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June 18 2001
Pollution Probe partnership to launch MERC Switch-Out
to remove mercury switches from old cars
(Toronto, June 18, 2001)– Somebody has found a
way to capture “quicksilver”. As
part of its Mercury Elimination and
Reduction Challenge (MERC), Pollution Probe and funding partners announced
today Canada’s first program to collect mercury switches from vehicles.
Selected auto dismantlers in Ontario will be participating in the MERC Switch-Out,
removing and recycling mercury-containing switches which control the hood and
trunk lights in many automobiles, as part of a pilot test to reduce mercury
emissions. An estimated 200kg of
mercury, from more than 200,000 light switches, is released into the
environment each year in Ontario alone from the crushing and recycling of old
cars.
“This program is a Canadian first,” said Ken Ogilvie,
executive director at Pollution Probe. “It
is an important step to reducing the mercury that is in circulation today.”
Mercury is a highly toxic substance. Only one gram (the
amount in one vehicle switch) can contaminate a 20-acre lake for one year to
the point where fish should not be eaten.
Mercury in low levels affects the nervous system and reproduction,
making young children and pregnant mothers and their fetuses most susceptible
to mercury poisoning.
Through the partnership with Ontario Power Generation,
the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada, Pollution
Probe has brought aboard 11 auto dismantlers who are part of the Ontario
Automotive Recyclers Association to participate in a pilot project to remove
and recycle mercury switches between June and October 2001.
There are more than 15 tonnes of mercury bound up in
automobiles on the road in Canada, accounting for 15 to 20% of the mercury
currently in Canadian commerce. Over the next 15 years virtually 100% of this
mercury will be released to the environment in the absence of a collection
system.
“This exciting partnership demonstrates how real environmental
improvements can be made one switch at a time,” said Ontario Environment
Minister Elizabeth Witmer.
“It is my hope that this program can expand across Ontario and indeed
across Canada.”
"Programs
like MERC Switch-Out recognize that mercury emission reductions are
best achieved through a pollution prevention approach,” said Environment
Minister David Anderson.
“This project will help in our national efforts to reduce the impact
of mercury on the environment and human health.”
"Ontario
Power Generation is pleased to be a partner in this cooperative program to
reduce mercury in the environment.
It complements our efforts to fund and support leading edge research
and the development of economically viable technology to remove mercury from
our fossil fuelled station emissions," said Graham Brown, OPG's Chief
Operating Officer.
The MERC Switch-Out is Pollution Probe’s first
action based program to address the pervasive use of mercury in consumer and
industrial products through a collection programme. Along with an objective of
collecting five kilograms of mercury, Pollution Probe’s project goal is to
test the infrastructure for removal and collection, determine the makes and
models of vehicles which contain mercury switches, and determine the time and
costs to expand the program provincially and nationally.
In addition to its use in automobiles, mercury is still
widely used in products like thermometers, thermostats, dental amalgam and
lighting apparatus.
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For
more information contact:
Leah
Hagreen, Pollution Probe, 416-922-9038 x 25
Ken
Ogilive, Pollution Probe, 416-926-1907 x231
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