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Mercury
Work Group
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For more information,
contact David Eppstein by email at
deppstein@masco.harvard.edu,
or by calling 617-632-2860.
II. REAGENT IDENTIFICATION
Problem Definition:
At the outset of this Work Group process, many hospitals were
unknowingly using and discharging mercury because they were not
aware that certain products in use within their clinical and
research procedures contained mercury. Given the similarity of
the types of laboratory activities conducted by these institutions,
this was perceived as a common problem with, potentially, a common
solution. Chemical reagents, in particular, used with regularity
in a wide range of laboratory testing, were suspected of being
likely sources of mercury contamination.
The problem was compounded by the fact that the traditional methods
of obtaining information on the composition of these products
would prove to be inadequate. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS),
for example, are not required to list the hazardous components
of a product unless that component is present at a level of 1%
(0.1% for carcinogens). This means that a particular product could
contain up to 10,000 parts per million of mercury before the manufacturer
would have to alert the users of that fact. In addition, there
has not been any significant pressure brought to bear to encourage
vendors and suppliers to manufacture and market "mercury
free" alternatives.
Approach:
In attempting to compile a comprehensive list of all products
being used by the various facilities, a reagent identification
survey was developed by the Subcommittee and distributed to the
Membership (Appendix A). Each of the Member Hospitals and Institutions
was asked to provide as much information as possible regarding
the products in use within their facility and return the questionnaire
to the MWRA for subsequent entry into a Master Database. Requested
information included the facility name, the product manufacturer,
supplier, the chemical name, the CAS (chemical abstract service)
number, the approximate annual volume used, how the product was
being managed (either haul or dump), where the product was being
used (clinical, research, other), whether the mercury content
had been checked (via MSDS, vendor or laboratory) and, if so,
the results in ppb, and any other relevant comments. These categories
were used as the foundation for the development of the Master
Database discussed later in this Report.
In addition to the request for information solicited from the
Membership, the Operations Subcommittee agreed that the vendors
should be contacted directly and asked to provide complete information
about their products (inclusive of the "purity" of
the product component materials). Accordingly, a letter was sent
to 153 different vendors seeking their assistance in addressing
the environmental and compliance concerns facing the Member Hospitals
and Institutions and the MWRA. A follow-up letter was also sent
to reinforce the significance of this mercury issue and to establish
a deadline for receipt of the requested information. The letters,
as shown in Appendix B, listed the names of the Work Group participants
and described EPA, MWRA, State and Local governmental involvement
in the process as well as the prohibitions and enforcement actions
currently in effect. The letters also requested that suppliers
provide verification of product mercury content via the submission
of a state certified laboratory report. Finally, requests were
made of the vendors to include information on mercury free alternative
products or materials wherever possible.
The Subcommittee's next challenge was to develop a means of compiling
all of the information which would be collected. A database worksheet
was provided to the Member Hospitals and Institutions for review
and comment. Based on their input, the information was worked
into the Database in a way that would allow the information fields
to be manipulated by an individual facility to suit their own
particular needs. Some of the information that can now be readily
accessed includes: facility information; product name and CAS
number; manufacturer and/or supplier; address; contact; phone
number, disposal methods; laboratory where used; MSDS information;
mercury concentration; and, comments. Several additional fields
were also incorporated into the Database in anticipation of the
need for future expansions or specialized manipulation of contained
data. Though not currently used, these fields can be activated,
as required.
In an attempt to maximize the value of the Database, seventy-five
(75) of the most commonly used products within the Member Hospitals
and Institutions were selected and samples of each were submitted
to the MWRA Central Lab to be tested for mercury content (see
Appendix C). The analysis results for these priority chemicals
that have been generated by the MWRA lab thus far, is included
as Appendix D. Due to the size of the overall Mercury Products
Database, only that portion of it which contains those chemicals
and products that have been verified, to date, to contain mercury
at some level, has been included in Appendix E.
The entire Database is available to the general public through
the MWRA and can be received in the following formats:
- Hg database in a dBase III Plus
Format
- Hg database with the dBase III Plus Hg Application
- Hg database in ASCII Format
Findings:
Thus far, there have been 61 replies to the 153 vendors letters
that were mailed and responses continue to arrive, though slowly.
Vendor response has been varied and a spreadsheet, presented as
Appendix F, provides a summary of the responses received to date.
A total of 5,504 entries have been recorded into the Master Database
using both vendor and member responses to requests for information.
The current statistics for the Database are as follows:
- Number of records that contain mercury data: 781
- Number of records with mercury concentrations below detection (BD): 166
- Number of records with mercury concentrations BD-1 ppb: 43
- Number of records with mercury concentrations 1-5 ppb: 53
- Number of records with mercury concentrations 5-10 ppb: 19
- Number of records with mercury concentrations > 10 ppb:
469
- Number of records under review of concentration data: 31
The information included in the present database is current as
of June, 1995. The MWRA will endeavor to update the file periodically
and updated disk copies will be sent out to the Member Hospitals
and Institutions on a semi-annual basis. Eventually, the MWRA
hopes to be able to distribute the Database information electronically
via an on-line service. To facilitate this updating process, all
Member Hospitals and Institutions should continue to provide mercury
content information on products to the MWRA as it becomes available.
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