Residents Invited To Trade Mercury Thermometers For Digital Ones

El Paso, Pueblo And Teller Counties -- Residents of the Pikes Peak region and Pueblo who want to protect themselves and the environment from the toxic mercury in old thermometers are in luck: The Mercury Thermometer Collection Project is making it easy to do the right thing.

Local partners of the statewide Mercury-Free Colorado Campaign, including the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment and the Pueblo City-County Health Department, have established six locations in the region to accept mercury household thermometers for safe disposal. Residents who turn in old mercury thermometers through July 1 will receive new digital thermometers in return.

“Mercury is a highly toxic metal that can pose a threat to both human health and the environment,” said Don Mydlowski, Environmental Quality Program Manager at the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment. “Exposure to metallic mercury can cause serious health problems, including neurological disorders in children and adults.”
Public health officials, explain that when used correctly and disposed of properly, household mercury thermometers are not hazardous.

However, when the thermometers break, the droplets of mercury are very difficult to clean up and dangerous levels of mercury vapor may be inhaled. Improper disposal of household mercury thermometers is a major source of harmful mercury in the air, water and soil.
In addition to recycling thermometers through the “Mercury-Free Colorado” program, citizens are urged to buy products that do not contain mercury.

Thermometers with a red-colored liquid, alcohol or mineral spirits, are a much better alternative to mercury thermometers because they are not hazardous. Non-mercury thermometers and digital thermometers are available at most grocery/drug stores.

Citizens are asked to bring their household mercury thermometers, identifiable by the silver or gray-colored liquid that they contain to the disposal locations in the original case or inside an empty plastic water or soft drink bottle to prevent breakage. Digital thermometers will be offered to those who bring in a mercury thermometer on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

Locally, household mercury thermometers may be taken to these locations for proper disposal Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The locations are:

• Cripple Creek Cripple Creek Fire Dept. 147 E. Bennett Ave. Cripple Creek
• El Paso County (north) Colorado Springs Fire Station No. 14 1875 Dublin (Dublin and Academy), Colorado Springs
• El Paso County (east) Household Chemical Waste Facility 3470 N. Marksheffel Road
• Fountain Fountain Fire Dept. 212 N. Santa Fe, Fountain
• Pueblo Recycling Hotline: 719-583-4924 Pueblo City-County Health Dept. 151 Central Main, Pueblo
• Teller County Teller County Public Health 11505 W. Highway 24, Divide

Only “household thermometers” will be accepted for recycling as part of this project. Thermostats, switches, gauges, mercury vapor lights, hearing aids, watch batteries and children’s shoes with flashing lights in the soles all contain mercury and other forms of mercury items will not be taken as part of this recycling project.

Although these items are not an immediate risk, consumers should be aware that these products do contain mercury and should be disposed of correctly through the El Paso County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility. Call (719) 520-7878 information.

Residents also may obtain information by visiting the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment’s website at www.elpasocountyhealth.org or by calling (719)578-3199, for a list of collection site locations and other links to the “Mercury free-Colorado Campaign.”

El Paso County Department of Health and Environment is partnering with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Springs Fire Department, Fountain Fire Department, Tri-County Health Department, El Paso County Environmental Services-Solid Waste Program and El Paso County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, Teller County Environmental Services, and other agencies throughout the State of Colorado to begin a statewide collection program for the safe disposal of household mercury thermometers as part of the “Mercury-Free Colorado Campaign.”

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