Mercury and Your Home
Many household items contain mercury. Use the Mercury Search checklist to conduct your home inventory. These items pose no threat to you or your family when used properly. They can be hazardous if misused or improperly disposed. Mercury can be found throughout the house including in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, basement, garage, shed, broom closet, and laundry room.
Look for these mercury-containing items in your home:
- Fever thermometers and antiseptic products that contain thimerosal or merbromin.
- Fluorescent lights and Mercury vapor lamps
- Oil-base paint that contains mercury.
- Mercury thermostats.
- Clothes irons.
- Pilot light sensors found in gas appliances such as stoves, furnaces, and water heaters.
- Gauges found in barometers and blood pressure gauges.
- Chest freezers, washing machines, and electric space heaters that contain mercury switches.
- Scientific apparatus, such as gauges and barometers
How Can I Prevent Mercury Pollution?
Minimizing mercury releases from all sources is important. We must take action to protect ourselves, our children and our environment from mercury contamination. Local and state governments are working in partnership with businesses to develop collection systems for mercury.
Here's what you can do:
- Know which items contain mercury. Use the Mercury Search checklist to do an inventory of mercury-containing items in your home.
- Avoid buying products that contain mercury, except fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescent lights use less electricity than incandescent bulbs.
- Label or use a "Contains Mercury-Recycle" sticker to identify mercury-containing items.
- Conserve energy to reduce coal burning for electricity generation.
- Recycle mercury-containing products.
How do I Dispose Mercury Containing Items Safely?
You should never put mercury in the trash. Mercury containing items should be taken to your local solid waste management district, or in Marion County, contact the ToxDrop at 317-327-4TOX.where the mercury will be safely collected and recycled.
Things to remember when disposing of objects containing mercury:
- Never break open items that contain mercury.
- Never pour mercury down the drain.
- Never burn mercury.
- Never put mercury in the trash.
What do I do if a Spill Mercury in my House?
When liquid (elemental) mercury is spilled, it forms beads or droplets that can accumulate in the tiniest places. These droplets can emit vapors into the air that we cannot see or smell. Breathing mercury vapors can be very dangerous, depending on how much mercury is in the air and how long you breathe the contaminated air. Small children and pregnant women are at highest risk for mercury poisoning, but mercury poisoning can impact anyone. The small amount of elemental mercury in fever thermometers and thermostats is not likely to cause serious health problems if it is immediately cleaned up.
Most small mercury spills, such as those from fever thermometers, can be cleaned up easily. Please follow the instructions for cleaning up a small household mercury spill [PDF]. If human contact with mercury occurs, call the Indiana Poison Center at (800) 382-9097.
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