The use of mercury-containing products, including thermometers, will be banned in Moldova as of January 1, 2021. Following the recent case at a kindergarten in Chisinau, where a number of mercury-in-glass thermometers broke, specialists recommended to gradually pass to alcohol thermometers, IPN reports.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, mercury is the most non-radioactive toxic element on earth. It is a liquid chemical element found in medical thermometers, barometers, amalgam, lamps and others objects. It is a poisonous substance that acts like a neurotoxin, destroying nervous and brain tissue.

Even if the thermometers contain only 2 g of mercury, serious consequences for health can appear even at small concentrations of 0.7 to 42 μg/m3. The Ministry in the course of 2020 plans to carry out a number of activities to inform the people so that they get rid of mercury thermometers. The import, sale and export of mercury-containing products will be banned in Moldova as of January 1, 2021.

Six mercury-containing thermometers broke at a kindergarten situated on N. Costin St in Chisinau in the afternoon of November 7. A container with the mercury thermometers fell onto the floor and six of the thermometers broke. There were no children in the room at that moment. In similar situations, the persons are advised to open the windows and to close the doors so as to prevent the spread of vapors to other areas. They should immediately call 112 and should take the children out of the risk zone. It is not recommended collecting the substance by a vacuum cleaner or a broom as the dose of exposure to vapors is thus increased.