Toxics in Vehicles: Mercury
Implications for Recycling and Disposal
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The United States had a record 210 million automobiles on the road in 1999,
up 15 million from 1994, and the total for all of North America in 1996 was
more than 235 million. Each year, some 12 million of these vehicles are retired
from useful life. Many of the materials used in their production create problems
along the way, either in the vehicleÕs manufacture, use or end-of-life. This
report examines the historic and continuing use of the highly toxic metal mercury
in automobiles and estimates its releases to the environment from end-of-life
vehicle (ELV) processing. The report will show that emissions from vehicle recycling
and disposal processes are one of the largest sources of mercury contamination
to the environment. The report also examines strategies for cleaner production
and proposes key policy solutions to eliminate mercury hazards from both new
and existing vehicles.
Mercury in Automotive Applications
Government agencies, and the automotive industry as well, have acknowledged
concerns with automotive mercury use since the early 1990s. In 1995, a Task
Force convened by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources determined that
mercury switches were responsible for more than 99 percent of mercury use in
automobiles - primarily in hood and trunk lighting, but also in antilock braking
systems (ABS). As part of that process, automakers agreed to voluntarily phase
out mercury switches within a few years and to educate auto recyclers on how
to remove switches from existing vehicles.
Five years after the task force findings, however, mercury continues to be used
in lighting switches and its use has even increased in ABS applications. The
North American vehicle fleet may now contain as many as 250 million switches
that, if not removed and properly managed, could release as much as 200 metric
tons of mercury into the environment, causing harm to human health and wildlife.
Specific findings of this study include:
- Mercury-containing switches account for more than 99 percent of the mercury
used in automobiles, with each switch containing approximately 0.8 grams of
mercury.
- Approximately 11.2 tons of mercury were used in U.S.-made vehicles in 1996,
with an average of 1.06 switches per vehicle.
- An estimated 215 million mercury switches (and perhaps as many as 250 million)
in vehicles currently on the road account for some 172 to 200 metric tons
of mercury.
- The 12 million vehicles disposed of annually in the United States and Canada
contain an estimated 8.8 to 10.2 metric tons of mercury (U.S. ELVs alone contain
8 to 9.4 metric tons of mercury).
- While the use of mercury in convenience lighting switches declined some
62 to 77 percent since 1996, mercury use for ABS applications appears to have
increased by at least 130 percent and perhaps by as much as 180 percent.
- Other uses of mercury in automobiles, such as high intensity discharge headlamps,
navigational displays, and family entertainment systems, also appear to be
on the rise.
- Automakers have never fully disclosed their historical uses of mercury nor
specific vehicle models that contain mercury.
Mercury Releases from Auto Recycling Facilities
The first stop for most retired vehicles is an automotive dismantler. This can
include high-value parts dismantlers or a common auto scrap yard. Once salvageable
parts are removed, vehicle hulks are sent to shredder facilities where ferrous
(steel) and nonferrous metals are recovered, or sent directly to electric arc
furnaces (EAFs) as steel scrap. These EAFs use electrical energy to melt the scrap
to make new steel products. During these dismantling and recycling processes,
multiple opportunities exist for mercury contained in vehicles to be released
to the environment.
While removal of mercury switches from convenience lighting applications is a
fairly simple procedure, very little known recovery actually occurs. Even less
likely is recovery of ABS mercury switches. This report analyzed recent emissions
data from one shredder facility, four EAF facilities in three states, and three
other steel smelting facilities (the only recent data available). The data confirm
that significant mercury emissions occur at shredder and metal recovery facilities,
where most, if not all, of the mercury from vehicles is currently released to
the environment. Using national emissions estimates derived from these data, EAFs
appear to be the single largest manufacturing source of mercury air emissions
in the United States, and the fourth largest of all anthropogenic sources.
Specific findings include:
- The bulk of mercury releases from retired vehicles occur from melting contaminated
scrap steel in EAFs. Mercury air emissions from U.S. EAFs are estimated in
this study at 15.6 metric tons per year, of which mercury from automobiles
is likely the single largest contributing source.
- EAFs constitute the largest manufacturing source of mercury air emissions
in the United States, larger than all other manufacturing sources combined.
EAFs also constitute the fourth largest of all mercury air emission sources,
behind coal-fired utilities, municipal waste incinerators and commercial/industrial
boilers (all combustion sources).
- Potential mercury air emissions from Canadian and Mexican EAFs are estimated
at seven metric tons per year, but this estimate is more uncertain due to
the absence of data in these countries.
- Some of the mercury in vehicles is also released at auto shredder facilities,
either as an emission to the air or as a contaminant in waste material (i.e.,
"auto shredder residue"). At the only combined shredder/EAF facility where
a mercury mass balance has been performed, mercury releases from the shredder
accounted for more than 20 percent of the total.
- Mercury can also be released at auto scrap yards. There are approximately
10,000 to 14,000 auto scrap yards in the United States and Canada, many of
which have been designated as environmental contamination sites (some with
known mercury contamination).
- The vast majority of EAFs, shredders and scrap yards in North America are
neither monitored nor regulated for mercury pollution.
Strategies for Clean Production and the Need for Producer Responsibility
Automakers can prevent mercury emissions from retired vehicles if they employ
clean production principles. This means designing vehicles to avoid the use of
toxic substances like mercury in the first place and accepting responsibility
for the hazards of their vehicles even after they are sold. Furthermore, a range
of public and private policy initiatives must be started to reduce the threat
from vehicle-related mercury pollution.
Automakers can halt the proliferation of toxic contaminants in vehicles by utilizing
"design for environment" approaches that consider life cycle environmental impacts
in a product's development. This should also include development of supplier specifications
and material tracking systems to ensure that toxic substances like mercury are
not used in parts supplied to auto manufacturers. Automakers can also voluntarily
accept responsibility for hazards posed by their products at the end of their
useful lives through product take-backs or by providing funding for a separate
mercury collection and recovery system.
Governments can move to protect human and environmental health by instituting
policies that promote cleaner production practices. The European Union (EU) has
recently taken a major step in this direction by adopting the End-of-Life Vehicle
Directive, which requires the phaseout of most applications of mercury and other
heavy metals. The Directive also gives automakers financial responsibility and
sets recycling targets for ELVs. Some U.S. states, such as Vermont and Minnesota,
have required the labeling of mercury-added products (including automobile components)
or restricted mercury-containing products from entering the waste stream. Northeast
states are now collectively considering comprehensive mercury legislation, which
would restrict sales, ban disposal, and provide a collection scheme for mercury-added
products.
Although North American-based automakers pledged in 1995 to phase-out mercury-containing
switches, their use has continued into the new millennium. There has also been
little progress toward removing these switches from the existing vehicle fleet.
By contrast, European-sold automobiles have not contained mercury switches since
1993, when mercury use was banned in Sweden. This suggests that proactive government
policies may be the more effective approach to achieving clean production ends.
With Europe setting the standard, it is time for North American governments to
take action now to reduce mercury hazards from end-of-life vehicles.
Recommendations
Based on these findings, the following actions should be taken to eliminate mercury
hazards from retired vehicles:
- Elimination of Mercury Switches from New Cars and Trucks: Automakers should
immediately eliminate the use of mercury switches in the production of new
cars and trucks to stop the introduction of new sources of mercury into the
end-of-life vehicle waste stream.
- Producer Responsibility for Mercury Switch Removal, Collection and Replacement:
Automobile producers should take responsibility for the removal and safe collection
of mercury switches from the millions of vehicles in the existing fleet. This
should include replacement of switches in vehicles on the road, where feasible,
as well as full disclosure of historical uses of mercury.
- Phaseout of Other Uses of Mercury in Vehicles: Automakers should begin a
phaseout of other uses of mercury in vehicles, following a timetable comparable
to requirements in the EU ELV Directive.
- Labeling of Vehicles Containing Mercury: Automakers should label all new
vehicles containing mercury, until such use has been fully phased out. Both
mercury-containing parts as well as the vehicle itself should be labeled.
- Upgraded Environmental Standards for Automotive Recycling Facilities: Federal,
state, and provincial governments in the United States and Canada should upgrade
environmental standards for ELV management by scrap yards, shredders, EAFs,
and other metals recovery facilities that process automotive scrap. In particular,
they should: 1) require processors to remove and safely recover mercury-containing
products before shredding or otherwise processing ELVs, and 2) establish and
enforce mercury emission standards for metals recycling and recovery facilities
with high mercury emissions, such as EAFs.
Additional background information and full versions of the reports are available
for viewing or downloading on-line, at:
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