A mercury thermometer broke in a pot of boiling water. Do I need to dispose the pot and its contents?
My wife was boiling water for our son and put a thermometer in to check the temperature. Unfortunate;y the thermometer busted and some mercury leaked out. Should we dispose of everything?
Filed under: Cooking Thermometers | Sep 12th, 2009.
YES dispose of everything.
DO NOT POUR THE WATER DOWN YOUR DRAIN. Do not touch the water or anything where the mercury is without having some protection, like dish gloves. Contain the water in a waterproof bag, same thing with the pot and anything else that has touched it. Dispose of it according to your local environmental agency's plan, ONLY if you have sealed everything.
Mercury is toxic, absorbed through the skin, and cannot be removed from the human body. Too high a level and it can kill you. The amount in the thermometer is not going to kill you, but you have already been exposed to other mercury-containing fluids, paints, environment etc, so no need to add to it.