Health officials discourage use of mercury thermometers
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Parents and pediatricians should not use mercury fever thermometers because accidental breakage could be harmful to children's health, the American Academy of Pediatrics has advised.
The mercury in a single thermometer — 0.6 to 2.25 grams — is unlikely to pose significant danger to a child, "but the vapors aren't healthy, and there's been a growing recognition that we need to stop all unnecessary exposure to mercury," said Johns Hopkins University pediatrician Lynn Goldman, senior author of the new policy.
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County numbers to call for information on proper disposal of thermometers, blood-pressure gauges and other devices that may contain mercury:
O'ahu (808) 523-4774
Maui (808) 270-7875
Kaua'i (808) 241-6880
Big Island (808) 961-8339.
However, people should not simply toss thermometers, blood-pressure gauges or other devices containing mercury into their household trash, said Hawai'i public works officials. (For proper disposal, see the list of phone numbers at the end of this article.)
Should such so-called elementary mercury get thrown in with the household trash, it could end up in landfills. It could also be released into the environment and be transformed into a more lethal form of mercury, where it could be ingested by humans, said Linda Rosen, medical director of the Family Health Services Division of the state Health Department.
Overexposure to mercury can cause learning disabilities, impair kidney and immune function and, in extreme cases, lead to loss of sight and hearing, said pediatrician Sophie Balk of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Fetuses and young children are particularly vulnerable.
