(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Beginning March 1, 2011, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will no longer provide calibration services for mercury thermometers. The cessation of the mercury thermometer calibration program marks the end of an era at NIST, which has provided the service since the doors opened in 1901. The closing of the program is part of a larger effort, in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a number of professional standards organizations and environmental and industry groups, to phase out the use of mercury thermometers altogether.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Elemental mercury is found in thermometers and used in a number of industrial processes such as gold mining. Once released into the environment, mercury makes its way into streams, rivers, and finally the ocean. The mercury is absorbed by sea life and accumulates in the larger fish that humans like to eat. This is the main source of mercury poisoning in humans today.

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