Mercury Rising

Mercury exposure damages the brain and nervous system and is particularly dangerous to unborn children. Damage to children’s health ranges from delays in development of fine motor skills, poor memory and attention deficits. Exposure to mercury in adults is associated with increased risk of heart disease and infertility.

The amount of mercury found in the environment has increased significantly during the last 100 years through manufacturing products and processes. About 2/3 of the mercury in the atmosphere originates from coal burning power plants and garbage incinerators. For every 100 million tons of coal combusted 40 tons of mercury are produced and enter the atmosphere in the form of elemental mercury or coal ash in North America annually. Globally, the total annual coal consumption is in excess of 5 billion tons. North America alone accounts over 1,140 billion tons, or 23% of the global total. This results in over 4,600 tons of mercury being "dumped" into the environment each year!

In a study titled "Safe Eating Guidelines” the EPA and Environment Canada conservatively estimate that 25% of lakes and rivers are affected by mercury poisoning. In North America alone, 4,579 lakes (including the Great Lakes) and rivers have mercury advisories and are being monitored regularly, under advisory for mercury pollution. Mercury pollution has increased by 125% from 1993 to 2003 with a 28% increase from 1995 to 1996 alone!

Through the process of bio-accumulation small trace amounts of mercury can cause a fish such as rainbow trout to have a concentration of 150,000 times higher than the water surrounding it. A single gram of mercury is enough to contaminate a 20acre lake!

A mercury bulb thermostat can contain up to 6 grams of mercury. A mercury relay used for controlling electric heating loads can contain as much as 160 grams of mercury.

It is ironic that while the levels of mercury in the environment are going up every year, in 2000 the maximum safe dose level has been reduced by 22 times of that in 1975.

The U.S. EPA and Environment Canada’s “action level” in 1997 (the level the United States FDA and Health Canada may take legal action) to remove the product from the market has been 1.0ppm of mercury in fish tissue. Also ironic is the fact that the “action level” is the equivalent to 0.5 micrograms/kg/day exposure or 5 times the EPA acceptable “safe dose” level.

In excess of 10 % (over 20% in certain areas) of woman of child-bearing age exceed the 0.1 micrograms/kg/day reference dose. Applying this statistic across North America places over 70,000 babies at risk annually through consumption of mercury levels each year.
Although high levels of mercury exposure (greater than 0.021micrograms/kg) can cause severe health problems immediately, it is the accumulation however, of low quantities of mercury, that is the greatest risk to expectant mothers and their babies. In most chemical forms mercury is a neurotoxin, meaning that it will cause damage to the brain and central nervous system in fetuses and the lungs and kidneys in children aged 1-6. Methyl mercury, one of the most toxic forms of mercury, is known to affect learning ability and neural-development in children.

Viconics is committed to providing our customers with innovative, environmentally-friendly control solutions.

The electronic solid-state SSR relays and SCR power controllers we offer, are mercury-free and offer superior performance, comfort and energy savings compared to old technology electromechanical contactors and mercury relays.

All the electronic thermostats we manufacture are mercury-free and offer vastly superior performance to mercury switch bimetal sensing types. PI (proportional and integral), control setback thermostats as well as communicating thermostats can achieve up to 30% energy and operating cost savings with improved occupant comfort.

Using these advanced controls will result in a multi-facetted win-win solution that will prevent further environmental damage (by reducing the annual 5 billion tons of coal consumed, the greenhouse gasses, the 20,000 tons of mercury and the millions of new installed mercury devices). As an added benefit Viconics PI thermostats save money by reducing operating costs, improve occupant comfort and result in better health and a higher quality of life.

We urge everyone to do his or her share in reversing this environmental crisis. Informed consultants, contractors, OEMs, distributors and end-users can all do their part in specifying and using more energy efficient controls and thermostats as well as the proper recycling of installed mercury-based devices.

Sources and additional information