EU drafts ban on mercury in thermometers

Environment Daily 1893, 06/06/05

The European Commission has circulated a preliminary draft of new EU legislation banning the use of mercury in measuring devices like thermometers, barometers and manometers.  The restrictions could prevent up to 25 tonnes of mercury entering circulation each year, it says.

The plan follows an EU strategy to control mercury use and emissions issued by the Commission earlier this year.  A coalition of environmental and health groups has blasted the outline legislation as "too narrow and much more limited" than the strategy had foreseen.

The legislation would amend the 1976 EU's marketing and use directive (see link below).  It would cover mercury used in "fever thermometers" and "other measuring devices intended for consumer use".  Thermometers account for 90% of mercury consumption used in measuring devices, the Commission says.

Other medical devices and professional devices would not be covered. The volume of products is small and the equipment is already well managed at end-of-life, the Commission believes.  In contrast, it has been "extremely difficult" to keep mercury-containing consumer devices out of the waste stream.

The law would not cover mercury in electronic and electrical measuring devices, which is already regulated by the EU's restrictions on hazardous substances (RoHS) directive.

A cost-benefit analysis says the economic impact of the measure "is expected to be small" since mercury substitutes are available at competitive prices.  There are few producers left in the EU and two-thirds of mercury devices on the EU market are imported.

A group of four NGOs campaigning for tough EU action on mercury said the proposals should be expanded to include all consumer and professional uses, with time-limited exemptions allowed only where no alternatives exist.  Several member states and many hospitals had already taken measures going beyond the planned restrictions, they said.

Follow-up: European Commission http://europa.eu.int/comm,                                                                                               plus mercury pages http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/chemicals/mercury/index.htm,                                                     the preliminary draft restrictions http://www.environmentdaily.com/docs/50606a.doc                                                                 and the strategy http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/chemicals/mercury/pdf/com_2005_0020_en.pdf.