Influential doctors' body adds weight to global mercury ban calls
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The World Medical Association (WMA) has added its weight to calls for banning the use of mercury in healthcare. In a bid to minimise accidental and environmental exposure to the metal, the group, which represents doctors from 90 countries, has called on hospitals and medical facilities to switch to non-mercury equivalents. The WMA specified the following products: "thermometers, sphygmomanometers, gastrointestinal tubes, batteries, lamps, electrical supplies, thermostats, pressure gauges [and] laboratory reagents ". The issue was highlighted as a leading topic of the WMA's annual general assembly, which has just concluded in Seoul, South Korea.