ds bitten the top off a mercury thermometer

[shagmundfreud]

.... arghhhhh!

He's 6. He said he spat it out straight away and washed his mouth out.

A&E?

A friend of mine grew up living over a pharmacy (her dad was the pharmacist). She said she used to get out all the broken mercury thermometers and play with the mercury blobs on a bit of paper (often touching it/tasting it). She is now over 40 and healthy, so don't panic OP!

Having said that, I am quite surprised NHS Direct didn't send you to A&E....

Biting the tops off thermometer was a common occurrence when I was growing up

Yes I do pay massive taxes (and NI), dont we all.

Anyway, doesnt matter, Id rather not take the risk, some would

In the first year at secondary school, we were all given a petri dish of mercury to play with

Faverolles, I seem to recall doing that as well

No, actually, the majority of people pay a good bit less than they take out.

Either way, theres no risk to take. They're used to that though.

My Dad had a jar of mercury when he was a kid. But then he also had lead soldiers, an air rifle and a pen knife.

Im coming from the angle that I wouldnt know if it had mercury in it or not. So to be frank 'wasting' 10 minutes of NHS time to check all is ok wouldnt bother me in the slightest.

Hands up sheepishly yes, another person who broke a mercury thermometer when I was a kid.

Don't remember what happened exactly but I remember my mum being cross :( and that the blob of mercury was kept afterwards in a little lead box belonging to my dad and we were allowed to look at it under supervision. My parents were both scientists so I guess they thought it was OK to have in the house, at any rate.

If you haven't heard back from NHS direct I'd say...go to A&E to be on the safe side...but based on all the broken thermometer kids like me from the 70's and 80's, I'm sure it will be OK.

I bought a mercury thermometer in Boots two years ago. It was not the usual old fashioned one but definitely with mercury (and has a silver tip on it).
I broke plenty of therm in my time as a sloppy kid. No problem, so do not panic.

BTW if in your judgement a trip to A&E is necessary just go.
"Don't waste resources" is an idiotic reason not to go if you are worried.

We were always biting the tops of mercury thermometers and never in a million years would we have been taken to A&E. No ill effects. I would wait for the call back from NHS Direct or ring your GP.

Right. Had a LONG talk with a nurse from NHS direct.

She didn't recommend we go to A&E. She ran me through a list of symptoms to look out for but said she felt that ds was ok going by what I'd said.

She was concerned with disposed of any stray mercury because of the possibility of it continuing to release poisonous vapours.

DH had to unscrew the U bend on the sink (where ds had spat the mercury) and get rid of it.

She asked me if I'd hoovered the mercury up (I hadn't). Apparently if I'd done that I'd have to dispose of my hoover!

So now you know - if you have a mercury spillage, for god's sake don't hoover it up!

Glad you sorted it out OP and at least we all know what to do now.

For those of you asking about A&E costs, our PCT pays £105 for every patients that walks (not in an ambulance) through the door - that is before treatment, but includes (I think) triage, although this is set to change in April.

Mercury thermometers may be a bit niche (I broke one at school the other day...), but everybody should make it their business to find out what to do if they break an energy saving lightbulb.

good news OP, like Snow said now we know what to do if that situation comes up.

Fond memories of spending physics lessons flicking mercury around the lab.

Same year the crazy chemistry teacher blew a bathtub up in the tennis courts by lobbing a big chunk of something (potassium?) in a load of water.

It's bonkers that the pct pay a hospital £105 for every patient that walks through the door. It's probably why the nhs have no money. Why don't they just give the hospital the money they need to operate. It's like the nhs dept I work in gets paid £30 for every phone call query as long as we fill out a phone contact sheet. I'm too busy filling in bloody sheets of paper to see the people who walk through the door. No paperwork = no money. But a 30 second phone call gains £30.