Success stories on green purchasing, products, and healthcare practices (opens in a new window).
FACT: Nationally, hospitals contribute about 5 percent of the mercury found in wastewater and contribute to about 10 percent of mercury air emissions, according to government statistics.
UH2 was developed in a collaborative effort with the national Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program and Utah Hospitals and Health Systems Association (UHA). UH2 focuses on partnering with health care facilities in Utah to work towards eliminating the use of mercury through the Utah Mercury Challenge and improving overall environmental performance using H2E and Utah DEQ program resources.
What is the H2E program?
H2E is creating a national movement for environmental sustainability in health care. H2E was jointly founded by the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Without Harm, and the American Nurses Association. H2E educates health care professionals about pollution prevention opportunities and provides a wealth of practical tools and resources to facilitate the industry’s movement toward environmental sustainability.
Partners for Change
Health care facilities and organizations can join the movement to green health care by becoming an H2E Partner for Change.
H2E Partners pledge to work to eliminate mercury, reduce the use of other toxic chemicals, reduce waste, conserve resources, and implement environmental programs that can be measured and that make a difference. There is no cost to become a Partner. Benefits include, but are not limited to the following:
Did you know that just a small amount of mercury has the potential to contaminate a 20-acre lake to the degree that fish would be unsafe to eat? According to Health Care Without Harm in Washington, D.C., the amount of mercury in an old-fashioned glass thermometer has the potential to do just that, if not disposed of properly.
Thermometers are just one of numerous sources of mercury in healthcare facilities. Click here for a coupon for a mercury-free thermometer 
Blood-pressure monitors, esophageal dilators, laboratory chemicals, batteries, fluorescent lamps and high-intensity discharge lamps all contain mercury. Click here for more information on instruments, products, and laboratory chemicals used in hospitals that may contain mercury.
To protect human health, the State of Utah in 2005 issued its first fish consumption advisories due to elevated levels of mercury in fish tissue at Gunlock Reservoir, Mill Creek, and Green River in Desolation Canyon. Also in 2005, Utah issued a duck consumption advisory due to elevated mercury levels – the first in the nation.
Healthcare providers can help reduce mercury in the environment by joining the Utah Mercury Challenge. The goals of the Utah Mercury Challenge are:
For more information, please contact:
Renette Anderson
801-536-4478
renetteanderson@utah.gov