| Practice Type: |
Model |
| Program Name: |
Mercury Thermometer Exchange Program |
| Organization: |
Columbus Public Health |
| Web site: |
www.publichealth.columbus.gov |
| Overview: |
The Mercury Thermometer Exchange Program targets residents within the City of Columbus with mercury thermometers to be recycled. This practice the issue of removal of mercury as a toxic substance and potential household contaminant from the home environment.
The objectives of the practice include:
- To raise awareness within the general public about the hazards of exposure to mercury as a toxic substance;
- To educate public about mercury in the home environment during the fall flu immunization campaign; and
- To collect mercury thermometers for recycling or provide a local neighborhood option for the collection/recycling of mercury thermometers at any time.
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| Year Submitted: |
2007 |
| Responsiveness and Innovation: |
The mercury in home mercury thermometers represents a significant risk of exposure to toxic mercury vapors if broken in the home. There have been numerous incidents well publicized in the community of mercury spills in homes and schools. The health effects plus the difficulty and significant expense of cleanup of mercury places a high public value on the prevention of spills. The wide public distribution and broad use of home mercury thermometers represents the single biggest source of mercury exposure in the home. Providing a regular exchange network and raising public awareness about the reasons to exclude mercury from the home will reduce the need for emergency remediation.
The idea of a Mercury Thermometer Exchange program in public health is not new. What is an innovation in this program's approach is the co-promotion of fall flu immunizations, mercury thermometer exchange and Flu Readiness as an incentive for heightened public awareness and participation. There is traditional high demand for flu immunizations and low awareness of the importance of mercury exchange. By co-promoting the two issues the program was able to build awareness of the concern about Mercury in a season of the year when flu, fever and thermometers are in the public mind. The elegance of the campaign was to combine the two issues to raise the awareness and to prompt behaviorial change to protect the public health.
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| Agency and Community Roles: |
Different divisions within a large municipal health department tend to be compartmentalized and have limited opportunities to collaborate. The Divisions of Environmental Health, Chemical and Physical Hazards Unit and Project L.O.V.E. within the Division of Infectious Disease, and Office of Emergency Preparedness, Pandemic Influenza Section formed the central partnership for the project. The planning for the project brought in the Franklin County Board of Health, and the Adult Immunization Coalition of Central Ohio. Later the City of Columbus Department of Human Resources opened their immunization clinics to include the large city employee group in the exchange campaign. Each of the partners shared materials development, media and communications, mailing and outreach listings and all donated in-kind staffing to carry out the campaign. This broad coalition open up resources and existing public efforts to a much larger audience than would have been possible by any partner acting alone.
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| Costs and Expenditures: |
Funding sources included: Columbus Public Health (CPH), Columbus Department of Public Utilities, CPH Office of Emergency Preparedness, CPH Project Love. In-kind support was provided by: Ohio Department of Health, United HealthCare, WCMH TV-4, Clear Channel Communications. The costs of the program included $9,700 in direct costs and $25,500 in indirect costs.
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| Implementation: |
The mercury in home mercury thermometers represents a significant risk of exposure to toxic mercury vapors if broken in the home. There have been numerous incidents well publicized in the community of mercury spills in homes and schools. The health effects plus the difficulty and significant expense of cleanup of mercury places a high public value on the prevention of spills. The wide public distribution and broad use of home mercury thermometers represents the single biggest source of mercury exposure in the home. Providing a regular exchange network and raising public awareness about the reasons to exclude mercury from the home will reduce the need for emergency remediation.
The idea of a Mercury Thermometer Exchange program in public health is not new. What is an innovation in this program's approach is the co-promotion of fall flu immunizations, mercury thermometer exchange and Flu Readiness as an incentive for heightened public awareness and participation. There is traditional high demand for flu immunizations and low awareness of the importance of mercury exchange. By co-promoting the two issues the program was able to build awareness of the concern about Mercury in a season of the year when flu, fever and thermometers are in the public mind. The elegance of the campaign was to combine the two issues to raise the awareness and to prompt behaviorial change to protect the public health.
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| Sustainability: |
By plugging into existing public efforts, fall immunization clinics and the permanent network of mercury recycling locations this is a campaign that will be able to duplicate and sustain in successive years. Each of the partners had a very positive experience in terms of the shared resources and revenues and in-kind contributions that could be leveraged. With a very limited budget the program was able to reach a very large county-wide audience.
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| Lessons Learned: |
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