The Benefits of Recycling Mercury Products

While baby boomers may fondly recall playing with mercury in chemistry class, mercury handling is strictly off-limits in today’s classrooms – and with good reason.

Stewardship

First and foremost, the main benefit of recycling products which contain mercury is preventing further exposure of mercury to our environment. By allowing these products to reach landfills, we unnecessarily risk releasing mercury into the air through incineration of waste and evaporation of water (through leaching of groundwater). Once in our environment, mercury cannot be removed.

Mercury is a prevalent neurotoxin in our world, which exists organically in the form of methylmercury. When it collects in seafood through a process known as “bioaccumulation,” or when it exists in the air that we breathe, methylmercury, in even the smallest amounts, can seriously damage our health.

Ever wonder why the Mad Hatter from Lewis Caroll’s book Alice in Wonderland seemed a bit, well, mad? Once upon a time, hatters used mercury in the felting process. With so much exposure, neurological damage developed. According to the Illinois Department of Health, exposure to methylmercury can manifest symptoms in the central nervous system, which may include tremors, psychological changes, insomnia and short-term memory loss.

In addition to prevention, recycling mercury encourages stewardship of our current supply by discouraging further depletion of natural reserves. According to Danish political scientist Björn Lomborg, “we can recycle metals and thereby further increase the reserves… Metals, in contrast to energy, do not perish but only change form and location with use.”

Development

Additionally, since methylmercury is a fat-soluble substance, it can easily enter the blood of a developing fetus. This direct exposure can influence a child’s cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language and fine motor and visual spatial skills, permanently affecting and altering the child’s development.

The bottom line: As we recycle mercury, we limit the exposure of our water, air and people to unnecessary health risks associated with mercury. To help do your part, recycle mercury products using Earth911.