HCWH's co-founder Gary Cohen is a recipient of the prestigious Skoll Award. This video, chronicling the evolution of HCWH's work, premiered at the 2009 Skoll World Forum. enlarge video
The Issue: Mercury in Health Care
Mercury is used throughout health care in a wide variety of products. The most common healthcare-specific devices are thermometers and sphygmomanometers.
The cumulative usage, spills, breakages and disposal of mercury-containing products has led the World Health Organisation to identify the healthcare sector as a significant contributor of mercury pollution.
Mercury is a metal which is toxic for humans and wildlife. High doses can be fatal; even low doses of mercury compounds can have serious neurodevelopmental effects, damaging the cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. Recent research indicates that, for some parts of the population, there is no such thing as a safe exposure level for mercury.
Although mercury thermometers were recently banned from sale in the EU, there are many still in circulation. Blood pressure devices, which may still contain mercury, remain a cause for concern. Fortunately cost-effective non-mercury alternatives exist for nearly all uses of mercury in health care.
Take Action
Help us win a sales ban on mercury sphygmomanometers!
Although the EU recently banned the sale of mercury thermometers, it put off banning mercury sphygmomanometers pending an inquiry. Please help us convince the EU Commission that phasing out mercury is feasible.
We need evidence of the use of mercury-free alternatives and testimony that they are safe and effective. If you can provide us with (or help us find) either of these, please send us an email.
Latest News and Science about Mercury
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Mercury Pollution
A short video describing how mercury ends up in the environment and the health problems it can cause.
Key Resources
- EU Ban on Sale of Mercury-Measuring Instruments (pdf)
- EU Mercury Phase Out in Measuring and Control Equipment (pdf) Report from an EU conference held in Brussels in June 2009 focused on sphygmomanometers in healthcare. Report shows that many European countries have already moved away from mercury-based devices.
- Letter to the national experts- Input to the Working Party on Environment, 18 February 2011 – Need for strong Council conclusions on the revised Community Strategy Concerning Mercury
- Mercury Factsheets: You can download these factsheets individually, or download our Mercury Fact-Pack, containing all factsheets in a single zipped file.
Mercury Fact-Pack (all factsheets) (zip)
Individual Factsheets
Mercury and Fish Consumption (pdf)
Mercury and Health (pdf)
Mercury in Healthcare (pdf)
Mercury and Vaccines (pdf)
Managing Small Mercury Spills (pdf)
Substituting Mercury Sphygmo- manometers (pdf) - Mercury-Free Health Care website, a WHO-HCWH Global Initiative
- Mercury Phase-out Letter, 13 Nov 2009 (pdf)
Letter to Günter Verheugen, E.U. Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry from HCWH and EEB calling for rapid phase-out of mercury-containing blood pressure devices in healthcare. - Mercury Sphygmomanometers in Healthcare and the Feasibility of Alternatives (pdf)
Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) - Toward the Tipping Point: WHO-HCWH Global Initiative to Substitute Mercury-Based Medical Devices in Health Care. A Two-Year Progress Report (pdf)
- Turning Up the Pressure: Phasing Out Mercury Sphygmomanometers for Professional Use (pdf)
European market, trends and hospital use (June 2009) - Wikipedia entry: Mercury (pdf)
- WHO Policy on Mercury in Health Care (pdf)
- World Medical Association: Reducing the Global Burden of Mercury (pdf)
