Mercury pollution programs expanded
Read the article in the Missoulian
Mercury pollution programs expanded
By John Cramer of the Missoulian
A Missoula-based campaign against mercury pollution will expand to dental fillings and compact fluorescent lightbulbs under pilot programs to start in March.
Also, the number of Ace Hardware stores accepting mercury thermostats for recycling is being expanded from Missoula to the rest of Montana and three more states.
The projects are part of a campaign by a statewide task force to reduce pollution from mercury-containing products, such as thermometers, auto switches, computer monitors and medical measuring devices.
Women's Voices for the Earth, a Missoula nonprofit group, started the campaign last year to encourage a grassroots effort to dispose of mercury safely.
Mercury, a neurotoxin, has been linked to health problems in children and adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationally, an estimated 75 tons of mercury enters the air, landfills and groundwater each year. The major source of human exposure to mercury is eating contaminated fish.
In March, WVE plans to start a pilot project to urge dentists to get dental amalgam separators, which are devices that remove mercury from “silver” fillings.
Jamie Silberberger, a WVE campaign organizer, said dentists also will be encouraged to follow the American Dental Association's best management practices for disposing of mercury. Dental offices are not regulated for handling mercury.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that dental preparations nationwide release more than seven tons of mercury into the water stream each year.
A survey of western Montana dental offices found that most put their mercury wastes down the drain or into the trash.
The survey also found that few Missoula area dentists have a dental amalgam separator.
The Missoula Wastewater Treatment Plant has found high levels of mercury in its waste stream.
Also, some fish, and raptors that feed on them, in western Montana streams have been found to have high levels of mercury.
WVE also is forming a pilot partnership with the Product Stewardship Institute, a Boston nonprofit group that aims to reduce the health and environmental impacts of consumer products, said Peter Nielsen, Missoula County's environmental health supervisor.
The institute received a $50,000 grant from the EPA to urge people to drop off their used fluorescent lightbulbs at participating Ace Hardware stores in Montana, Colorado, South Dakota and Utah.
Missoula's Ace Hardware Stores already collect mercury thermostats.
Community Medical Center collects mercury thermometers for recycling.
Also, Albertsons grocery stores nationwide have agreed to post mercury advisory warning signs on their fish displays.
WVE wants Montana to adopt legislation that would phase out mercury-containing products that have a cost-effective alternative.
Silberberger said WVE's goal is to have its dental filling and lightbulb recycling programs replicated nationwide.
Michelle Hutchins, an environmental health specialist at the City-County Health Department, said the mercury task force may start to track the number of thermostats and other mercury-containing devices that are collected.
“I think public awareness has definitely been growing over the last several years, but we need to gauge that to determine if there's a trend,” she said.