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Mercury in Labs and Pharmacies
Mercury is
present in many of the laboratory and pharmacy areas
of health care facilities. Changing to nonmercury sphygmomanometers
and thermometers eliminates only a few of the sources
of mercury from health care settings. Mercury is present
in many types of chemicals and equipment. This fact
sheet outlines the potential sources of mercury in the
laboratory and pharmacy areas of health care facilities.
Many health care facilities are working
to eliminate mercury. It is a toxin associated with
nervous system disorders and is especially toxic to
newborn babies, children, and pregnant women. Mercury
can also have an adverse effect on wildlife.
In addition to health impacts,
hospitals have many reasons to reduce their use of mercury.
New federal air and water regulations greatly reduce
the amount of mercury allowed to be discharged from
a municipal wastewater system or an incinerator. Mercury
can now be measured at lower levels, making it easier
for regulatory agencies to identify facilities that
are not in compliance.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA)
have committed to a voluntary agreement to virtually
eliminate mercury waste in hospitals and health systems.
Reducing mercury in the laboratory
and pharmacy areas of your health care facility can
reduce the level of mercury in the environment and help
your facility avoid the need to increase its investment
in pollution controls and waste disposal.
Steps to Identify
Mercury
Examine your chemicals and equipment. Read container
labels, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) and inserts
that come with the chemicals. MSDSs will generally not
identify mercury levels below one percent, as manufacturers
are not required to list hazardous components of a product
below this level.
Contact your sales representatives
and product manufacturers to ask about mercury in their
products. Request a certificate of analysis (COA) or
other data on the mercury concentration in chemical
products.
When setting up purchase contracts,
require disclosure of all hazardous materials in the
products as part of the contract. Choose mercury-free
products, if possible. If there are no mercury-free
products that meet the needs of the health care facility,
choose those that are the lowest in mercury concentration.
Plumbing systems can be contaminated
with mercury because of past spills or mercury disposal.
Mercury can accumulate in pipes and fittings, especially
at elbows, traps and low points.
MnTAP maintains the following list
of potential mercury-containing chemicals and equipment
solely as a service to Minnesota health care facilities.
This is not a complete list.
Potential Mercury-containing
Chemicals
- Cleaners and degreasers, including
Alconox Powdered Precision Cleaner, Clorox Bleach
and ENZOL Enzymatic Detergent. Additional cleaners
are listed in MnTAP’s fact sheet Mercury
in Nonclinical Health Care Areas [#10bFS]
- Distillation salts
- Diuretics (mersayl and salts)
- Fixatives, including B5, Carnoy-Lebrun,
Helly’s, Ohlamacher, Shardin and Zenker’s
solutions
- Histology stains, including alum
hematoxylin, carbol-gentian violet, Golgi’s,
Gomori’s and mercuric iodide
- Immune salines
- Lab reagents. See MnTAP’s
fact sheet Mercury
in Health Care Lab Reagents [#92]
- Pharmaceuticals, eye drops, nasal sprays
- Poly-L-lysine tissue section adhesive
- Products containing the preservatives
Mercurochrome, Mercurothiolate, Merthiolate, Mertorgan,
Merzonin, thimerosal and thimerosalate. Examples include
pharmaceutical preservatives and sucrose buffers in
disc electrophoresis
- Research compounds, including mercuric
chloride, mercuric iodide, mercuric nitrate, mercuric
oxide (yellow or red), mercuric sulfate, mercuric
thiocyantate, metal mercury and phenylmercuric acetate
- Teething powders
- Vaccines
Potential Mercury-containing
Equipment and Supplies
- Barometers
- Blood gas analyzer reference electrodes
- Bubblers/traps
- Cathode-ray oscilloscopes
- Coulter counters with manometers
- Diffusion pumps
- Dropping Mercury Electrode (DME)
technique for polarography and voltammetry
- Electron microscopes
- Hydrometers (used to measure specific gravity)
- Lamps, cold/hot cathode germicidal,
fluorescent, high-intensity discharge (HID), high-pressure
sodium vapor, metal halide, slimline germicidal, spectral
and ultraviolet (UV)
- Lead analyzer electrodes
- Manometers for calibration
- Mercuric oxide batteries in blood
analyzers, oxygen analyzers, pagers and temperature
alarms
- pH meters
- Pigmented plastics, red bags and
red blood tube caps
- Sequential Multiple Analyzers with
Computer (SMAC)
- Sphygmomanometers
- Switches in lab equipment
- Telemetry instruments
- Thermometers for freezers, incubators,
lab ovens, refrigerators and water baths
- Thermostats in incubators
Resources for
Mercury Data
Several online databases list products containing mercury.
Products become listed either by their manufacturers
submitting information or by being tested. Additional
products, that are not included in the databases, may
contain mercury.
For More Information
The Sustainable
Hospitals Project offers information on selecting
health care products that offer greater occupational
safety and less environmental impact than some of the
traditional products used. These products include mercury-free
alternatives. Also, see its fact sheet Removing
Mercury from Hospital Labs.
Hospitals
for a Healthy Environment (H2E) and MnTAP have information
about mercury and how to eliminate its use in your facility.
H2E is a partnership of the AHA, the U.S. EPA, the American
Nurses Association and Health Care Without Harm to improve
environmental performance in health care.
H2E sponsors the Making Medicine Mercury-Free
Award—a one-time award given to facilities that
have essentially eliminated mercury and developed policies
to sustain the elimination.
MnTAP has a variety of technical assistance services available to help Minnesota businesses implement industry-tailored solutions that maximize resource efficiency, prevent pollution, increase energy efficiency, and reduce costs.Our information
resources are available online. Or, call MnTAP at 612.624.1300
or 800.247.0015 from greater Minnesota
for personal assistance.
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