Studies Released Show Auto Industry As Major Source of Toxic Mercury Pollution

Despite 1995 Commitments to End Its Use, US Automakers Continue to Use Mercury
                                   In Autos

    DETROIT, Jan. 22 Automobiles are one of the nation's
largest sources of toxic mercury emissions, according to two studies -- Toxics
in Vehicles: Mercury and Toxic by Design -- released today by leading
environmental organizations.  Despite practical, inexpensive alternatives and
industry commitments to phase out its use, mercury continues to be widely used
in new automobiles.  Mercury is highly toxic to humans and wildlife and is
released when automobiles are scrapped.  The organizations called on US
automakers to immediately eliminate the use of mercury in autos.

    Toxics in Vehicles: Mercury -- a collaboration of the Ecology Center in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, Great Lakes United, based in Buffalo, New York, and the
University of Tennessee Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies --
documents how dangerous levels of mercury are released into the environment
once cars leave the road and enter vehicle disposal and recycling processes.

    The bulk of mercury releases occur when contaminated steel, recovered from
scrap automobiles, is melted in electric arc furnaces (EAFs).  The study
estimates that EAFs emit 15.6 metric tons of mercury each year, which is more
than all manufacturing sources combined.  Automobiles are likely the single
largest source of mercury-contaminated scrap.  The report finds that EAFs are
not only the largest manufacturing source of mercury air emissions in the US,
but the fourth largest overall-behind only coal-fired power plants(utility and
commercial/industrial boilers), and municipal and medical waste incinerators.

    "Our report clearly documents how the unnecessary use of mercury in
automobiles is the primary culprit in contaminating the scrap steel recycling
and recovery system," said Charles Griffith, Auto Project Director at the
Ecology Center.  "These new findings show that the auto industry is one of the
nation's largest sources of mercury pollution."

    According to the second report -- Toxic by Design, released by
Environmental Defense -- auto manufacturers have continued to use mercury in
product design and purchasing decisions despite known concerns and the
availability of practical, cost-effective alternatives.  The report also finds
that mercury is released by the manufacturers of automotive switches.

    Approximately 175 to 200 metric tons of mercury are in vehicles on the
road today, primarily in mercury switches in hood and trunk lighting and
anti-lock braking systems.  One auto mercury switch contains nearly one gram
of mercury, equivalent to the amount of mercury found in household fever
thermometers, which are now being banned by many city and state governments
due to increasing concern about the health risks resulting from the disposal
of mercury containing products.  While U.S. manufacturers continue to use
mercury switches, international automakers such as Toyota, Volvo and BMW have
completely eliminated mercury switch applications since 1993.