Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Help! Fluorescent tube light exploded in my car! Mercury vapor!!?

A very old fluorescent tube light (already dead for months) broke into my car and I saw gaseous material come out and I got out of the car right away. I left the windows and doors closed for about 30 mins because I had to go run an errand ASAP. I called poison control and they told me to air out the car for about 15 mins which I did about 20 mins, then they told me to clean up the broken gas at a car wash vacuum. What I failed to tell them was that I left the doors closed for almost 30 mins. Although I aired it out for quite a while I'm still concerned there might be contents of mercury left in the car so I plan to leave the windows opened over night. I was wondering if the mercury vapor would stick to the floors of my car and if it would concentrate to the the carpet, and considering the heat outside, how will it be affected? Also, if I washed my clothes in the washer, would the mercury infect my other clothes and the washer itself? How does mercury go away exactly?

No comments:

Post a Comment