Alternatives of management and disposal for mercury thermometers at the end of their life from Mexican health care institutions

• Health/environment impact that exists from current Hg thermometers management practices.
• We modeled scenarios to reduce Hg releases from thermometers at the end of their life in Mexico.
• Hg releases are decreased while recycling is increased and open dumping reduced.
• Climate change effects are higher from landfilling and recycling than from transport.
• Policy actions will lead to a reduction in health effects on the population.

Mercury releases from used thermometers at the end of their life in the Mexican health sector are estimated to be 2166 kg/year. Some actions are being implemented at the hospital level to eliminate the use of mercury thermometers in some cities. This study evaluated the impact of policy alternatives for the sound management of mercury released from used thermometers using a life cycle assessment with Umberto software and Ecoinvent databases. The results identified that the elimination of open dumping and increasing the recycling rate of mercury up to 60% will lead to the highest net benefits compared with the use of virgin materials in new products. This study showed different scenarios of recycling and end of life practices in the management of mercury waste from glass thermometers in Mexico to know the environmental burdens of each treatment strategy and identified recommendations for development of public policies for handling of this type of waste with focus in the decrease of associated risks. It was demonstrated that increase of recycling allows reducing the environmental impacts caused by the use of raw materials and that decrease of landfills for deposit of mercury waste, preventing uncontrolled emissions of mercury to the atmosphere.