Tools and resources
Mercury elimination guides for hospitals
In order to scale-up the replacement of mercury-based medical devices around the world, HCWH has put together a guide that systematizes the basic steps in mercury substitution.
Download: English | Español | Português | Chinese
Videos
New training video on mercury waste in hospitals
New training video on mercury waste in hospital dealing with mercury spills
This video on safe disposal of spilled mercury was produced HCWH's Strategic Partner in South Asia, Toxics Link.
Mercury vapors
Mercury vapors are toxic and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Nevertheless, they do create a shadow when exposed to a short wave ultraviolet light in a fluorescent background.
Reports, articles, and guides
- Guidance on the Cleanup, Temporary or Intermediate Storage and Transport of Mercury Waste from Healthcare Facilities (pdf)
- Toward the Tipping Point: WHO-HCWH Global Initiative to Substitute Mercury-Based Medical Devices in Health Care. A Two-Year Progress Report (pdf)
- The End of an Era: The Phase Out of Mercury Blood Pressure Devices in the United States (pdf)
- Moving Towards Mercury–Free Health Care: Substituting Mercury–Based Medical Devices in India (pdf)
- The Global Movement for Mercury-Free Health Care Report (pdf)
- Alternatives to the Mercury Sphygmomanometer (Abstract) (pdf) (by Susan Buchanan, Peter Orris and Joshua Karliner), Journal of Public Health Policy.
- Mercury Sphygmomanometers in Healthcare and the Feasibility of Alternatives, by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). (pdf)
- Report of the Southeast Asia Conference on Mercury in Health Care (pdf)
- WHO: Affordable Technology: Blood Pressure Measuring Devices for Low Resource Settings (pdf)
- Lurking Menace: Mercury in the Health-Care Sector (pdf)
- Mercury-Free Blood Pressure Measurement Equipment: Experiences in the Swedish Healthcare Sector (pdf)
- Guide to Mercury-Free Alternatives in Southeast Asia (pdf)
- World Medical Association Statement on Reducing the Global Burden of Mercury (pdf)
- Mercury in Measuring Devices by the The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) (pdf)
- Exposure to Mercury: A Major Public Health Concern, Flyer by the WHO (pdf)
- Information provided by WHO on mercury in health care, related WHO activities, resources and risk assessment methodologies (pdf)
- Children's Exposure to Mercury Compounds by WHO (pdf)
Websites
- UNEP's Activities on Mercury
- Zero Mercury Working Group
- Global Green and Healthy Hospitals - GGHH Agenda Goal: Chemicals