November/December 1995
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November/December 1995 |
by Scott Sederstrom
The Little Zeros campaigns were launched in May 1995 at workshops held in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Hamilton, Ontario. Over 150 participants from across the Great Lakes met to develop citizen-initiated campaigns to achieve zero discharge of persistent toxics in the basin. Eight individual Little Zeros campaigns were developed at the meeting, one of which focuses on eliminating hospitals and health care institutions as sources of persistent toxic releases into the Great Lakes environment.
Hospitals and the health care industry have been identified as emitters of persistent toxins into the Great Lakes environment, most notably dioxin and mercury. Dioxin releases by hospitals are principally from medical waste incinerators, identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent dioxin reassessment as the largest single source category of dioxin releases in the United States. The major source of the dioxin is the incineration of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, widely used in the health care industry. Typical hospital waste streams can be up to 50 percent plastics.
Sources of mercury from hospitals include batteries, fluorescent and high intensity mercury vapor lamps, thermometers, specialty papers and films and pharmaceutical materials. One Canadian study found a strong correlation between mercury emissions and the presence of red or yellow colored plastic or rubber items in the waste stream.
Many safe alternatives exist to replace the use of toxic chemicals and hospital-related products made with them, and alternatives to incineration as a waste disposal method are widely used in other areas. The campaign will work with hospitals to alter procurement policies and waste disposal operations.
To this end, groups on both sides of the border have approached individual hospitals -- as well as hospital and health care associations -- to propose partnerships in assessing hospital waste streams and waste disposal practices as a first step to reducing dioxin and mercury emissions to the Great Lakes ecosystem. The initial responses from health care facilities have been generally positive, suggesting good potential for working together for the future.
In Canada, Pollution Probe's Mercury Elimination and Reduction Challenge Project is leading efforts to reduce emissions of persistent toxics, in particular mercury. Pollution Probe is working with hospitals in the Toronto area, including the Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto, which initiated a pilot project aimed at reducing waste in 1994. It is hoped that similar waste reduction projects can be replicated in other hospitals.
Pollution Probe has also drafted a report entitled Mercury in Ontario: An Inventory of Sources, Uses and Releases. The report, when released, will identify those significant sources of mercury releases to the environment as a first step to developing a sunset regime for mercury. It is anticipated that a later phase of the project will work with the Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Centre in organizing a multistakeholder workshop to present the report's findings and develop a phase-out plan for mercury.
In the United States, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is actively involved with this issue on a number of fronts. NWF is working with the Southeast Michigan Task Force on Mercury, which is assessing sources of mercury pollution to the Great Lakes. As part of this project, NWF and others are approaching various health care providers to discuss the possibility of a partnership project. The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor has also been working to encourage health care providers to reevaluate their waste handling practices. Initial contacts with health care providers indicate the potential to work with these groups.
In addition, NWF is preparing some hospital pollution prevention case studies as an educational tool to promote better hospital waste management practices and to promote dioxin and mercury elimination efforts. There have also been discussions on developing a project to improve upon an existing medical waste incinerator survey that was conducted by the State of Michigan one year ago. The proposed project would list all operating medical waste incinerators in the state, waste volumes and likely emissions as a first step.
Illinois community groups have recently banded together to form the Chicago Area Caucus on Environmental Health and Justice. The Caucus' focus will primarily be on hospital waste incineration policies, with an effort to work with hospitals to cease waste-burning and to promote alternative disposal methods for solid wastes, such as autoclaving. According to Sarah Jane Knoy, who is active with the caucus, one Chicago-area hospital has managed to achieve more than 60 percent reduction in waste since implementing a waste reduction program. The Caucus will work to improve on this reduction rate, in addition to seeking to replicate the program at other area hospitals.
Hospitals have traditionally focused on acute care for their patients. In recent years, preventive health care has been emphasized as a principal strategy. The successes of this Little Zero campaign will come from citizens encouraging hospitals to adopt a similar approach to their procurement and waste management practices. Preventing dioxin and mercury releases by reducing and eliminating the waste streams that contribute to such releases will be a significant stride to achieving the goal of this Little Zero campaign.
For more information contact Scott Sederstrom, Field Coordinator for the Clean Production Task Force, Great Lakes United, P.O. Box 3040, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Telephone (313)482-2926.
Sommaire
Les campagnes «Little Zeros» ont été inaugurées en mai 1995 à l'occasion d'ateliers de travail tenus à Ann Arbor, Michigan, et à Hamilton, Ontario. Plus de 150 participants provenant de partout dans le bassin des Grands Lacs se sont réunis afin de mettre sur pied des campagnes lancées par les citoyens pour atteindre le niveau d'aucun rejet de substances toxiques persistantes dans le bassin. Huit campagnes distinctes «Little Zeros» ont été préparées lors de ce colloque; l'une d'elles vise à faire en sorte que les hôpitaux et que les établissements de soins de santé cessent d'être des sources de rejet de ces substances dans l'environnement des Grands Lacs.
Revised: March 14, 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net