January 15, 2004

The Michigan Association for Local Public Health (MALPH) was recently added to the American Society of Association Executives’ 2004 Honor Roll, for its contribution to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s (MDEQ’s) “Catch the Fever,” Michigan Mercury Thermometer Exchange Program.

The “Catch the Fever” Program is a partnership that provides incentives for the public to turn in their mercury thermometers, as well as other mercury-containing devices they may possess. In addition to receiving a mercury free digital thermometer, participants also receive educational materials describing the dangers of mercury and a chance to speak with a mercury expert. “Getting mercury out of households prevents potentially dangerous mercury spills and resulting unnecessary environmental exposures,” said MDEQ Director Steven Chester. “Broken mercury thermometers can endanger both public health and the environment.”

This successful partnership began as a result of a pilot thermometer exchange program initiated by the MDEQ five years ago. The MDEQ subsequently secured federal grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA’s) Great Lakes National Program Office for statewide expansion of the program. Since that time, the “Catch the Fever” Program has supplied more than 31,000 digital thermometers to sixty-seven mercury thermometer exchange programs across Michigan. These programs are typically hosted by municipalities, hospitals, health departments, schools, and businesses. The popular program continues to grow and anyone is eligible to host a mercury thermometer exchange program. PA 578 of 2002 has made it illegal to sell a thermometer containing mercury as of January 1, 2003.

Thermometer exchanges have become a convenient, popular, and cost-effective method to retrieve and safely manage mercury-containing devices. The MALPH/MDEQ partnership has resulted in more than 40,000 mercury-containing devices, and over one thousand pounds of free-flowing liquid elemental mercury successfully recovered from the public’s medicine cabinets, basements, storage sheds, attics, and garages. In addition to thermometers, people have also turned in other mercury-containing devices, such as barometers, thermostats, manometers, thermocouples, esophageal dilators, and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure devices).

The USEPA grant has also funded the collection of mercury-containing devices at fifteen Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Clean Sweep Program sites located throughout the state. People having mercury or mercury-containing devices can drop off those articles at no charge, after first contacting their local Clean Sweep site. Those desiring to locate a Clean Sweep site may contact the MDEQ Environmental Assistance Center, at 800-662-9278, or visit: www.mi.gov/deq, then select: “Pollution Prevention,” “Initiatives for Business,” “Mercury P2,” “Where to take mercury and mercury containing devices,” then “Mercury and Pesticides drop-off sites.”

Others wishing to host an exchange event or have questions about upcoming thermometer exchanges in their area should contact the MALPH, at 517-485-0660, or visit: www.malph.org .

Editor’s Note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at http://www.deq.state.mi.us)

Revised January 15, 2004 by Scott Olin