Beth Israel Medical Centers are creating model programs for mercury elimination. By phasing out the purchase and use of mercury-containing products and devices, hospitals will eventually decrease the amount of mercury moving up the food chain where it reaches its highest concentrations in top predator fish like tuna, swordfish and shark. These findings are included in the report, Protecting by Degrees, written by the Environmental Working Group for Health Care Without Harm , a coalition of more than 170 groups dedicated to environmentally responsible health care. During National Hospital Week, May 9 through May 15, Health Care Without Harm member organizations will distribute the report and present awards to local hospitals that have pledged to eliminate mercury. Each year, medical waste incinerators alone are estimated to discharge nearly 16 tons of mercury into the air, approximately 10 percent of all mercury air emissions.
Tuna fish has too much mercury to be eaten regularly by pregnant women and young children.
Safe, cost-comparable alternatives exist for most of the mercury use in hospitals. A mercury fever thermometer, like those used in the home, contains enough mercury to potentially contaminate 9,000 cans of tuna fish. Without Harm is an international campaign made up of health care professionals, hospitals, environmental advocates, organizations of health-impacted individuals, religious organizations and labor unions. The campaign's mission is to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a source of environmental harm by eliminating the pollution in health care practices without compromising safety or care.