Campaign Reduces Mercury Waste From Hospitals - Brief Article

International Wildlife, May-June, 2001

As a result of the Mercury Free Medicine campaign launched in 1998 by NWF and the Health Care Without Harm coalition, more than 600 hospitals and clinics nationwide have pledged to eliminate the use of mercury- containing devices and products.

Mercury, a potent toxin found in such common medical products as thermometers, blood pressure cuffs and esophageal dilators, ends up in the environment when medical waste is incinerated. Each year, medical waste incinerators in the United States spew 16 tons of mercury into the air. Most of that falls to Earth with precipitation, contaminating waterways, the fish that live there and ultimately the people and wildlife who eat the fish.

NWF's Great Lakes Natural Resource Center, which coordinates the national campaign, recently completed a special year-long project to eliminate mercury from health-care facilities in the Saginaw Bay watershed. Mercury-free pledges from 78 facilities in 22 counties represent the elimination of 2,500 pounds of mercury that eventually could have ended up polluting the environment, says Molly Chidsey, project coordinator.