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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July
12, 2001
Pollution
Probe calls on Health Canada to
ban sale of mercury thermometers
(Toronto,
ON)
Pollution Probe is calling on Health Canada to ban the sale of mercury
fever thermometers, under the Hazardous Products Act, based on information
from a new report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that
states that inhalation of mercury vapour from a broken thermometer will cause
toxicity.
According
to the report, mercury “should not be present in the home or other
environment of children.” The report encourages parents “to remove mercury
thermometers from their homes.”
The report concludes that ‘mercury in all of its forms is toxic to
the fetus and children” and significant exposure can result in effects
ranging from ‘learning disabilities to devastating neurologic problems.”
“The
report makes it conclusive that the use of mercury in products, such as
thermometers, poses an unnecessary risk to the health of children,” Bruce
Lourie, Pollution Probe’s Mercury Programme Director says.
“Steps should be taken immediately to eliminate this source of
potential exposure.
Health Canada must stop stalling and take action to protect Canadians
from the poisonous effects of mercury.”
Executive
director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)
Kapil Khatter states that physicians in Canada recognize mercury as one of the
most hazardous substances known.
“It’s shocking that despite the availability of alternatives,
manufacturers are permitted using the toxin in products we place in
children’s mouths.
It’s even more shocking that Health Canada still allows this
practice.”
Mercury-containing
thermometers, and other household products, are already banned or seriously
restricted by Sweden and several US states and cities, including Maine, New
Hampshire, Duluth, and Ann Arbor.
Mercury
is used in a variety of household products, including fever thermometers,
thermostats, automobiles, and dental amalgam.
Pollution
Probe encourages consumers to purchase non-mercury containing products, and
drop off any mercury-containing devices at their local hazardous waste depot.
Pollution
Probe is one of Canada’s leading environmental organizations and has been
actively working on its Mercury Programme since 1994.
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For
more information:
Bruce
Lourie, Pollution Probe Mercury Programme Director
(416) 922-9038 x22
www.pollutionprobe.org
Dr.
Kapil Khatter, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
(CAPE)
(416) 463-3080
American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report
www.aap.org
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