Region 5 Mercury

Households and Small Businesses; Mercury Collection and Waste Management

• Illinois EPA's Management and Disposal of Mercury Containing Products page
• Indiana DEM's Mercury Awareness Program.
• Michigan DNRE's page on Where to Take Mercury and Mercury-Containing Devices
• Ohio EPA's Mercury Collection and Recycling page
• Wisconsin DNR's Mercury Disposal page.

Lamps

• The Lamp Sectionof the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, along with lamp recyclers, have a site that provides lamp recycling contacts in all fifty states, links to state websites on lamps, a list of recyclers, and other useful information.
• The Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers promotes mercury lamp recycling and provides practical information for state and local government agencies and users of fluorescent or high intensity discharge (HID) lamps.

Thermostats

• The Thermostat Recycling Corporation is run by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
• The Product Stewardship Institute's Thermostat Project.
• Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable's Mercury - Thermostats topic hub.

Institutions

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Healthcare and Dentistry

• EPA Links to Information for Healthcare Providers and Dentists about Mercury.
• Options for Dental Mercury Reduction Programs: (PDF, 68 pp., 588K) Information for State and Local Governments, A report of the Binational Toxics Strategy Mercury Workgroup Co-Chairs (Revised August 4, 2004).

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Schools

• The center for information on Mercury in Schools,created for the Mercury Workgroup by Wisconsin's Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center.
• Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable's Mercury - Schools topic hub.

Heavy Industry

General (Relating to all Industrial Uses of Mercury Devices)

• The National Partnership for Environmental Priorities Mercury Challenge: An EPA Program to recognize institutions that identify mercury in their facilities and in the products they make, replace mercury-containing equipment with nonmercury alternatives, dispose of mercury-containing equipment safely, establish mercury free purchasing policies and iInform and educate staff, suppliers, and clients about mercury issues and non-mercury alternatives.
  
• An update on the Mercury Agreement Reduction Program of: International Steel Group, Burns Harbor; Ispat Inland, East Chicago, and US Steel, Gary, January 2004. (PDF, 34 pp., 1.24 MB).
• A Guide to Mercury Reduction in Industrial and Commercial Settings, (PDF, 52 pp., 359K)a Joint Effort by Ispat Inland Indiana Harbor Works, Bethlehem Steel Burns Harbor Division, US Steel Gary Works, The Delta Institute, and the Lake Michigan Forum.

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Chlor-alkali Industry

• Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a regulation to control emissions from mercury cell chlor-alkali plants.
• The Chlorine Instituterepresents the chlor-alkali industry, and has voluntarily committed to reducing mercury use 50 percent by 2005. The Institute releases annual reports on progress towards meeting this commitment, placed on the web courtesy of the mercury workgroup.
  • Twelfth Annual Report (PDF, 11 pp., 56K) (Aug 2009)
  • Eleventh inth Annual Report (PDF, 16 pp., 210K) (Sept 2008)
  • Tenth Annual Report (PDF, 15 pp., 208K) (Aug 2007)
  • Ninth Annual Report (PDF, 10 pp., 91K) (May 2006)
  • Eighth Annual Report (PDF, 11 pp., 192K) (May 2005)
• Seventh Annual Report (PDF, 10 pp., 142K) (July 2004)
• Sixth Annual Report (PDF, 7 pp., 137K) (May 2003)
• Fifth Annual Report (PDF, 7 pp., 818K) (April 2002)
• Fourth Annual Report (April 2001)
• Guidelines for Mercury Cell Chlor-Alkali-Plants Emission Control: Practices and Techniques (PDF, 17 pp., 159K) (April 2001)
• Third Annual Report (May 2000)
• Guidelines for Technologies to Reduce Mercury in Sodium Hydroxide -- (PDF, 17 pp., 125K) (April 2000). Electronically-available appendices:
• Analytical Considerations (PDF, 2 pp., 21K)
• Survey of Mechanical Filtration from 50% Sodium Hydroxide Solutions (PDF, 16 pp., 86K)
• Optimization of RP Adams Filter(PDF, 15 pp., 145K)
• Selective Absorption Technologies (PDF, 2 pp., 21K)
• Second Annual Report (May 1999)
• Guidelines for Conducting a Mercury Balance (PDF, 34 pp., 213K) (May 1999)
• Guidelines to Physicians in Conducting Mercury Medical Surveillance Programs (PDF, 20 pp., 73K) (December 1998)
• First Annual Report (May 1998)
• Chlorine Institute Pamphlet 154 - Guidelines for the Handling of Rubber Lined Cell Parts Potentially Contaminated with Mercury (PDF, 11 pp., 41K) (January 1998)

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Iron and Steel Production and Use of Auto Scrap

• Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a regulation to control emissions from iron and steel foundries, which includes a work practice requirement to ensure removal of auto mercury switches from scrap.
• The End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corporation promotes the automotive industry's efforts to remove mercury switches from vehicles under the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program.
• The Clean Car Campaign's report on Toxics in Vehicles: Mercury (PDF, 76 pp., 1.37 MB)(January 2001), chapter 4, contains an estimate of mercury emissions resulting from use of scrap steel.

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