At its meeting this past Tuesday, the Suffolk County Legislature approved a bill authored by Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Huntington) banning the sale of fever thermometers that use mercury, one of the most poisonous substances on earth.
Cooper, citing statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency, told the Legislature that mercury poisoning is a serious problem in the Northeast. EPA statistics indicate mercury that escapes from broken thermometers can be deposited in lakes and rivers, where it can be transformed into highly toxic methylmercury. This threat increases when waste containing mercury is burned in an incinerator.
"In this day and age there is no need for mercury fever thermometers, which pose an unnecessary threat to our environment," Cooper said after the Legislature approved the bill at a meeting in Riverhead. "There are plenty of safe alternatives, including digital thermometers. This legislation retires an arcane means of measuring temperatures in Suffolk. Hopefully, the State of New York will follow our lead and enact a similar ban statewide."
Even trace amounts of methylmercury in a body of water can lead to dangerous levels of methylmercury in fish. Human fetuses that are exposed to the toxic substance when their mothers eat fish are at increased risks of birth defects. Mercury contamination can also pose other serious health threats to those who eat large amounts of fish.
According to the EPA, a typical fever thermometer contains about one gram of mercury, enough to contaminate a 20-acre lake. A leading manufacturer of mercury fever thermometers estimates that 4.3 tons of mercury contained in thermometers are sold every year.
