Abstract

AIM: The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge of the cleaning companies in case of mercury spills at home.
METHOD: Thirty-two cleaning companies were interviewed by a telephone survey. Two standard questions were asked to an authorized people of the company. “A manometer is broken on the carpet. The mercury in the manometer is all spilled on the wall to wall carpet in the living room. We want our carpet to be cleaned. Could you do it? How can be the carpet cleaned? Have you ever cleaned a carpet on which mercury was spilled?” It is stated that mercury spillage has happened just a very short time ago and nothing have been done after that.
RESULTS: Fifty percent of the 32 companies work in Istanbul, 37.5% in Ankara and 22.5% in Izmir. Three companies from Ankara, five from Istanbul, one from Izmir stated that they have encountered with mercury spillage before. Three of the companies who have stated that the have not encountered with mercury spillage before, asked “What is mercury?” and one of them asked whether “Mercury is a communicable disease, isn’t it?”. Twenty-two of the interviewed cleaning companies stated that they could clean the carpet with stain remover and three of them offered vacuuming, one washing the carpet with carpet shampoo, one person cleaning the stain by wiping with alcohol/ethyl alcohol. Five of the companies stated that they could not clean the stain and one of them he has advised throwing the carpet away.
CONCLUSION: In many developing countries there is no responsible association or institution for mercury spills. Such simple surveys may be very important in determining training and gaps concerning public health problems.

Key words: Mercury, Mercury Spills, Indoor, Cleaning Company

Article Language: Turkish English