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Area Hospitals Join Campaign to Eliminate Mercury
Release Date: 2/8/2002
Contact Information: Viccy Salazar
salazar.viccy@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-1060
02-005
First Priority: Neonatal Intensive Care Units
Children and their parents have one less thing to worry about when they visit several area hospitals. A growing list of regional health care institutions have taken a pledge to reduce health and safety risks posed by thermometers and other mercury-containing devices by removing them from their facilities, making Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) the top priority.
“We’re talking about a particularly sensitive population in babies, especially those who need special care,” said Sandy Rock, MD, MPH, Chair, Environment and Health Committee, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, “Since they are the most susceptible population to even minute quantities of mercury, it was clear that the NICU was the first place to eliminate mercury.”
The campaign to reduce and eliminate mercury in Washington was launched following a recent announcement by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending that doctors and parents discontinue using mercury thermometers. Since then, local groups have been assisting many health care professionals, clinics and hospitals in making the transition to effective, available and safer mercury-free alternatives to items like thermometers and blood pressure cuffs.
Mercury -- a potent neurotoxin and a persistent bioaccumulative toxin -- is present in many thermometers and blood pressure cuffs. When such devices fail or are broken and mercury gets into the environment, a serious health risk is posed to patients and workers in the area. This is particularly the case when room temperatures are high, as in neonatal intensive care units and maternity wards. In these warm environments mercury volatilizes more quickly into the air where it can be breathed by patients and hospital staff.
Mercury in hospitals is a priority for EPA. EPA and the American Hospitals Association have formed a partnership — Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) — to eliminate Mercury in hospitals and have developed a pledge to assist hospitals in eliminating mercury http://www.h2e-online.org. Another national pledge campaign is from Healthcare without Harm and is located at www.noharm.org.
To assess local progress in this direction, the King County Medical Industry Waste Prevention Roundtable(MIRT), in concert with the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health, surveyed area hospitals to determine which facilities had effectively phased out mercury from units where child exposure could be a concern. The informal poll, funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, identified the following facilities which confirmed having no mercury thermometers or blood pressure devices in neonatal wards:
The Medical Industry Waste Prevention Roundtable (www.nwmedicalwaste.org) is a project of the Northwest Product Stewardship Council (www.productstewardship.net). The Roundtable brings together professionals in the medical industry who are interested in exchanging ideas and working to develop new ways of preventing and reducing waste and minimizing the environmental footprint of health care and biotech facilities. The Roundtable draws attendance from area hospitals and other medical industry support professions.
For information about mercury, the environment, and what health care institutions are doing to protect the environment, contact Kinley Deller, Medical Industry Waste Prevention Roundtable, 206-296-4433, kinley.deller@metrokc.gov, David Stitzhal, Northwest Product Stewardship Council., 206-723-0528, stitzhal@fullcircleenvironmental.com, or Viccy Salazar, US EPA (Region 10), 206-553-1060, salazar.viccy@epa.gov.
Contact: David Stitzhal/NPSC Deller Kinley/MIWPR
206-723-0528 206-296-4433
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