Automobile recyclers all over the state of Ohio are taking part in a joint venture with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to recover up to 90 percent of the mercury switches contained in automobiles by the year 2017.
This program is known as the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, NVMSRP for short. On August 11, 2006 the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would launch the program that is designed to recover an estimated 40 million mercury containing light switches from scrap vehicles that are melted down to make new steel. The program is an effort to reduce the amount of mercury released from furnaces that routinely handle steel from salvage vehicles. At that time, these furnaces ranked fourth in leading the country in mercury emissions. Mercury emitted from the stacks of these furnaces quickly finds its way into groundwater, streams, lakes and air where it enters the food chain mainly through fish, which are then consumed by humans. Exposure to mercury can cause effects, which develop gradually. It may cause shaking of the hands, eyelids, lips, tongue, or jaw. It may cause headaches, trouble sleeping, personality change, memory loss, irritability, indecisiveness and loss of intelligence. It can also cause skin rash, sores in the mouth, or sore and swollen gums. Small children and pregnant women are a particular risk to the effects of mercury poisoning.
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