Use of mercury-based medical equipments and mercury content in effluents of tertiary care hospitals in India

Environmental pollution due to mercury has raised serious concern over the last few decades. Various anthropogenic sources including the health sector play a vital role in increasing the mercury load on the environment. Mercury poses an important health issue because of its indiscriminate disposal into the environment. There are numerous mercury-containing devices being used in the health-care setup. The objective of the study was to obtain information on the procurement and consumption of mercury-containing items in the current year, the methods adopted for disposal and the contamination of the hospital effluents with mercury. A questionnaire-based study was conducted in government and corporate hospitals from different states of India, for the quantitative assessment of use of mercury-based items in tertiary care hospitals in India (n=113). The results showed that mercury-containing items are still being used in India. The most common method adopted for disposal was collection in plastic bags and labeling them as hazardous waste. The hospital effluents contained mercury below the permissible limits. In view of the environmental pollution due to mercury and its adverse impact on health, efforts by the government are on for phasing out mercury-containing equipments from the health-care setup in India.