THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

EPA Strategy to Address

Mercury‐Containing Products

September, 2014

   

This strategy is part of EPA’s effort to continue efforts to reduce mercury pollution, including as part of the

obligations of the United States under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, an international environmental

agreement to which the United States is a Party, and EPA’s domestic commitment to continue to make efforts

to reduce use of mercury in the United States.
EPA Strategy to Address Mercury‐Containing Products

September, 2014

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Background

Over the past three decades, the United States has seen a strong downward trend of more than 97 percent in the

domestic use of mercury in products. In 1980, the United States used more than 1,800 metric tons of mercury

annually; in 2010, the continued annual use of mercury in manufactured or imported products (excluding dental

amalgam) was approximately 33 metric tons. Likewise, the use of mercury in industrial processes has also fallen

dramatically.  

This shifting landscape can be attributed to a number of factors, including market trends leading to the voluntary

reduction of use of mercury in products and processes; federal, regional,state, and local programsthat encourage

the use of effective and economically feasible non‐mercury substitutes; state laws or regulations that prohibit or

reduce the use of mercury in products; and Congressional actions that banned the sale of a range of mercury

batteries and prohibited the export of mercury. Recently, the United States negotiated and joined a global

mercury agreement called the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which also contains requirements aimed at

reducing the use of mercury.  

Purpose

Despite reductionsin the amount of mercury used in the United States, mercury from ongoing uses will eventually

be released and create potential exposure and risk for human health and the environment. Building on

demonstrated success for more than three decades of reducing mercury use in traditional product and process

categories, the goal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)strategy is to further reduce mercury use

in products and certain processes in order to prevent future releases to the environment. To better understand

continuing uses of mercury in such products and processes, EPA will collect and assess information pertaining to

mercury‐containing products and, as appropriate, processes that use mercury as a catalyst. The strategy will also

assist the United States in its sustained implementation of its obligations under the Minamata Convention.  

Summary of Strategy

Phase 1: Update EPA’s information on mercury products and certain processes

EPA will update its data set of mercury quantities used in products and processes, including new products entering

the market, with particular attention to switches and relays. Phase 1 is designed to acquire a more robust baseline

of mercury quantities used in products and processes. In addition to providing insight into the current

marketplace, establishing a baseline will allow subsequent data collection to be used for purposes of comparison

and for supporting U.S. implementation of the Minamata Convention. EPA will be looking to enhance data on

manufacture, export, and import for certain product categories of mercury use, using information from

stakeholders, international organizations and initiatives, including the Global Mercury Partnership, and available

databases. Phase 1 may also include working with stakeholders to identify ways to discourage both existing and

future uses of mercury.

It is our hope that information that is requested by the Agency from mercury manufacturers and importers,

mercury processors, and others will be forthcoming without additional available regulatory steps being necessary.  

At this phase, the type of information sought will be different for each product category, and the questions may

change from one group of stakeholders to another. As EPA considers what it believes the domestic landscape

should be for the use of mercury in products and, as appropriate, certain processes, considerations such as
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September, 2014

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unreported or underreported use categories, replacement purposes, market forces, and voluntary initiatives shall

be taken into account.    Phase 1 also will include outreach, which will likely continue throughout the

implementation of this strategy and be refined by the information received by the Agency. In addition, the

initiation of future phases may not necessarily be dependent on preceding phases.  

Phase 2: Analyze updated mercury use information  

It will be necessary to analyze and organize the new information acquired from Phase 1 to inform the plan to be

developed in Phase 3. As an initial matter, EPA intends to organize the available information by product and

process category, including what the Agency considers to be recent and niche mercury products. Utilizing the

available information, EPA will identify potential data gaps and limitationsthat could impact the ultimate objective

to further reduce mercury use in products and processes to prevent future releases to the environment.

The intent of this phase will be to illustrate the market forces at work in particular product categories, such as

those listed in the Minamata Convention on Mercury; assess the success of voluntary initiatives; and signal

whether underreporting or over‐reporting is occurring.

Phase 3: Plan and prioritize mercury reduction activities

Evaluate and develop appropriate actions to reduce the use of mercury.  After the data are collected and analyzed

under Phases 1 and 2, the Agency will develop priorities for further action. These priorities will be established

based on the information gathered, existing information on non‐mercury alternatives, U.S. commitments under

global and regional agreements, the prevalence of the use of mercury in non‐essential products and processes,

and the demonstrated cost‐effectiveness of the action. This is the phase where voluntary and/or regulatory

actions to reduce mercury use in products and processes, as appropriate, will be developed for consideration.

Phase 4: Take non‐regulatory actions to reduce use

Encourage manufacturers, importers, processors, distributors, and exporters to reduce or cease commerce in

mercury‐added products and processes, enlist help from government agencies, and conduct outreach. The

historical decrease in the use of mercury products and processes has shown that effective non‐regulatory

mechanisms can be successful. Where non‐regulatory actions are viable, the Agency would consider how best to

work with a broad array of public and private stakeholdersto achieve reduction or cessation of the use of mercury

in products and certain processes domestically and abroad.   

EPA envisions opportunities to work with individual companies and organizations in a number of different ways

to achieve reductions in the use of mercury in products and processes, which might include establishing

memoranda of understanding or other written commitments to reduce or cease manufacture, import, or export;

using existing technical assessments to foster use of alternatives; engaging the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership

to identify opportunitiesto reduce U.S. manufacture, import, or export of products;showcasing successful federal,

regional, state, and local phase‐outs or bans; expanding EPA’s voluntary program for the phase out/replacement

of non‐fever thermometers to other products and processes; or identifying new approaches to gathering future

mercury use information. EPA is also interested in considering how to work with other federal agencies to

decrease the number of mercury products available for purchase by federal agencies.

Phase 5: Take regulatory actions to reduce use, if needed

If voluntary efforts do not adequately reduce mercury use, EPA will consider regulatory options. It is possible that

voluntary actions may not be sufficient to achieve the purpose of this strategy. If that is the case, EPA would
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September, 2014

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develop regulatory options for consideration. Those options would stem from the available supporting data and

be informed by the preceding phases of this strategy. While the phases do not necessarily need to proceed in the

order presented, consideration of options in this phase would likely include those that support the international

obligations accepted by the United States under the Minamata Convention, as well as those that are derived from

stakeholder comments and public input.