Solutions to health care waste: life-cycle thinking and "green" purchasing.

Health care waste treatment is linked to bioaccumulative toxic substances, such as mercury and dioxins, which suggests the need for a new approach to product selection. To address environmental issues proactively, all stages of the product life cycle should be considered during material selection. The purchasing mechanism is a promising channel for action that can be used to promote the use of environmentally preferable products in the health care industry; health care facilities can improve environmental performance and still decrease costs. Tools that focus on environmentally preferable purchasing are now emerging for the health care industry. These tools can help hospitals select products that create the least amount of environmental pollution. Environmental performance should be incorporated into the evolving definition of quality for health care.

Becoming a mercury free facility: a priority to be achieved by the year 2000.

This Professional Development Series document outlines the public health and environmental impacts of mercury. It further explains the health care industry's extraordinary contribution of mercury pollution and outlines simple, cost effective strategies to better manage, minimize and ultimately eliminate the use of mercury and mercury based products in health care settings. Brief case studies of facilities that have been successful in this effort are described. A technical assistance resource guide is also included. Readers can expect to acquire the skills needed to make this important work a manageable task.