Need help fast!

I am brewing an extract w/ steeped grains batch right now. While steeping I broke the bottom of my thermometer in the brew pot and now there are tiny little pieces of glass floating around in there somewhere. I'm pretty confident I can filter them out at the end of the session but I'm worried about potential mercury poisoning... I haven't added the extract yet, should I dump the water with steeped grains and start over without it or just not worry about it??

I knew I shouldn't have been drinking homebrew while brewing! I probably wouldn't have used the thermometer to stir the wort if I wasn't...

That doesn't look too much like a mercury thermometer from here, just a regular red dye version. Thus, I wouldn't worry about it unless I'm just missing the mercury .

I don't think that's a mercury thermometer. Filter carefully and you will be fine.

Thanks for the quick response! I didn't know if it was a mercury thermometer or not so I posted pics. I'm going to go ahead and add the extract cause it's that time. I never had a problem like this while doing PM, I guess that's what I get for trying to keep it simple! Thanks again for the help.

Actual mercury thermometers are relatively uncommon these days outside of lab settings, and if you had one, the liquid inside would be silver instead of red. Just be certain you filter thoroughly!

And never regret drinking homebrew whilst homebrewing! In my opinion, it's not just an option, it's a requisite .

Awesome, the grain bag had holes in it! Too late to go back and do this sober, time to crack another homebrew

it looks to me as if the fluid bulb wasn't broken either way, just the glass housing. You're all good.

There was some wort in the thermometer but I'm not too worried about it. I have a very fine mesh strainer so it should take care of any glass particles. Thanks for the advice everyone, it's making me feel a lot better about a brew day that could be going a lot better.

Broken glass doesn't float. It will be left behind when you rack to your fermentor.

The red dye thermometers actually contain alcohol, not mercury. Nope....not that kind of alcohol