A mercury vacuum is designed to collect and recover mercury, with filters and parts to separate it from clean air and particles. It is mainly used in industries that commonly use mercury, such as dental offices and laboratories. It can also be used as a general vacuum cleaner, but caution should be exercised if it has recently collected mercury.
A mercury vacuum is like a general vacuum, except it is primarily made to collect and recover mercury, either as an isolated item or as contaminated particles. There is a long line of filters and parts in a mercury vacuum that help separate the mercury from clean air and particles. Since mercury is not used in all industries, this vacuum is mainly used in laboratories, mines, dental offices and manufacturing plants. Besides being able to pick up mercury, this vacuum cleaner can also be used as a general vacuum cleaner to pick up miscellaneous dirt.
Spilled mercury can be collected with an ordinary vacuum cleaner, but an ordinary vacuum cleaner cannot adequately isolate the mercury and clean the air. Exposure to mercury can have very serious health effects, so a mercury vacuum cleaner is used to ensure mercury spills are cleaned up thoroughly and safely. Most of these vacuum cleaners are capable of picking up both elemental mercury – or mercury alone – and mercury-contaminated substances.
Unlike a regular vacuum cleaner, a mercury vacuum cleaner comes with many extra filters and parts to help clean up the mercury. When the vacuum first collects mercury, there is a bay that contains a large amount of liquid mercury. Mercury that cannot be held back and contaminated particles are pushed towards the larger filters. These filters, which are usually made of charcoal, suck in liquid mercury and mercury vapor. This way, the mercury is properly isolated and the vacuum only releases clean air.
Mercury is common in many industries, but not all. While a mercury vacuum typically has other applications, it is only widely used by industries that commonly use mercury. This includes dental and medical offices, mines, manufacturing plants and laboratories that work with mercury.
A mercury vacuum cleaner is normally only used to collect mercury, to ensure that its lifespan is not put to the test by picking up dirt and other particles. At the same time, most mercury vacuum cleaners have all the parts needed to function as a normal vacuum cleaner, so they can be used for general applications if no other vacuum cleaner is available. If this vacuum has recently collected mercury, however, it may be a good idea to exercise caution, just to ensure that mercury trapped in the vacuum doesn’t accidentally contaminate the aspirated particles or the operator.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
