Mercury Thermometers Face Final Phase Out

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I have a thyroid problem. I have a mercury thermometer from the 90's. It is accurate. I have tried 6 different types of non-mercury thermometers. My temperature always comes in around 97.4. When I use my mercury thermometer it comes in at 98.4 or 98.6 (which is normal). A temperature of 97.8 or below is considered problematic if you have a thyroid issue. So, people get treated with T3 or T4 therapy because their temperature is low with the digital or geotherm thermometer. This is not right. People who have a slight fever sometimes get normal temperature readings with these new thermometers. Sad, because an accurate temperature reading is crucial. A better fix may have been to keep the accurate mercury thermometers but have a protective shield that would not break. I hate that this issue was not addressed before banning mercury thermometers.

Ty of NJ 12:34PM December 17, 2012

The real reason behind the phase out of mercury thermometers is the phase in of mercury based florescent light bulbs. These babies will pollute out landfills and waters way more than thermometers ever did.

Mea Culpa of NJ 8:26AM July 17, 2012

By the way, I've pulled several mercury thermometers out of the garbage intact in their cases and only use them (after wiping them down w/hydrogen peroxide, of course). I worked in a daycare w/several types of the digital thermometers. You could take the same baby's temp 5 times and come up w/ 5 different readings, varying widely. Try one of the other digitals and get the same thing. I wouldn't trust those things at all. The mercury ones are accurate.

CIndy Lee of MN 12:06PM April 21, 2012

I go through the garbage at my apartment and several others to take recyclables out and put them in the recycle container--paper, glass, cans etc. Do you really think that people who are too lazy to recycle the above-mentioned are going to go somewhere to recycle their CFLs? I have seen MANY broken CFLs in the dumpsters. All that mercury is going straight into our landfills!!! Brillliant! But we're saving on our electric bills while we pollute the earth with mercury--whoopee!

CIndy Lee of MN 11:54AM April 21, 2012

Yeah! One wonders how stupid EPA, FDA and the government in general is - lets take a potent neurotoxin and disperse it widely - in daycare centers, nurseries, churches, hotels, motels, homes, schools, bathrooms, garages, EVERYWHERE. Then, let's assume that none of these mercury containing bulbs will break; or that if they break, the person cleaning up the mess will know how to do this properly; and that any breakage will not happen but once or twice in a century. Then, let's believe that 5 mg of mercury is not very much at all, lol, or that 1 mg is really not that much, more lol; who cares if it's at your child's nursery and the help there just figured that no one can see it so no one will know. Or, maybe teh help doesn't speak English or can't read.
This is how we get stupid Americans, expose them to mercury, widely and everywhere. Oh, I know, it won't be everywhere, it will be somewhere else. Dream on. It will be at your shopping mall, at your church, at your daycare center, at your grocery store, at teh gas station, at the community center, EVERYWHERE. A little bit of mercury is a little bit of a potent neurotoxin. Let's just enginer a low level, repeated exposure to infants and children for their entire infancy and childhood (from power plants) add a few larger exposures through broken bulbs, apply many direct injections of mercury contaminated vaccines, and we accomplish amking the public stupid, more stupid this generation than last, and so forth. Good Job!
Further, This is after the Wall Street types and big fat business men steal money from every common man and woman; let's make more money by disposing of unwanted mercury by putting it in Lightbulbs. Very bright idea. However, these Wall Street types and other "smart" people who perpetrate hazardous waste and other untoward chemical exposures on the unsuspecting, trusting public will also be affected - along with their soon to be more stupid children. America is drowning in poor decisions and is getting more stupid as we go.

Susie of AL 11:26PM March 05, 2011

Digital seems to be wrong most the time.
Work on this !
Good idea though. Rid the world of Mercury but what about CFL light bulbs ? It says on one of my CFL lightbulb boxes that i need to hire a hazmat cleaning crew if i break it. I need to seal off the room with plastic and tape and disable the ductwork going to that location and i need to leave my house etc until cleaned up.
There isn't much mercury in cfl's ? lol. How did this pass and when will it be fixed ?

Concerned Citizen of NE 12:26AM March 02, 2011