Mercury
Stay safe.
Take mercury to your county household hazardous waste facility.
Mercury can damage human health because it is toxic to the nervous system—the brain and spinal cord—particularly the developing nervous system of a fetus or young child. Minnesota, with its many lakes is especially aware of this because one of the more serious ways people are exposed to mercury is through eating fish contaminated with mercury that was deposited in our lakes and streams. Learn more about the effects of mercury on our health and the environment.
Mercury can be found in some of the products we use—wiring devices and switches, thermometers, and fluorescent lights. Mercury can escape into the environment when these items are broken or thrown away. For information on what to do if you spill mercury, visit frequently asked questions about mercury. Mercury can also be released into the air from activities such as burning coal in power plants and processing taconite.
Citizen's tip about online ad leads to 64 pounds of mercury
If someone set out to find a major toxic hazard like mercury, they probably wouldn't think to look on Craigslist. But that's just where a citizen's tip led the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Keeping mercury out of Minnesota's environment
Minnesota is working to keep mercury out of products, removing mercury before products are disposed of, and putting limits on the amount of mercury incinerators may release into the air. Through a stakeholder process, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has developed a plan to reduce mercury releases in Minnesota by 2025. This will have implications for many Minnesota businesses, which will need to reduce their mercury emissions. Find out more about the MPCA's efforts: Mercury research and reduction initiative.
For more information, contact Rebecca Walter at 651-757-2807.
What can you do?
- Conserve energy, which reduces the need for utilities to burn coal.
- Buy green power.
- Avoid buying products containing mercury. For example, look for non-mercury fever thermometers.
- Do not throw products that contain mercury in the trash. Take them to your county household hazardous waste facility.
- Take your used fluorescent bulbs to a licensed fluorescent lamp recycling facility.
For more information on how to reduce mercury release and contamination, visit keeping mercury out of the environment.
Businesses
Businesses can help keep mercury out of the environment in many of the same ways. Business operators should also be aware of these laws:
- Hazardous waste regulations
- Toxics in packaging laws.
- Laws on the labeling and sale of mercury and mercury-containing products.
