Equipment with Mercury

Examples of Biomedical Equipment that
may contain Mercury and Alternative Equipment

Items were included on the following lists because they have been reported to contain mercury as an intentional ingredient or component, or as an unintended contaminant. The listings were compiled from multiple sources and were believed to be accurate at the time of posting on this web site. However, users should understand that this information is provided for guidance only and the mercury content of commercial products may be subject to frequent change. Consult with manufacturers and other reputable sources of information, or conduct analyses of products to confirm mercury concentrations. Users should also confirm that alternative products meet all applicable regulatory, protocol and performance requirements before being used in biomedical applications.

Category	Application	Alternatives
ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS (Mercury chloride as reagent)	Sequential Multi-Channel Auto-analyzer (SMCA) AU 2000	Ion Selective Electrode
AUTO-ANALYZERS	Autodelfia Iris Cotter Technicon H2 Hitachi Chem-Array Chem-IMX-1 Chem-IMX-2 Chem-654 Chem-Autodelfia Chem-SEC 6 HEME MDA
BATTERIES Mercuric oxide Silver oxide Mercury zinc Mercuric oxide Zinc air Contaminant in other types of batteries.	Blood analyzers Defibrillators Fetal monitors Hearing aids Holter monitors Pacemakers Pagers Picker calibers Spirometer alarms Telemetry transmitters Temperature alarms	Lithium Zinc Low-mercury alkaline Note: Mercury content of alkaline, zinc carbon, silver oxide, zinc air is being reduced or discontinued
BLOOD GAS ANALYZER (Reference Electrode)	Radiometer (brand)	Equipment without a mercury reference electrode
CENTRIFUGES	Older models-may use mercury in balance cups	Non-mercury weights
DENTAL AMALGAMS (Capsules and waste) *From strictly an environmental standpoint, mercury-free alternatives to amalgams are favored. However, amalgams offer durability and other advantages in dental restorations. No valid scientific evidence has been shown that amalgams cause harm to patients with dental restorations (fillings). Refer to the February 2002 Consumer Update by the Food and Drug Administration on the safety of dental amalgams. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/amalgams.html Information on current research funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) on the health effects of dental amalgams in children may be found at this link http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/news/b2.htm	Tooth restoration	Porcelain and polymeric materials
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE	Mercury used as vibration Damper
HITACHI CHEM ANALYZER	Hitergent Reagent has 65 ppb mercury
LEAD ANALYZER ELECTRODE	ESA (brand) model 3010B
INTERVENTIONAL GASTROINTESTINAL --ENTERAL DEVICES Esophageal Dilators (Maloney/Hurst Bougies) Cantor Tubes Miller Abbott Tubes Feeding Tubes	Mercury used as a weight	Tungsten, water. Used as weight, Anderson Tube can replace Cantor tube
SPHYGMOMANOMETERS	Monitoring blood pressure	Electronic vacuum gauge, expansion, aneroid
THERMOSTATS	Ovens (laboratories) Nursing incubators	Thermostat with bi-metallic strip Electronic
THERMOMETERS	Blood bank Clerget sugar test Body temperature Incubator/water bath Min/max	Electronic (digital) Non-mercury liquid filled