According to the EPA, medical waste incinerators are the fourth largest known releasers of mercury to the environment. The reason for this is that mer
{"Image DocumentName": "According to the EPA, medical waste incinerators are the fourth largest known releasers of mercury to the environment. The reason for this is that mercury waste is being improperly disposed of in biohazard bags along with other solid wastes that are not considered infectious. The mercury waste comes from patient and laboratory thermometers, blood pressure devices, dilation and feeding tubes, batteries, and fluorescent lamps. Mercury cannot be destroyed by incineration. It is instead released through the incinerator smokestack and then deposited back to land or sea. It eventually gets into fish and then people eat the fish. When people eat contaminated fish they can get mercury poisoning. In people, mercury is toxic. It causes damage to the brain, kidneys, and lungs. When pregnant women eat mercury contaminated fish, their babies are born mentally retarded. Thirty nine states have issued over 1,600 warnings against eating mercury contaminated fish found in their waterways.", "Image ImageDescription": "In addition to mercury, medical waste incinerators release dioxin to the atmosphere. Dioxin is a name used to describe a class of toxic chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, and a number of other conditions in humans. It is formed when IV bags, tubing, and other PVC plastics are burned in an incinerator as medical waste. It is released from the incinerator smokestack and travels great distances where it enters the food chain much like mercury. According to the EPA, medical waste incinerators are the second largest source of dioxin pollution of our environment and food supply. Because of all of the environmental health problems caused by medical waste incinerators, the American Hospital Association and the EPA have reached an agreement to work together to reduce the amount of waste within the hospital system by half by the year 2010.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}