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Department of Ecology News Release - October 16, 2006
06-213
BELLEVUE - Hospital employees and hazardous waste managers will gather in Shoreline on Oct. 24 to learn how to better manage toxic chemicals, reduce waste, save water and energy, and purchase items that do less harm to the environment.
The Hospital and Clinical Waste Reduction and Management conference is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Oct.24, at the Shoreline Conference Center, 18560 1st Ave NE, Shoreline.
Jointly sponsored by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the Washington State Hospital Association, the conference is an continuation of a program that began in 2005, which won Ecology a "Champion for Change" award from H2E, Hospitals for a Healthy Environment http://www.h2e-online.org/ .
"This program helped bring our policies and procedures up to date and we've changed many of the ways we do business," said Randy Benson, a conference speaker and Safety Officer with Empire Health Services, which manages Deaconess and Valley hospitals in Spokane. "We separate our waste to manage it more safely, changed the way we handle sharps (needles) and we are using a less toxic material to sterilize equipment."
H2E is a national, voluntary organization that helps healthcare facilities improve safety, reduce waste and waste-disposal costs, and become better environmental stewards. Hospitals are signed up as "Partners for Change" and pledge to virtually eliminate mercury in the facilities.
In Western Washington, the Partners for Change hospitals include Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Franciscan Health System (St. Joseph Medical Center, St. Clare Hospital and St. Francis Hospital), Harrison East Bremerton, Madigan Army Medical Center, Mark Reed Hospital, Naval Hospital Bremerton, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Puget Sound Health Care Systems - Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, and the University of Washington Medical Center.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Ecology and the Washington State Hospital Association is guiding projects to eliminate mercury and other waste. The MOU will be in effect through June 2007.
Mercury is a primary target because it is highly toxic and has many uses in the healthcare industry. Mercury is in products such as thermometers, dilation and feeding tubes, batteries, fluorescent lamps, thermostats, and bleach.
There is approximately one gram of mercury in a typical fever thermometer. This is enough mercury to contaminate a 20-acre lake to the degree that fish would be unsafe to eat. Safer alternatives to most mercury-containing products are currently available.
Mercury is a reproductive and neurological toxin, and hospitals contribute four to five percent of the total mercury in waste water. It is Ecology's and the Hospital Association's goal to safely remove mercury from hospitals and keep in out of the environment.
For more information on the conference, go to http://www.ecy.wa.gov/mercury/hospitals/workshop.html on the Web.
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Media Contacts:
Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7009
Jenny Yoo, hazardous waste and toxics reduction program, 425-649-7166
Robb Menaul, senior vice president, Washington State Hospital Association, 206-216-2514
For more information:
Ecology's mercury Web site and Chemical Action Plan:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/mercury
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E):
http://www.h2e-online.org
http://1800recycle.wa.gov/
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
