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Mercury in Nonclinical Health Care
Areas
Mercury is
present in many of the nonclinical areas of health care
facilities. Changing to nonmercury thermometers eliminates
only one of the sources of mercury from health care
settings. Mercury is present in many types of equipment
and chemicals. This fact sheet outlines the potential
sources of mercury in the nonclinical 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 tohealth 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 nonclinical
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.
Engineering
and Maintenance
- Antifouling agents
- Anti-tamper devices on pay phones
- Barometers
- DC watt-hour meters
- Float switches in bilge pumps,
septic tanks and sump pumps
- Fluorescent lamps
- Hydrometers (used to measure specific gravity)
- Plunger/displacement relays in
lighting, and power supply and resistance heating
switches
- Pyrometers
- Steam recorders in boiler panel
- Thermometers in air/water heating
and cooling systems
- Thermostat probes in clothes dryers,
electric/gas stoves, furnaces, hot water heaters and
space heaters
- Thermostats
- Tilt switches in airflow/fan limit control, clothes irons, fluid level/pressure/temperature control devices, laptop computer screen shutoff, silent light switches, switches in patient beds and space heaters
Housekeeping
Mercury is used in some industrial processes to manufacture
common ingredients in cleaners and degreasers, including
chlorine, hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid), potassium
hydroxide and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). As a
result, trace amounts of mercury end up in the cleaners
and degreasers. Cleaners and degreasers containing mercury
include:
- 7x-o-matic dish soap, Ajax Oxygen
Bleach Powder Cleanser, Alconox Powdered Precision
Cleaner, CIDEX, Clorox Bleach, Comet Cleaner, Derma
Scrub, Dove soap, ENZOL Enzymatic Detergent, Ivory
Dishwashing Liquid, Lysol Disinfectant Direct MultiPurpose
Cleaner, Murphy Oil Soap, Soft Cide Soap, Soft Scrub,
Sparkleen and Sunlight Dishwashing Detergent
Safety and
Security
Safety managers should be aware of all the sources of
mercury in their health care facilities. The following
are specific to the safety and security department:
- G-sensor security systems, in some
applications
- Mercuric oxide batteries in pagers
and temperature alarms
- Products containing the preservatives
Mercurochrome, Mercurothiolate, Merthiolate, Mertorgan,
Merzonin, thimerosal and thimerosalate
- Tilt switches in building security
systems
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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