Partnership for Mercury Free Vehicles
Partners: Automotive Recyclers Association / Clean Car Campaign / Clean Production Network / Great Lakes United / Ecology Center / Environmental Defense / Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. / Mercury Policy Project / Steel Manufacturers Association / Steel Recycling Institute
Fact Sheet: Mercury
What is Mercury?
- Mercury (Hg), also known as quicksilver, is a heavy metal highly toxic to humans and wildlife that can cause permanent brain damage and may play a role in disorders such as autism.
- Mercury exists in small quantities in Earth's crust, and is released from volcanic eruptions and deep sea vents. It also is released in the burning of fossil fuels and products containing mercury, and in manufacturing processes.
- Mercury is found in many consumer products, from lights in homes and automobiles to thermometers.
How Does Mercury Get Into The Environment?
- Mercury is released into the air from smoke stacks or other sources. Because it doesn't break down over time, mercury can travel long distances before it falls to the ground with rain or other precipitation, entering soil and water.
- People are exposed to mercury through the food chain. Fish are susceptible to mercury contamination because they process contaminated water through their bodies. Since mercury concentrations increase up the food chain, top predator fish, such as salmon, lake trout and walleye, may have mercury concentrations more than a million times higher than the surrounding water.
- Mercury advisories have been issued for more than 50,000 bodies of water in 40 states.
- A minute amount of mercury can contaminate a large body of water. For example, 1/70th of a teaspoon can contaminate a 25-acre lake, making its fish unsafe to eat.
How Dangerous Is Mercury?
- Children age six and younger and developing fetuses are most at risk. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates more than 7 million women and children consume fish contaminated by mercury at or above safe levels.
- An estimated 390,000 babies born each year are at risk of neurological problems from exposure to mercury in the womb, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Recent information obtained from the Food and Drug Administration indicates its own seafood mercury monitoring program is woefully inadequate, and that mercury contamination may be more severe than previously thought.
Efforts To Remove Mercury From The Environment?
Growing recognition of the dangers of mercury have prompted efforts to remove the toxin from consumer products and the environment.
- Bills to cut power plant pollution, including mercury, have been introduced in the U.S. Congress.
- Mercury product legislation has been passed in at least four states, and a comprehensive bill to eliminate and retire mercury from consumer products, including automobiles, has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.
- Maine has introduced legislation that would require auto makers to take responsibility for collecting and safely disposing of mercury in vehicles.
- The Partnership for Mercury-Free Vehicles, a coalition of environmental and industry groups, has asked auto makers to stop using mercury in vehicles and take responsibility for the more than 150 tons of mercury in vehicles already on the road.
- Eight states and 15 municipalities have pledged to sell only mercury-free thermometers. National legislation to institute a mercury thermometer ban and collection program also has been introduced.
- In 2001 the National Academy of Sciences urged steps be taken to further reduce the use of thimerosal, mercury-containing vaccines.
