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The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/LucyAriaRose on 2025-06-14 21:51:23+00:00.

I am NOT the Original Poster. That k33ponkeepingon. They posted in r/CleaningTips

Do NOT comment on Original Posts. Latest update is 7 days old.

Original Post: June 6, 2025

Apparently stepfather decided that it would be a good idea to play with a small bottle of mercury and somehow spilled a few drops on the floor (About the same amount you would find in a thermometer, as I found out).

The real problem is that they used a vacuum cleaner to clean it up. AFAIK coming into contact with it in liquid form is not a big deal but involving a vacuum cleaner changes everything. I told them to leave the room, open all the windows, and get rid of the vacuum cleaner bag immediately but they’re entirely unconcerned.

Aside from notifying authorities, what else can be done? How big is the risk and how serious was the exposure? Thanks in advance.

Some of OOP’s Comments:

Commenter: The vacuum cleaner must be destroyed. It’s contaminated

Everything that touched the mercury, like towels or brooms, must also be thrown away

Throw away everything it touched, unfortunately

OOP: Thanks. Told them to do this. Got accused of blowing things out of proportion and being paranoid. I’ll try again but not much I can do if they don’t value their own lives I suppose🤷

Commenter: Why do they have mercury to begin with?

OOP: Beats me. He hoards all sorts of garbage for no reason. He was never the sharpest tool in the shed but it got worse as he got older.

Commenter: It sounds like this was significantly more than a thermometer’s worth of mercury.

In which case hoovering was an exceptionally poor decision.

The  chemistry sub has lots of advice on this, but at the volume, I wouldn’t assume the risk was gone .

How much was in the bottle ? (Volume ) , and I have to wonder what the reason for having it was

OOP: Their description is “one, maybe two drops that were no bigger than a grain of rice”. Not super helpful but could be worse I guess.

Commenter: You’re downplaying it based on what they describe as small droplets, but vacuuming can cause them to create mercury vapour.

Doesn’t matter if it’s small. […]

OOP: No downplay here. Just told you of their answer when I asked them how much was the spill. I’m fully aware how dangerous even a tiny droplet can be.

Commenter: I broke my mercury thermometer during Covid. It was glass and on my bathroom counter, it rolled into the sink and the glass broke. It was about that amount. With the exhaust fan on, I put on nitrile gloves and wiped up the globs, wrapped the trash before disposing of it, and cleaned the sink.

Then I died, this is my ghost.

OOP: Worry not friendly ghost; I shall be joining you soon :)

In response to a longer comment:

I’m not in the USA but we do have a poison control hotline in our country. I called them and explained the situation. They advised to throw away anything that had come into contact with mercury, walk outside the house for 3-4 hours, and air out the house. I can’t say I’m convinced, but this is how much they care🥲

Update Comment: 2 hours later

Finally convinced them to call the authorities and make them get rid of the vacuum cleaner. Score one for me.

Update (Same Post): June 7, 2025 (Next Day)

Update:

Side note: I’m not in the USA.

So I drove over to their house and called the emergency line in my country. First the local security forces and health teams came. When I explained the incident they did not take it seriously. They gave me mocking looks and sarcastic smiles. “Dude, such a small amount, why make this fuss” etc.

Then a team from an institution called Disaster and Emergency Directorate has come. This team cleaned up the remaining mercury with measuring devices and special equipment. They said I did the right thing by calling and congratulated me. They confirmed the ignorance of my family and the teams that came before them. Looks like everything that could be done, has been done. They told them to take a health test after some time. Fingers crossed that they will comply.

Now another team from the Ministry of Environment is on its way to take the vacuum cleaner and other contaminated stuff.

After everything he caused stepdouche (Chloe said it best) has the nerve to complain about the bill they will hand them because of me and cost of the vacuum cleaner. Told him to search “mercury poisoning” and check out some visuals to maybe get back on the right track.

Thank you everyone. I think it’s been an insightful post with good info and interesting stories.

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Editor’s Note: A different user posted in the same subreddit about being a first responder with the EPA. (They said it was because of OOP’s post) They were showing how dangerous mercury is. You can read it here