Reducing exposure to mercury from fluorescent bulbs and lamps In , new standards were introduced for low-energy bulbs in Australia. Broken tubes, bulbs or lamps can be cleaned up as follows: Air ventilate the room. Wear gloves and scoop up all the glass fragments and powder. Put all the broken globe or tube into a rigid, sealed container. Use sticky tape to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in a glass jar or plastic bag. Continue to air the room for 12 to 24 hours. Dispose of the mercury and any contaminated items in the rubbish, not in the recycling bin. Reducing exposure to mercury from thermometers and other devices Spirit-containing thermometers are now widely available, but some people still use thermometers containing silver mercury.
The procedure includes the following steps: Clear the room of people and pets. Air ventilate the room for 15 minutes turn off ducted heating or cooling before cleaning up. Do not use a vacuum cleaner or broom. Remove jewellery, wear gloves and wear old clothing that you can throw away. Clean up using an eyedropper or syringe to pick up droplets of mercury or use a pen or card to guide the droplets onto a piece of card.
Use sticky tape to pick up small droplets. Place mercury droplets into a strong plastic container with a lid. Keep the room ventilated for 24 hours.
Place any item including clothes that came into contact with the mercury into a sealed plastic bag and place in the rubbish. Contaminated carpet and other absorbent items will need to be cut out or removed and disposed of carefully. More detailed information is available for cleaning procedures. The following steps should be taken: Evacuate the area. Air ventilate the area. Contain the spill — call triple zero and ask for fire services.
Clean up the spill — this should be performed by experienced professionals who specialise in hazardous chemicals. Reducing exposure to mercury from dental fillings Dental fillings are used to treat damaged or worn teeth and can be made of amalgam that contains mercury, silver and tin.
Some people are advised to avoid getting new amalgam fillings and to avoid having existing amalgam removed or replaced if possible including: pregnant women — mercury may cross the placenta and enter the bloodstream of the unborn baby women who are breastfeeding — mercury may be passed to the baby through breastmilk children — growing and developing teeth are more sensitive to the effects of any chemical substances in the environment, including mercury people with kidney disease — high levels of mercury exposure can affect the kidneys, so exposure to mercury should be minimised.
Reducing exposure to mercury from batteries Not all batteries contain mercury, but those that do can damage the environment if they end up in landfill. People at risk of exposure to mercury The effect of mercury exposure depends on the type of mercury. People at higher risk from mercury exposure include: unborn babies infants children up to six years of age workers in industrial settings where mercury is used or produced people with kidney disease people born before the s who were exposed to mercury in baby products and contracted pink disease.
Pink disease In the first half of the twentieth century, teething powders and other products for babies contained mercury and some babies contracted pink disease. Symptoms of mercury poisoning Symptoms of mercury poisoning depend on the form of the mercury that was the source of the exposure.
Symptoms of methylmercury poisoning from fish Most people have some methylmercury in their tissues, but these are at a level that not does cause damage. Methylmercury poisoning can cause disturbances in: peripheral vision sensation, especially on the hands, feet and mouth coordination and walking speech and hearing muscle strength.
Symptoms of poisoning from elemental mercury This type of poisoning is most likely to occur if there is a spill of mercury from a thermometer or other mercury-containing device. Symptoms include: tremors headaches difficulty sleeping impaired sensations muscle weakness and twitching emotional changes mood swings, irritability, nervousness kidney damage breathing difficulties death. Symptoms of poisoning from inorganic mercury This type of poisoning is more likely to be related to industrial exposure.
Symptoms of inorganic mercury poisoning include: skin conditions rashes and dermatitis breathing problems mood changes problems with memory mental health issues reduction in muscle strength. Diagnosis of mercury poisoning Poisoning from methylmercury can take weeks or months to appear. Treatment of mercury poisoning If mercury poisoning is suspected in people who are critically ill, your doctor will most likely treat you with chelation therapy, no matter what form of mercury caused the poisoning.
Certain species of fish, fluorescent and low-energy lamps, mercury-containing thermometers, some batteries and amalgam dental fillings contain some mercury. Preventing or minimising exposure to mercury in your environment is the best way to reduce the risk of mercury poisoning.
Pregnant women, infants and children, and people with kidney disease should especially avoid exposure to excess mercury. More information here. Give feedback about this page. Was this page helpful? Yes No. View all environmental health. Related information. From other websites FluoroCycle. Skip to main content. Contact Us. Health Effects of Exposures to Mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin neurotoxin A substance that is known or suspected to be poisonous to nerve tissue. How someone's health may be affected by an exposure to mercury depends on a number of factors:.
The effects of mercury exposure can be very severe, subtle, or may not occur at all, depending on the factors above. On this page, you can learn more about health effects associated with the most common exposures to:.
Infants in the womb can be exposed to methylmercury when their mothers eat fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury. This exposure can adversely affect unborn infants' growing brains and nervous systems.
These systems may be more vulnerable to methylmercury than the brains and nervous systems of adults are. Children exposed to methylmercury while they are in the womb can have impacts to their cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, fine motor skills, and visual spatial skills.
Vaporized mercury can make its way into the rain, soil, and water, where it poses a risk to plants, animals, and humans. As the levels of mercury in the body rise, more symptoms will appear. Adults with mercury poisoning may experience symptoms such as:. Children with mercury poisoning may show symptoms such as:.
Mercury poisoning tends to develop slowly over time if a person comes into frequent contact with mercury. However, in some cases, mercury poisoning comes on quickly and is associated with a specific incident. Anyone who experiences a sudden onset of mercury poisoning symptoms should call a doctor or poison control.
Exposure to high levels of mercury may also put a person at risk for long-term complications, including:. High levels of mercury in the blood may put a person at risk for long-term neurological damage. These effects may be more pronounced in children who are still developing. A study in the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health noted that many incidents of mercury poisoning have led to long-term nerve damage, which can cause:. Mercury poisoning also poses a risk to the reproductive system.
It may cause reduced sperm count or decreased fertility and may also cause problems with the fetus. Possible effects of mercury poisoning include deformity and a decreased survival rate of the fetus, and reduced growth and size of the newborn at birth.
Mercury helps promote the accumulation of free radicals in the body, which puts the cells at risk for damage. This may lead to an increased risk of heart problems, including heart attack and coronary heart disease. The most common cause of mercury poisoning is from eating seafood, but people can get mercury poisoning from industrial processing, thermometers and blood pressure machines, dental work, and old paints.
Eating seafood that has been tainted with mercury is one of the most common ways humans accumulate mercury in their bodies.
The mercury in seafood is a highly poisonous form of the metal called methylmercury, which forms when mercury dissolves into the water. Methylmercury can be absorbed from the water by all sea creatures, but it also continues through the food chain.
Small sea creatures, such as shrimp, often ingest methylmercury and are then eaten by other fish. These fish will now have more methylmercury in them than the original shrimp. This process continues all the way up the food chain, so that a large fish may contain much more mercury than the fish it has eaten.
This does not necessarily make it better to eat smaller fish, however. It is always essential for a person to check the source of their seafood to avoid contaminated fish and shellfish.
People worried about their exposure to mercury may want to limit their seafood intake, particularly of fish that are high on the food chain, such as swordfish, shark, white tuna, pike, walleye, and bass.
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