AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER EIGHT OF THE REVISED ORDINANCES OF 1996

Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Worcester as follows:

Chapter Eight of the Revised Ordinances of 1996 is hereby amended by inserting the following new sections immediately after §34:

MERCURY FEVER THERMOMETERS

§35 Declaration of Findings and Policy.

Mercury is a persistent and toxic pollutant that bioaccumulates in the environment and the food chain. The incineration of medical and municipal waste, which contains whole or broken thermometers, is a major source of atmospheric deposition of mercury in the Northeast resulting in contamination of air and water. Mercury from mercury fever thermometers can also directly enter the environment through vaporization and/or spillage when a fever thermometer breaks during use, transportation or disposal.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) estimated that for the year 2000, 17 tons of elemental mercury from thermometers will be disposed of as municipal solid waste - this does not include additional mercury that finds its way into the medical waste stream. Accidental mercury spills, breakages, and releases have occurred at schools throughout the Northeast. In addition to the threat of health risks to students and staff and potential for adverse environment impact, these discharges are costly, Harvard University has sited that it costs $110 to properly clean up a single thermometer breakage in a laboratory. These incidences have proven costly to clean up and have exposed students, teachers and/or administrators to mercury emissions.

Due to the bioaccumulation of mercury in fish, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has issued a statewide native fresh waster fish advisory, warning pregnant women, women of childbearing age and children not to consume any fish.

Pharmacy chains of Rite-Aid, K-Mart, Brooks, Target, Wal-Mart, Albertson, Kinney, Toys 'R' Us, Safety First, The First Years and Meijers among others have joined a Mercury Free Thermometer campaign, pledging to discontinue the sale of mercury basal and fever thermometers.

There are accurate and safe alternatives to mercury fever thermometers that are readily available and comparable in cost. Local take back programs have already demonstrated the ease and effectiveness of removing mercury products.

The New England States and Eastern Canadian Provinces are implementing a bi-national mercury plan, which was unanimously adopted in June of 1998 by the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (and signed by Governor Cellucci in June 1998). The mercury action plan is an ambitious program to virtually eliminate the emissions of mercury in the region. The regional goal of this action plan supports the virtual elimination of anthropogenic mercury.

The "Massachusetts Zero Mercury Strategy", formed by Environmental Affairs Secretary, Robert Durand, adopted in the summer of 2000 an ambitious strategy that calls for virtual elimination of the use and discharge of mercury including mercury fever thermometers.

It is the intent of this Ordinance to protect and promote the public health and safety of Worcester residents by significantly reducing the discharge of mercury into the environment.

§ 36. Definitions

A. Mercury-Fever Thermometer - A mercury-containing product that is used to measure body temperature. A mercury-containing product is a product, device, instrument or equipment into which elemental mercury or mercury compounds are intentionally added during its formulation or manufacture and in which the continued presence of mercury is desired to provide a specific characteristic or to permit a specific function.

B. Health Care Facility - Any hospital, nursing home, extended care facility, long-term facility, clinic or medical laboratory, state or private health or mental institution, clinic, physician's office, or health maintenance organization.

C. Manufacturer - Any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, combination, or joint venture that produces a mercury fever thermometer. If the mercury thermometer is produced in a foreign county, the manufacturer is the importer or domestic distributor.

§ 37. Retail Sales Prohibited

§ 38. Manufacturing Prohibited

It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture a mercury fever thermometer in the city of Worcester.

§ 39. Importation Prohibited

It shall be unlawful for any facility to import, purchase, or distribute a mercury fever thermometer in the city of Worcester, except in the case of medical necessity as determined by a licensed physician.

§ 40. Restriction on the Sale of Mercury Thermometers

Effective January 1, 2002, no person shall sell or supply mercury fever thermometers to consumers or patients in the city of Worcester.

§ 41. Penalty

Any person violating this ordinance shall be subject to a fine of not more than three hundred ($300.00) dollars per unit supplied, sold or unlawfully delivered. The Commissioner of the Department of Public Health and Code Enforcement or his or her designee shall be the enforcing person for purposes of this ordinance.

In City Council
May 8, 2001
Passed to be ordained by a yea and nay vote of Nine Yeas and No Nays.
A Copy. Attest: David J. Rushford, Clerk