto'a i le lanu o le vai i totonu o le fagu tioata po'o luga o le fola: afai o le vai e mumu, lanumoana, viole, lanumeamata, po'o le uliuli, o le ava malosi e leai se mekuri po'o le fua o le agaga fa'aanatura e ono lamatia ai le ausa o le mercury ma e mafai ona solo i le fasimoli ma le vai pe a uma ona pikiina le tioata. Na'o le vevela o lo'o i ai se vai susulu, u'amea, efuefu siliva e fa'ali'oli'o, lopa u'amea ta'avale o lo'o i ai le mercury elemene (po'o nisi taimi o se gallium fa'aonaponei fa'aonaponei e ta'ua o Galinstan, e mimilo pei o le vali siliva susu i luga o tioata nai lo le ta'avale i ni polo e leai ni fe'avea'i).

O le a le mea e tupu pe a fa'afuase'i ona utia e la'u tama se su'esu'ega o le mercury ma foloina ai se tama'i pulu o le mercury?¶

Muamua, siaki lelei le gutu ma laugutu o lau tama mo tama'i mata tioata ma fai i ai e fufulu ma feanu i le vai, ona vala'au loa lea i le Poison Control (1-800-222-1222 i le Iunaite Setete) po'o lau foma'i. O le mea mautinoa, o le mercury elemene mama mama e mitiia i lalo ifo o le 0.01 pasene e ala i se mea'ai maloloina lelei, o le mea lea o se tama'i pulu e foloina mai le vevela vevela e toetoe lava o taimi uma e ui atu i totonu o le manava i totonu o le nofoa i ni nai aso e aunoa ma le afaina ai o le mercury; o le mata'utia e sili mamao atu mai se fua vevela gau o le manavaina lea o le ausa le vaaia o le mekeri o totoe i luga o le fola po o le kapeta pe a le faamamaina lelei le masaa.

E mafai ona ou fa'aogaina pea la'u masini faamama pe a fa'afuase'i ona ou fa'amamaina se fua vevela o le mercury gau?¶

Leai, afai na e fa'aogaina se masini mama a le aiga e su'e ai le sua o le mercury mai le fiva gau, thermostat, po'o le barometer, e fautuaina e le ofisa o le soifua maloloina o le siosiomaga (e aofia ai le US EPA ma le ATSDR) e toetoe lava a le mafai ona fa'amama ma le saogalemu ona o le sua o le mercury e nofo i totonu o vili mafanafana afi ma faagaau. E tatau ona e se'i vave le masini masini, ave i fafo, fa'amau uma le masini mama i totonu o taga lapisi palasitika mamafa, ma fa'afeso'ota'i le pulega o lou fale po'o le matagaluega o le soifua maloloina a le setete mo fa'atonuga e lafoa'i nai lo le toe ta'e i totonu o le fale.

Punavai ua siaki¶

• United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA): O le a le mea e fai pe a gau se Mercury Thermometer, Faamamaina ose CFL ua gau (Compact Fluorescent Lamp), ma Spills, Disposses and Site Cleaning of Elemental Mercury.
• Le Ofisa mo Vailaau Oona ma Fa'ama'i Resitala (ATSDR / CDC, Iunaite Setete): Toxicological Profile for Mercury, Medical Management Guidelines (MMG) for Acute Elemental Mercury Vapor Exposure, ma Residential Mercury Spill Action Levels.
• Faalapotopotoga o le Soifua Maloloina a le Lalolagi (WHO): Alu atu i le Mercury: Ose popolega tele mo le Soifua Maloloina ma le ta'iala i le fa'ate'a ese o le vevela o lo'o i ai le mekuri ma le sphygmomanometers i lalo o le Feagaiga a Minamata.
• Soifua Maloloina Kanata (Kanata): Mecuri i Lou Si'osi'omaga: Fa'amamāina La'ititi o Ma'a Su'a ma Momi Fa'ama'i Fa'ama'oti.
• ** UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) ma National Poisons Information Service (NPIS, United Kingdom):** Mercury Incident Management, Domestic Spill Decontamination, and Toxicological Overview.
• Matagaluega o le Soifua Maloloina a le Setete o Niu Ioka ma le Ofisa e Pulea Filogia a Minnesota: Faamamāina o se Laiti o le Fale o le Mercury Spill (su'esu'eina o le tulimanu o le moliuila, fusi o le pauta sulfur, ma tulafono o le lafoaiina o kapeta).

Taiala fa'atatau¶

• Lisi vaila'au: fale ma le hazmat e taofiofia
• Fa'aonaina fesoasoani muamua ma fa'atonuga ole Puleaina ole Oona
• O ipu kuka tioata ta'e, Pyrex pa, ma tioata ta'e i mea'ai
• Faʻalavelave asbestos, pefu taʻitaʻi, ma le maualuga o le radon
• Fa'atonu numera o fa'alavelave