Press release
Maine Hospitals Set Pollution Prevention Precedent
Historic Agreement Will Phase out Mercury and Reduce PVC Plastic
(March 5 -- Augusta, Maine) Today, hospitals throughout the state of Maine made history by entering into a pollution prevention agreement that is the first in the nation to call for a reduction in the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic medical supplies. The agreement between the Maine Hospital Association (MHA), the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Maine People’s Alliance, Toxics Action Center, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine (on behalf of Health Care Without Harm) sets an ambitious agenda for the state's 39 hospitals. The Maine People’s Alliance and the Toxics Action Center provided critical support during the development of the agreement.
"The Maine agreement builds on the national hospital pledge to make medicine mercury free," said Bill Ravanesi, MPH, Boston Campaign Director for Health Care Without Harm, referring to the 'Hospitals for a Healthy Environment' (H2E) agreement signed in 1998 by the American Hospital Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). "With the PVC reduction goal, Maine hospitals are really setting a precedent for the rest of the country."
In addition to supporting virtual elimination of mercury, the H2E agreement 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.
"Reducing dioxin pollution by moving away from PVC medical products means that Maine kids will grow up healthier," said Mike Belliveau, Director of the Toxics and Pollution Prevention Project at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. "We applaud the leadership commitment of Maine hospitals to prevent mercury and dioxin pollution."
Research has shown that dioxin is created when chlorinated compounds are burned in incinerators. PVC plastic is more than 50 percent chlorine, and vinyl medical supplies account for 25 percent of disposable medical products. This means that large volumes of PVC from healthcare are discarded and then burned as waste, serving as a major chlorine "donor" for dioxin formation.
Dioxin is a known human carcinogen, and has been linked to immune system damage, learning disabilities, infertility and other health impacts. Medical waste incinerators have been identified by USEPA as the third largest known source of dioxin air emissions.
Medical waste incinerators also account for ten percent of mercury emissions from human activities. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can damage the way we see, hear, feel, smell, move and speak. It is particularly dangerous to the developing fetus and young children. The Maine pollution prevention agreement calls for the phase-out of the use of mercury-containing devices such as blood pressure cuffs and thermometers, as well as laboratory chemicals and other products containing mercury.
"With this agreement, Maine's hospitals recognize the link between the products that come in the door and the environmental impacts when those products are used or discarded," noted Belliveau. "Environmentally preferable purchasing is the answer."
"We do not need to compromise the quality or safety of patient care to take care of our environment, nor do we have to sacrifice the environment in order to make sick people well again," explained Ravanesi. "Maine hospitals are national leaders."
Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition with 300 member organizations in 27 countries, working to transform the health care industry so that it is no longer a source of environmental harm. To learn more about HCWH, visit our web site at www.noharm.org/.
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