Mercury Unnecessary in Many Consumer Products
The U.S. EPA has concluded that mercury is not a necessary ingredient in a number of consumer products, and subsequently developed a searchable database of products that contain mercury and possible non-mercury alternatives.
Mercury is a commonly known ingredient in many thermometers and thermostats, but it’s also found in batteries, fluorescent lamps and the switches in cars and electronics. It can be used as a corrosion inhibitor along with other heavy metals like lead.
Mercury poses both a health concern and an environmental concern. Because it is colorless and odorless, it is hard to clean up. If a mercury-containing product breaks, it can damage the kidneys and nervous system if inhaled. If these products break in a landfill, the mercury can contaminate soil and groundwater. For this reason, recycling is the prescribed solution for any products containing mercury.
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Computers for All - HP Pavilion TX1000 Entertainment Tablet
posted on November 9th, 2008 at 5:17 am
[...] Mercury Unnecessary in Many Consumer Products – Earth911.com [...]
brent
posted on December 23rd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I am a firm believer in green technology, however the state or federal goverment better soon do something with the cost of treating all flourescent lamps. As an electrical contractor i would much rather see LED lighting or incandescent with dimmers. There would be no enviroment concearn.
Brent Eggers