  |
|
|
Department of Ecology News Release - September 19, 2006
06-190
OLYMPIA - Since June, automobile recyclers in Washington have collected from the hoods and trunks of junk vehicles more than 10,000 light switches that contain toxic mercury, preventing the toxic chemical from entering the environment.
When mercury switches are not removed, mercury escapes into the atmosphere as vehicles are crushed and later melted down for re-use.
Mercury can evaporate into the air where it can then be deposited into water and soil. Fish accumulate this mercury, which can in turn be a source of exposure to people who consume them. Children and fetuses are the most vulnerable to the effects of mercury in fish, which can impact learning and behavior later in life. The Washington State Department of Health urges all Washingtonians to keep eating fish while choosing from the many species that are low in mercury and other contaminants.
According to the Interstate Mercury Reduction and Education Clearinghouse, approximately one gram of mercury, the amount in a single fever thermometer and, is deposited to a 20-acre lake each year from the atmosphere. This small amount, over time, can contaminate the fish in that lake.
"Washington is one of the first states in the nation to establish a program to remove toxic mercury light switches from junk vehicles, and so far, the new program has been very successful," said Janice Adair of Department of Ecology (Ecology), who is leading the state's effort to reduce toxics in the environment. "We hope more of our state's auto recyclers join this program and that we keep up this great momentum to reduce toxic threats in Washington."
Adair said a national program, patterned after Washington's, is in the planning stages and will be implemented next year.
The Washington program started in June after Ecology signed an agreement with the Automotive Recyclers of Washington Association and End of Life Vehicle Solutions, which is an organization made up of vehicle manufacturers that used mercury switches. The agreement created a cooperative, voluntary, statewide program to collect mercury-containing switches.
Auto recyclers include dismantlers, wrecking yards and scrap metal processors.
The program is designed to prevent mercury releases to the environment that occur when recyclers crush, shred and melt vehicles. The mercury switches are one of the nation's largest sources of mercury contamination.
Washington state has set its collection goal at 100,000 auto mercury light switches in the first year of the program, according to Jan Brydsen, who is leading the project for Ecology. The goal signifies 220 pounds of mercury kept out of the environment since there is about one gram of mercury in each switch, she said.
Currently Washington has 140 auto salvage yards that are collecting the switch assemblies. The participating firms process more than 75 percent of the end-of-life vehicles in our state.
Auto recyclers who agree to voluntarily participate in the free program receive safety instructions about switch removal and collection/return containers so the toxic waste may be transported to an approved collection facility.
If auto recyclers would like to join the program, they may contact Ecology's Jan Brydsen at 509-575-2477.
Did you know?
More than half of the 250 licensed auto recyclers in Washington state have signed up for the program.
The participating firms process more than 75 percent of the state's discarded vehicles.
Approximately 200,000 vehicles are processed each year in Washington state.
The program is expected to remove 100,000 mercury switch pellets in the next year. That's 220 pounds of mercury!
Washington is fourth among states in the number of switches it has collected, following New York, California and Michigan.
# # #
Contact: Sandy Howard, public information manager, 360-407-6239
More information can be found on-line at:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0604013.pdf
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0504024.pdf
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
