Duluth as Trendsetter: Will Its Mercury Ban Catch On?

Originally Published MDDI November 2002

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Maureen Kingsley

In September, the city council of Duluth, MN, passed a first-ever ordinance banning the sale and purchase of all medical devices containing mercury. Two years ago, the city became the first to ban the sale of mercury-based thermometers, and the ordinance triggered similar bans elsewhere throughout the country. This most recent ordinance, however, extends the previous ban to include any and all mercury-containing medical devices: sphygmomanometers, esophageal dilators, and others.

"The ordinance does not require hospitals to replace their mercury-containing devices, but it prohibits the purchase and reinstallation of them," said Jamie Harvie of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), a coalition of healthcare organizations whose goal is to promote "environmentally responsible healthcare." HCWH worked closely with Duluth city council members to implement the mercury ban.

"The intent isn't to have deputized officers enforcing it throughout the community, of course," Harvie said. But, when it comes time for a hospital to replace its existing blood-pressure monitors, for example, devices containing mercury will be off-limits.

"The most common alternative [to mercury-based devices] is the aneroid [sphygmomanometer], which is in the same price range and works in a very similar fashion," Harvie said. He pointed out that some Midwestern facilities began phasing out mercury-containing sphygmomanometers and switching over to aneroids a few years ago, at the urging of St. Mary's Duluth clinic. "This ordinance might, in a sense, force some hospitals to move to some sort of electronic blood-pressure measuring devices that can measure blood gases and other things," he added. "But, of course, the ordinance doesn't require them to do so—the choice is in the healthcare providers' hands."

When asked to comment on the Duluth mercury ban, a spokesperson for Welch Allyn (Skaneateles Falls, NY ) said the ordinance doesn't affect his company to any extent. He said that because Welch Allyn makes aneroid and digital blood-pressure devices in addition to those containing mercury, he had no further comment.

Other manufacturers aren't so non-chalant. Jim Baum, vice president of marketing for W. A. Baum Company, Inc. (Copiague, NY), a mercury-containing sphygmomanometer manufacturer since 1916, offered a much stronger statement: "Taking away an instrument with proven value for 86 years isn't the answer. Heart disease is the number one cause of death globally—that's the real killer, not mercury." He added, "There will be lawsuits, not because of mercury, but because of inaccurate blood-pressure readings [from inferior devices]."

Nevertheless, Duluth city council president Donny Ness said he has yet to hear from anyone opposed to the ordinance. Of course, that may be because Duluth is a relatively small city lacking national recognition. More manufacturers will likely take notice if Ness has his wish that the new, comprehensive mercury ban in Duluth will start another nationwide trend. "I'm sure there are some industry folks who are upset about our decision, but that doesn't concern me," he wrote in an e-mail message to MD&DI. "The sooner we can eliminate mercury-based equipment and devices, the better. This progress is inevitable. . . .Duluth is simply pushing the envelope."

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