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Why do OSHA and EPA and the AMA all discourage the use of mercury filled clinical thermometers?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
When Mercury filled thermometers break, the mercury is released. Mercury is toxic to people, pets and the environment.
There is a long history of mercury from broken thermometers and other medical devices being improperly dealt with, or even ignored. Since there are adequate replacements for mercury thermometers, OSHA, EPA, AMA and others discourage the use of mercury thermometers and encourage their replacement with thermometers using other technologies.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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Why is mercury not suitable for thermometers in Canada?
Concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alcohol-filled or digital ones.
What were thermometers once filled with?
I think that thermometers (liquid) were once filled with mercury. Xo, Smartiiz.
Which instrument is often filled with mercury or colored water or alcohol?
Thermometers are the instrument that is often filled with mercury, colored water, or alcohol. Most early thermometers were made with mercury.
What are thermometers filled with besides mercury?
Most inexpensive thermometers are filled with a colored mix of alcohol and water, rather than mercury, which is hazardous and has become more expensive.
What type of thermometer is widely used in science classrooms?
Frequently thermometers filled with an alcohol; but also thermometers with mercury, with thermoresistance, thermocouples, etc.
Name the metalic element which is liquid at room temperature and is used in thermometers?
Mercury, also called quicksilver, is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery, transition metal, mercury is one of five elements that are liquid at or near room temperature. Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers and other scientific apparatus, although the use of mercury in thermometers has been largely phased out in clinical and scientific environments (in favor of alcohol-filled, digital or thermistor-based replacements) due to concerns about the element's toxicity. Mercury, like lead, is a neurotoxin, and elevated blood mercury levels have led to retardation and deformities in children. ~Wikipedia
What thermometers are used in the medical field?
For similar reasons as any other field, to measure temperature. They are most often portable mercury or alcohol filled, sealed and graduated glass thermometers.
What is thermometer made up of?
In this answer I m referring to the normal thermometers. Not the electronic thermometers. There is a very very thin capillary tube incide the thermometer which is filled with mercury and it has a bulb aT one end. When it touches a surface, the mercury expands, rises in the capillary and the temperature is shown.
What is a mercury filled glass tube that measures air temperature called?
All devices for measuring temperature are called thermometers. This includes those which use mercury and measure the temperature of the air.
Why is alcohol red in colour in thermometer when alcohol is a colourless liquid?
Traditional thermometers are filled with red-dyed alcohol while others are filled with mercury which appears silver in color. Mercury thermometers aren't safe. When a mercury thermometer breaks on the floor mercury is released. Mercury is very toxic and venomous. One sole drop can kill you or make you very sick. Alcohol is dyed red to add more visibility. Otherwise it'll be very hard to read the temperature due to the alcohol's transparency.
Is mercury used in food thermometer?
In a mercury thermometer, a glass tube is filled with mercury and a standard temperature scale is marked on the tube. With changes in temperature, the mercury expands and contracts, and the temperature can be read from the scale. Mercury thermometers can be used to determine body, liquid, and vapor temperature.
Is a liquid metal used in barometers?
Science and industrial labs often use mercury filled barometers due to mercury's high density and low vapour pressure. This allows the barometers column of liquid to be less than 1 meter high (760 mm Hg=1 atmosphere). As an additional advantage the meniscus of the mercury is upwards at the center, unlike water, making accurate reading simpler. However mercury's toxic attributes make it hazardous if spilled, so mechanical diaphragm barometers are often used.
