Mercury spillage management in hospital management

Spillage management

1. Mercury in
Health care system

2. Health Hazards of Mercury
•Enters body through
Inhalation, Ingestion, Skin
•Toxic when converted to
Methyl Mercury
•Harms Central Nervous
System, Gastrointestinal
Tract, Respiratory system,
Kidneys

3. Health Hazards of Mercury
•Tremors
•Impaired vision and
hearing
•Paralysis
•Insomnia
•Effects fetal
development
•Attention deficit
•Emotional instability

4. •BIOMEDICAL WASTE
MERCURY

5. Mercury in HCF

6. Mercury
Dental Amalgam used for Dental Fillings

7. Mercury as a hazard
•The task is to be done:
–Identify mercury as a
hazard
–Identify where it is in
the system
–Create systems to
manage it as long as it
remains
–Implement plans to
phase it out
•There is no technology
capable of cleaning up a
mercury spill safely.

8. Mercury Spillage in HCFs
•Typicalmercurybasedglassthermometercontains0.5to3.0
gmofmercury,whichisseldomrecoveredonbreakageof
thermometer,andmostlylost.
•Amajorreasonsofbreakageofthermometersinwardsisthe
instrumentslippingoutofthehand,whileshakingittobring
thetemperaturedown.
•Mercurythermometerbreakageisseldomhandledcarefully.
•Someofthemajorwaysinwhichspillsarehandledare:
sweepingitdowntothedrain,collectingitinacontainerand
discardingitalongwithgarbage.

9. Safe Disposal of Mercury on Spillage
•Mercury should never be touched with bare hands.
•All jewellery should be removed.
•Avoid brooms, brushes and vacuum cleaner to clean the spilt mercury
•Never put mercury in trash bins, burners or drains or in municipal dustbins
•Switch off heating of air conditioning system during mercury spillage
•Collect spilt mercury using paper board to accumulate small mercury
droplets together
•Keep the collected drops in air tight glass or plastic containers under water
as mercury vaporise under normal temperature
•Tie up with manufacture or suppliers of instruments to return the
collected mercury

10. MANAGEMENT OF MERCURY SPILLS
Mercury Containment Kit:
•Two pairs of latex gloves.
•Face mask
•Protection for the eyes
•10 c.c. Syringe
•Covered plastic/ glass container with water

11. Immediate future plans
•Hospital to make Mercury Free policy
•To replace mercury containing chemicals/fixatives
in the labs/HCFs.
•To replace all mercury thermometers and BP
instruments.
•To use respiratory masks (WMD), mercury
extractor etc. in the dental clinic while handling
pre-existing mercury fillings
•A safe and secured storage place for mercury
instruments.