Download the List of Hospitals that have Pledged to Eliminate Mercury in Adobe Acrobat format. Download the EPA Science Advisory Board's Comments on their Mercury Report to Congress in Adobe Acrobat format. According to a report released today, some of the most commonly eaten fish contains levels of mercury that pose a risk to pregnant women and young children. In response to the problem of mercury pollution, health care providers like Kaiser Permanente, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire and New York's 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 until it reaches its highest concentrations in top predator fish like tuna, swordfish and shark.
Tuna fish has too much mercury to be eaten regularly by pregnant women and young children.
These hospitals are voluntarily eliminating mercury because of the threat to public health and showing other health care providers and other industries that it can be done. 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. We need to address the long-term consequences of treatment options and challenge ourselves to devise effective alternatives that do less environmental harm. Health Care 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.