Sustainable Hospitals - Amounts of Mercury in Hospital Equipment

Amounts of Mercury in Hospital Equipment

Just how much mercury is there in hospital equipment? Many hospitals ask this question in order to prioritize mercury reduction efforts and to understand the potential for a mercury release if there is a spill.

An estimate of mercury content in medical devices and facility equipment is shown in the following tables. Note that these are estimates and that variations may exist by manufacturer or even model.

Table 1. Mercury in Medical Devices
Collated by Bill Ravanesi of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)
Medical Device Approximate amount of Hg

Consumer fever thermometers 0.5 g - 1.5 g

Hospital laboratory thermometers 3 g - 4 g

Wall blood pressure units and floor portable units 110 - 200 g

Maloney or Hurst bougies (esophageal dilators)^{1, 2} A tube may contain as much as
3 pounds (1361 g) of mercury

Cantor tubes¹ 54 g - 136 g

Miller Abbott tubes¹ 136 g

Dennis tubes¹ 136 g

Foley catheter¹ 68 g

This information was taken from the Medical Device Reporting System (MDR) of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). MDRs are case reports of life-threatening medical device failures.
Maloney and Hurst bougies are approximately 30 inches long and have a variety of diameters (0.2-0.8 inches). They are commonly found in operating rooms, gastrointestinal labs, and endoscopy departments.

Table 2. **Mercury in Building Products**
*Collated by Todd Dresser of the Burlington, Massachusetts, Board of Health*
*Building Product*	*Approximate amount of Hg*
Fluorescent light bulbs	10 - 50 mg per tube, depending on size and model
High intensity discharge (HID) lamps	10 - 250 mg
Thermostats	3 grams per switch (Some units have as many as 6 switches)
Mercury switches, including: mechanical/tilt switches, reed switches, float switches	3.5 grams - 8 pounds per switch
Flow meters	Often 11 pounds or more
Flame sensors	3 g
Gas regulators and meters	Older gas meters contain approximately 2 g - 4 g of mercury
Boiler guage controls	Some boilers contain 23 pounds - 75 pounds of mercury

For more information about mercury, visit the following websites:

http://www.sustainablehospitals.org
The Sustainable Hospitals Project (SHP) website provides information on alternatives to mercury containing products. You may also contact the SHP at 978-934-3386 or by email at shp@uml.edu.

http://208.58.133.9/health/Mercury.htm
The Burlington (Massachusetts) Board of Health website contains mercury educational materials and identification guides, as well as case studies describing mercury recovery efforts targeting local businesses, residents, and schools.

http://www.noharm.org
Health Care Without Harm works with the health care industry in pollution prevention initiatives, including the phase-out of mercury-containing products. HCWH's online mercury resources include the brochures "Mercury Thermometers and Your Family's Health" and "How to Plan and Hold a Mercury Thermometer Exchange" for hospitals, schools or community.

The Sustainable Hospitals Project thanks Bill Ravanesi (HCWH) and Todd Dresser (Burlington, Massachusetts, Board of Health) for their contributions to this fact sheet.

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