Waste Prevention Information Exchange: Health Care Waste

Mercury in Health Care

Also see Fluorescent Lamps, Mercury, and Universal Waste.

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Resources

Documents

• Dental Guides—These guides from the National Wildlife Federation help dentists and office staff safely dispose of waste containing materials such as mercury that could pollute area waterways. One of these guides, The Environmentally Responsible Dental Office: A Guide to Proper Waste Management in Dental Offices, won the American Dental Association's (ADA) coveted Golden Apple Award. Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
• Eliminating Mercury in Hospitals—Identifies where mercury is found in hospitals and how it can be eliminated. Gives persuasive reasons why it should be eliminated. Produced by U.S. EPA Region 9 Pollution Prevention Program. (Mention of trade names, products, or services does not convey, and should not be interpreted as conveying, official EPA or CIWMB approval, endorsement, or recommendation. Other disclaimers apply.) Portable Document Format (PDF) 684 KB.
• Fact Sheets from the Sustainable Hospitals Project:
  • Amounts of Mercury in Hospital Equipment 
  • Comparing Mercury and Aneroid Sphygmomanometers 
  • Interpreting Analytical Results for Mercury and Other Substances 
  • Is There Mercury In Your Coulter Counter? 
  • Mercury in Gauges and Switches 
  • Mercury Reduction at Home 
  • Selecting Non-Mercury Thermometers 
  • Tips for Procuring Aneroid Sphygmomanometers
  • Removing Mercury from Hospital Labs
  • Tips on Testing Reagents and Chemicals
• Guide to Mercury Assessment and Elimination in health care Facilities—From the California Department of Health Services, and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (Portable Document Format (PDF), 2 MB).  Also download the companion documents, the Mercury Assessment Toolkit (Microsoft Excel, 218 KB) and the Toolkit Readme file (text file, 4 KB).
• Mercury-Free Medical and Surgical Supplies Fact Sheet—From Inform.
• Mercury in health care Facilities, Where Is It & How To Get Rid of It—From the San Francisco Medical Society.
• Mercury in the Environment—A set of brief flyers by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control covering mercury-containing equipment commonly found in businesses and institutions (thermostats and probes, fluorescent and HID lamps, thermometers, switches and relays, and gauges). Multiple copies are available to California organizations that distribute it free of charge. Call 1-800-700-5854 and ask for document number 623.
• Pre-Demolition Environmental Checklist and Guide, Mercury—Useful assistance in determining the likely sources of mercury in a building demolition project.  Published by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.  Portable Document Format (PDF), 28 KB.
• Reducing Mercury Use in Health Care: Promoting a Healthier Environment—A how-to manual to help hospitals start mercury pollution prevention programs or accelerate programs that have already begun. Prepared by the Monroe County Department of Health, in cooperation with Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York, and the Monroe County Department of Environmental Services under a grant funded by U.S. EPA.

Web Sites

• Mercury—From Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, valuable information about mercury and how to eliminate mercury use in your facility.
• Mercury Elimination Leadership Program (HELP)—The HELP program provides local training, onsite assistance, and state awards recognizing hospitals reaching the national goal of eliminating mercury from hospitals by 2005. HELP is a joint effort of the California Departments of Toxic Substances Control and Health Services, the California health care Association, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Region IX, Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), and Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs).
• Mercury in Health Care Lab Reagents—This reference can help you identify potential mercury-containing reagents, so you can work toward reducing or eliminating mercury from your lab.  From the University of Minnesota, Technical Assistance Program.
• Mercury Spill Resources—Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
  • Think mercury can't get to you? Watch the online videos posted on the Michigan DEQ Web site that show mercury vapor evaporating from spilled mercury at room temperature. Federal and California regulations classify mercury waste as hazardous. Regulations try to keep mercury out of municipal trash and out of municipal landfills. These videos illustrate one reason why. Mercury vapor might also escape municipal landfills by means other than evaporation.
    • Broken Mercury Thermometer Video
      Modem Version, 210 KB | Broadband Version, 1.71 MB
    • Toxic Mercury Vapor Video
      Modem Version, 210 KB | Broadband Version, 1.71 MB
• Mercury Substitutes—Information from Inform about mercury-free industrial thermometers, manometers, thermostats, and switches.

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Last updated: May 05, 2008