Many New Yorkers are aware of the dangers of mercury, and that we risk serious health consequences if even a small amount is absorbed through our skin or ingested through our food.
What many of us do not know is that a significant source of mercury can be found in homes.
Mercury-containing thermostats are one of the largest sources of this toxic metal in New York's waste stream. Home thermostats contain, on average, four grams of liquid mercury, or about a thimbleful. That is roughly eight times the amount found in a mercury thermometer and 800 times the amount in a compact fluorescent light bulb.
Every year, an estimated 310,000 thermostats containing mercury are taken out of service in New York. Less than 2 percent of those are disposed of properly — meaning more than 98 percent are sent to landfills and incinerators. All those discarded thermostats add up to more than a ton of mercury released into New York's environment, where they poison water and, eventually, us.
The Assembly and state Senate must pass legislation this year to address this serious public health threat. Lawmakers should hold thermostat manufacturers responsible for setting up effective collection programs that capture out-of-service mercury thermostats. Strong standards should guide these programs and the state must have the authority to make changes if targets aren't met.
Financial incentives — such as a $5 bounty — are essential to make these programs work. Take-back financial incentives are the backbone of successful thermostat collection programs in Vermont and Maine, and as a result, their collection rates are nearly 25 times New York's rate.
Marcia Bystryn is president of the New York League of Conservation Voters.
