Mercury in Products and Waste: Legislative and Regulatory Activities to Control Mercury

Publication Date: May 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Mercury is a highly volatile, naturally-occurring element. It is a potent neurotoxin that can cause brain, lung, and kidney damage. Mercury also has properties that make it useful in a variety of household, medical, and industrial products and processes. It is a component in such products as thermometers, flourescent lamps, electrical switches, dental fillings, and batteries. This report discusses the health effects of mercury, how it is released into the environment, and current federal and state activities and recent legislative activity in Congress to control mercury releases into the environment.

Human-related activities have significantly changed the natural distribution of mercury in the environment. For example, mercury is released during manufacturing processes or when mercury-containing products are ultimately discarded as waste. Significant sources of mercury include coal-burning power plants, cement manufacturing operations, and the incineration of municipal, hazardous, and medical wastes. (For a discussion of air emissions of mercury, see CRS Report RL31881.)

After mercury vapors enter the air, they are ultimately converted to the highly toxic methylmercury. Exposure to methylmercury can cause a wide array of health problems, including damage to the brain and central nervous system. Potential sources of human exposure to mercury include eating fish or shellfish contaminated with methylmercury, breathing mercury vapor from spills or a contaminated workplace, or absorbing mercury through dental work.

Both federal and state regulations govern the use of mercury in products and manufacturing processes. Federal regulation is done under the authority of several statutes and multiple agencies. Regulations are intended to control releases of mercury to the environment, reduce or eliminate the use of mercury in products, or specify disposal requirements. Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established voluntary efforts and education outreach programs aimed at reducing the use of mercury in products and manufacturing processes and at better managing mercury-containing wastes.

Recent legislative activity by states has gone beyond the health-based criteria associated with the use or disposal of particular products. Instead, many states are trying to reduce the problems associated with mercury by restricting its use altogether. For example, some states have banned mercury use or required warning labels on certain mercury-containing products. Some states have also implemented recycling or disposal requirements for certain types of mercury-containing products.

Recent legislative activity at the federal level has mirrored activities undertaken by many states. Bills introduced in the 108th Congress seek to reduce the use of mercury in such products as thermometers, lighting products, and dental fillings, and to provide warning labels on mercury-containing products. Legislation has also been proposed requiring that mercury-containing waste be removed from the waste stream before incineration. This report will be updated as events warrant.