Schools and Universities

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Schools and universities in Sacramento County may have mercury-containing items, especially in their chemistry labs. Be Mercury Free, a regional partnership managed by Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (SRCSD), is working with these facilities to identify and facilitate proper disposal and/or recycling of mercury-containing instruments, equipment and products while encouraging the educational facilities to use mercury-free alternatives.

The California State Legislature passed SB633 - California's Mercury Reduction Act of 2001 - to encourage the safe reduction and/or removal of mercury and mercury-containing items found in local schools. This law prohibits any school from purchasing devices and materials containing mercury for use in classrooms and labs (with some exceptions) and became effective January 1, 2002.

Environmental and health affects caused by mercury pollution are great reasons to reduce or eliminate the use of mercury, not withstanding the potential cost related to mercury contamination and spills can be significant. Nationwide, the media has reported stories of mercury spills at schools, sometimes resulting in as much as $300,000 in clean-up costs. These spills are not only expensive to clean up, but they may pose a threat to student and teacher safety as well as to the environment.

SRCSD estimates that 1% of the mercury being discharged to the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (SRWTP) comes from local educational facilities. Thus schools and universities are part of a larger source reduction plan to reduce the discharge of mercury into the sewer and the environment.

Addressing the need for identifying and removing mercury and mercury-containing items from schools in the Sacramento area, Be Mercury Free conducted a School Mercury Clean-Out Pilot Program during 2005. The purpose of the program is to remove elemental mercury and mercury-containing items from selected middle school and high school facilities in the Sacramento region. In addition, for each laboratory mercury thermometer received from the participating schools, a replacement equivalent alcohol filled thermometer is provided at no cost.

In December 2004, an invitation to participate (422K pdf*) in the pilot program was sent to all middle schools, junior high schools and high schools in Sacramento County. The schools selected to participate in the Pilot Study clean-outs, conducted in June 2005, were:

• Calvine High School
• Grant Union High School
• Joseph Kerr Middle School
• San Juan High School
• Sheldon Middle School
• Valley High School

During the collection a variety of items were collected including lab thermometers, barometers and sphygmomanometers. Click any photo to enlarge.	Mercury sulfate and mercurous nitrate are collected during the exchange.	The hazardous waste vendor packages up a barometer and other items for safe disposal.
Lab thermometers are packed with vermiculite during the packaging process.	A sphygmomanometer is collected at a school site during the collection.	Mercury-containing items are placed in a steel drum for safe transportation.

Participants in the Pilot Program also received informational materials about mercury including:

• Mercury & Schools Brochure (464K pdf*)
• Mercury & Schools - Frequently Asked Questions Information Sheet for Staff and Administrators (72K pdf*)
• "Mercury Can Be Harmful" Classroom Poster (205K pdf*)
• Mercury Maze (99K pdf*) and Crossword Puzzle (186K pdf*)
• Student Quiz and Teacher Answer Key (72K pdf*)
• "What's the Big Deal about Mercury?" Student Information Sheet (275K pdf*)

If you are interested in receiving any of the printed materials or information on fish consumption from the Delta Watershed Fish Project, please fill out and return the following forms:

• Be Mercury Free Fax Back Materials Order Form (188K pdf*)
• Health Education Materials on Mercury in Fish Order Form

*Requires Adobe Acrobat's free reader, available here: