The Senate voted on September 5 to ban the sale of mercury fever thermometers in order to curb a source of environmental contamination. The Senate unanimously sent The Mercury Reduction and Disposal Act to the US House of Representatives for concurrence.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates medical mercury thermometers contribute about 17 tons of mercury to solid waste per year, said Sen. Susan Collins, a chief sponsor of the measure.

The bill calls for a nationwide ban on the sale of such thermometers as well as a grant program to help consumers exchange them for digital models or other alternatives.

"Thermometers contain about one gram of mercury, which is enough to contaminate a 20-acre lake, and thereby require fish advisories," said Michael Bender, Director of the Mercury Policy Project, a project formed to raise awareness of the dangers of mercury contamination. "While ten states have banned mercury thermometer sales, we need a comprehensive national -- and global -- strategy to eliminate all mercury uses and keep surplus quantities out of commerce."

The bill would also create an interagency task force, headed by the EPA, to address the problem of the global circulation of mercury and ways to reduce the mercury threat.

Mercury Policy Project, Press Release, June 2002

Health Care Without Harm, Press Release, September 2002