Broken Thermometer! Help!

[Lucky137]

Brewed last night, and during the cooling, my friend picked up the thermometer by the rubber top (which was split along one side, and not really connected to the thermometer anymore), and it promptly slipped out and hit the bottom of the kettle. Needless to say, the bottom of the thermometer broke, and about 1/2 tbsp of those little black weights came out into the wort. They all sank to the bottom, so I don't think they made it into the fermenter. Total contact time with the wort was about 4 minutes.

Here is the one I have:

http://www.homebrewers.com/product/5424/Floating-Thermometer.html

Do I have anything to worry about? I imagine there's no mercury or anything in there, and I can't imagine there will be any sanitation issues. What about chemically? Has this happened to anyone else before, and/or does anyone know what material those little weights are?

Thanks!

 

[cyberwollf]

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[Bheher]

So no glass broke? I think you would probably be ok as long as you didnt the glass part of the thermometer did not break.

The wights are most likely made out of lead or steel. So you might have to worry about that.

 

[IffyG]

A broken thermometer is one of the few things that would cause me to dump a batch. The last thing I'd want is to ingest some glass...

 

[Lucky137]

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Good call. I don't always think of these things! Got a good idea to wrap my racking cane in a muslin bag right before racking as a sortof filter.

Thanks all!

 

[Bithead]

I'd use something like a coffee filter to remove glass shards.