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|         | Michigan Briefs                                            |
|         |                                                            |
|         | **Ann Arbor\                                               |
|         | Ann Arbor bans mercury thermometers**                      |
|         |                                                            |
|         | [(http://www.sout                                          |
|         | hbendtribune.com/stories/2000/07/12/local.20000712-sbt-MIC |
|         | H-D4-ANN_ARBOR.sto)](http://www.southbendtribune.com/stori |
|         | es/2000/07/12/local.20000712-sbt-MICH-D4-ANN_ARBOR.sto)**\ |
|         | **Armed with their old-fashioned fever thermometers,       |
|         | residents have begun to march down to city hall to trade   |
|         | in their mercury thermometers for a nontoxic alternative.  |
|         |                                                            |
|         | The Ann Arbor City Council unanimously approved a measure  |
|         | Monday that prohibits the sale and distribution of mercury |
|         | thermometers, becoming the third city in the U.S. to enact |
|         | such a ban.                                                |
|         |                                                            |
|         | \"We commend the City Council for taking this important    |
|         | step,\" said Mary Beth Doyle, of the Ecology Center.       |
|         | \"Mercury thermometers pose an unnecessary risk to our     |
|         | environment and our children. Accurate and affordable      |
|         | non-mercury thermometers are readily available.\"          |
|         |                                                            |
|         | The Ecology Center was involved in advocating for the      |
|         | passage of the ordinance.                                  |
|         |                                                            |
|         | Ann Arbor has joined two other U.S. cities in phasing out  |
|         | mercury thermometers. Earlier this year, San Francisco and |
|         | Duluth, Minn., adopted similar laws making mercury         |
|         | thermometer sales illegal.                                 |
|         |                                                            |
|         | Possession of mercury thermometers will remain legal under |
|         | the law, but the city launched an exchange program last    |
|         | month to discourage their use, whereby residents trade in  |
|         | their old thermometers for a free Geratherm thermometer.   |
|         |                                                            |
|         | Geratherm is a digital type brand that contains a nontoxic |
|         | alloy mixture of gallium, indium, and tin. The German      |
|         | product is bigger and fatter than a traditional            |
|         | thermometer and is slightly more expensive.                |
|         |                                                            |
|         | More than 255 mercury thermometers have been turned in,    |
|         | the measure\'s sponsor, Councilman John Hieftje, told The  |
|         | Ann Arbor News for a Tuesday story.                        |
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