In March, the Maine Hospital Association signed an historic agreement for the 39 hospitals in the state. Not only will they discontinue the use of mercury-containing products, but they are the first in the nation to call for a reduction in the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic medical supplies. The agreement also encourages reduction of PVC use in building materials: “Consider longer term replacement of PVC in durable medical products, construction materials, and furniture when opportunities present themselves.”
The Maine agreement builds on the national “Hospitals for a Healthy Environment” (H2E) agreement signed in 1998 by the American Hospital Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the agreement, hospitals pledge to go “mercury free.” The H2E agreement also asks hospitals to address persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals — those that are long-lived and build up in the food chain. Maine’s agreement focuses on one major PBT chemical — dioxin, a toxic byproduct of incinerating hospital waste that contains PVC plastic. The Maine agreement commits hospitals to “continuously reduce the use and disposal of PVC plastic in hospitals” through a series of specific action steps with annual reporting on progress achieved. It calls for phasing out all products that contain mercury, such as blood pressure cuffs, thermometers and laboratory chemicals.
In late April, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) kicked off its ground breaking “Mad as a Hatter” Pledge Program, to eliminate mercury in its research facilities. This is the first time government laboratories publicly committed to phase out the use of mercury-containing laboratory chemicals. The Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center (part of NIH) signed Health Care Without Harm’s “Making Medicine Mercury-Free” pledge. The Clinic has phased out over 1500 mercury-containing blood pressure devices and discontinued the purchase of new mercury-containing products.
Health Care Without Harm expects NIH’s commitment to send a strong message to other facilities that mercury compounds are not necessary for scientifically valid lab procedures. Mercury is used in certain lab chemicals, which accumulates in animals if they are dumped down the drain and into the aquatic ecosystem. Most people are exposed to mercury through the consumption of fish and seafood. A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 in 10 women in the U.S. have sufficiently high levels of mercury in their bodies to cause neurological damage to their unborn children. Inappropriate disposal of thermometers and other mercury-containing products is a major source of mercury emissions to the environment. Medical waste incinerators are the third largest source of dioxin air emissions and account for 10 percent of mercury emissions.
More than 600 hospitals and clinics have signed the HCWH pledge to phase out mercury. The NIH facilities are the first group of laboratories to make the pledge.
Also in late April, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura signed legislation that will all but eliminate the sales and distribution of thermometers that contain mercury in the state. Over 90% of the Minnesota lakes and rivers that have been tested receive fish consumption advisories due to mercury contamination.
HCWH is an international coalition of more than 300 organizations in 27 countries coalition concerned about the environmental impacts of health care. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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