Application field
The most common applications of mercury are in the manufacture of industrial chemicals and in electronic or electrical products. Mercury is also used in thermometers, especially those that measure high temperatures. More and more gaseous mercury is still used to make fluorescent lamps, while many other applications are being phased out due to health and safety concerns in favor of the less toxic but much more expensive Galinstan alloy. Other uses of mercury include:
Gold can be decomposed from its minerals, so it is often used in gold mining.
Used to make instruments such as barometers and diffusion pumps.
Gaseous mercury is used in mercury vapor lamps.
Used in the manufacture of liquid mirror telescopes. A telescope that uses rotation to make the liquid form a parabolic shape and uses it as the main mirror for astronomical observation is one-third the price of ordinary telescopes.
Other uses: Mercury switches, pesticides, in the production of chlorine and potassium hydroxide, as a preservative, as electrodes, batteries and catalysts in some electrolysis equipment.
Dentistry
Amalgam dental fillings.
Mercury and its compounds have always been used in medicine, though not as often as they used to be because the toxicity of mercury and its compounds has become more widely known. Mercury is an important element in making dental fillings. Thimerosal is an organic preservative used in vaccines, although its use has been banned. Another mercury compound, mercuric bromide, is a topical disinfectant used for minor cuts and superficial wounds; it is still used in some countries.
Cosmetic
Thiomersal is widely used in the manufacture of eyebrow tinted creams. In 2008, Minnesota became the first U.S. state to ban mercury in cosmetics.
Disposal of leaks
The widely used thermometers and sphygmomanometers have caused environmental problems such as mercury contamination indoors. If you break the mercury thermometer indoors, don’t panic. You can immediately use a piece of paper to remove the broken mercury beads that are visible to the naked eye (due to the high cohesion of mercury, use a cotton swab). It is extremely unscientific and irresponsible to say that it cannot be contaminated with mercury.) Hold it up and put it in a sealed water bottle. If there are small mercury beads, they can be pushed together with a piece of paper, and the mercury will automatically gather into small balls, and then collect . To be safe, nitric acid can be used to wipe down mercury-contaminated floors with some simple chemicals to completely remove mercury contamination. The reaction of mercury and sulfur can be carried out without heating. Therefore, the scattered mercury can be covered with sulfur powder to combine sulfur and mercury to form HgS, preventing mercury vapor from entering the air and causing poisoning. In order to completely remove mercury pollution, the room can also be fumigated by iodine vapor fumigation several times until the cuprous iodide test paper does not change color. Experiments have shown that the daily leaked mercury can be glued and collected with the commonly used scotch tape in the family, and the effect is better than that of paper.
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