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NEWS
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News Release |
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Mercury reclamation program honored by National Safety Council BOWLING GREEN, O.— Elemental mercury—the quicksilver of legend that has fascinated people over the ages—is actually a potent
neurotoxin that poses a significant health risk when inhaled. Bowling Green State University’s Environmental Health and Safety
Department is being recognized this month for its efforts to remove the dangerous metal from the environment.
The Elemental Mercury Collection and Reclamation Program has been chosen for an Award of Recognition by the Campus Safety,
Health and Environmental Management Association, a division of the National Safety Council. The award will be conferred at
the International Conference on Campus Safety in Nashville, Tenn., on July 15.
Since the program began in January 1998, more than 6,000 pounds of mercury has been retrieved. There has only been one month
in which BGSU was not called upon, according to David Heinlen, BGSU safety and health coordinator. The program has removed
sources of elemental mercury from numerous counties around the state plus eastern Indiana, southern Michigan and western Pennsylvania.
A cooperative effort between the University and four of the five regional Environmental Protection Agency offices, Rader Environmental
Services, Toledo Environmental Services and Ohio Spill Planning, Prevention and Emergency Response Association, the partners
work together to locate, pick up and recycle mercury found in homes, schools, hospitals and businesses.
A notable call came from a Columbus family who had about 240 pounds of mercury, Heinlen said.
The BGSU program was created as a community outreach effort to safely collect and recycle the dangerous substance, which is
found in a surprising number of items in everyday life, Heinlen said.
From fever and scientific thermometers to thermostats, pressure gauges and hood and trunk lights in cars, mercury is all around
us because it is a very useful element, he said. But when it gets loose, it vaporizes at room temperature and can cause brain
damage and developmental disabilities and can impair motor skills.
“It has a greater impact on developing central nervous systems, especially in young children,” Heinlen said. In cases of exposure
to high amounts, it can cause death, he added.
BGSU is also part of the Ohio Mercury Reduction Group. The goal is to replace mercury-containing items with equivalent, non-mercury
containing materials, Heinlen said.
The Environmental Health and Safety Department instructs the owners of the mercury how to safely package it before it is collected,
consolidates it when necessary in safe containers at BGSU’s Hazardous Waste Storage Facility and has it delivered to Environmental
Recycling Inc. in Bowling Green, an EPA-regulated private company.
As part of its educational outreach, Environmental Health and Science has produced a video that has been distributed around
the United States in which, through use of a short-wave ultraviolet light, mercury vapors can be seen dispersing into the
air.
To learn more about the Elemental Mercury Collection and Reclamation Program, visit www.bgsu.edu/offices/envhs/environmental_health/mercury/program.htm.
(Posted August 18, 2003 )
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