Reducing mercury use

The hospital substituted equipment that uses mercury with electronic and mercury-free equipment and eliminated mercury com

For its efforts, the hospital was a 1999 winner of New York Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention.

NYWEA gave the hospital an award for industrial pollution prevention. In 1999 the project also won a USEPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Award.

The mercury reduction program was developed at the initiative of the Monroe County Health Department in response to mercury discharges to the Rochester Embayment Watershed of Lake Ontario and mercury contamination of fish in Lake Ontario. Principals in this effort were Margy Peet and Carole Beal of the Health Department and Marvin Stillman of the U of R.

The Health Department, with the assistance of staff at Strong and the County Department of Environmental Services, prepared a how-to manual entitled Reducing Mercury Use in Health Care: Promoting a Healthier Environment. Funding for the effort was through USEPA. Although written for hospitals, the manual is also applicable to medical clinics and nursing homes. A booklet for dentists, Use Best Management Practices for Amalgam Handling and Recycling, was prepared by the Health Department, staff of the County Department of Environmental Services, and the Eastman Dental Center and Strong's Department of Dentistry. The art department of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle designed a colorful poster to accompany the booklet. The manual, booklet, and poster are free and available while supplies last. Call 716-292-3935.

Click here, for an online version of the manual.