Mercury Thermostats Threaten Rhode Island's Environment

• Mercury is highly toxic and persistent element and even a small quantity can cause serious health and ecological problems.
• Mercury containing thermostats release mercury into the environment when they are handled or disposed haphazardly.
• A single gram of mercury is enough to contaminate all of the fish in a 20-acre lake, making them unsafe to eat.
• Each traditional thermostat contains 3-5 grams of mercury

Most Rhode Islanders have a mercury thermostat in their home. Of the 665,000 thermostats in Rhode Island homes, there are 552,500 mercury thermostats. Since approximately 3% of those get replaced annually, over 120 pounds of mercury could be released to the environment each year.

Children and Pregnant Women at Risk from Mercury Pollution

• Exposure to mercury even at a low level causes damage to the functioning and development of the nervous system both in utero and in growing children.
• Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency estimate that 1 in 6 women of childbearing age in the United States have unsafe mercury levels in their bodies.
• This translates to over 630,000 babies born at risk for mercury exposure each year.

The Solutions are Available Now

Support the Mercury Thermostat Pollution Prevention Act

• In 2005, Rhode Island banned the sale of thermostats that contain mercury. However, remaining thermostats in Rhode Island homes contain over 3,600 pounds of mercury.
• Now we need to require manufacturers to take responsibility for their toxic products and ensure that mercury thermostats are safely collected and recycled when they are removed from use.
• The Mercury Thermostat Pollution Prevention Act requires manufacturers to finance the collection and recycling of their mercury thermostats and pay a $5 incentive for each thermostat returned to their program.

Take Action Today!

Write a Letter to Your Elected Officials
Take action and send your elected officials an e-mail. Add a sentence about why preventing mercury pollution from thermostats is important to you. Please include your name and address and be sure to ask for a reply.

Write a Letter to the Editor
Write a letter to your local newspaper to encourage the general assembly to take action to require thermostat manufacturers to pay for the collection and recycling of mercury thermostats.

Make the Switch to a Mercury-Free Thermostat
Installing an efficient, mercury-free thermostat in your home will help save your budget and help protect the environment. National Grid offers their customers that heat with natural gas a rebate for purchasing EnergyStar thermostats of $25 each for up to 2 thermostats per household. Go to ThinkSmartThinkGreen.com for more information.

Need to recycle an old mercury thermostat? Go to the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation for information about the EcoDepot's upcoming collection dates.