As such the Ministers have tasked the Mercury CWS Development Committee with preparing standards for mercury containing products that are consistent with the overall policy. Mercury is used in some consumer products, such as electrical switches, fluorescent tubes or amalgam for dental fillings, and can be released to the environment usually through disposal at the end of a product's useful life. Mercury can also contaminate products incidentally, posing a concern for product disposal. Significant reductions in mercury use in products has already occurred in Canada. Mercury has been eliminated from pesticides and paints in Canada, and most batteries are now mercury free.
Mercury containing products can themselves result in a direct release to the environment.
An example of this would be a thermometer, thermostat or florescent tube breaking and releasing mercury as a liquid or a vapour. Mercury from products can also be released indirectly, such as through biomedical or municipal waste incinerators. The incinerator sectors, being evaluated for emission standards, likely derive a substantial amount of their mercury from mercury containing products. Emissions from products, whether direct or indirect, can be reduced by reducing the mercury content in products, or managing the product life-cycle so that mercury is not released to the environment. Through this review, the Mercury CWS Development Committee hopes to identify those products that result in significant releases to the environment during their present life-cycle.