Introduction

Healthcare exposure to mercury can occur during repair of broken thermometers.
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Mercury may be fatal if inhaled and harmful if absorbed through the skin. Around 80% of the inhaled mercury vapor is absorbed in the blood through the lungs. It may cause harmful effects to the nervous, digestive, respiratory, immune systems and to the kidneys, besides causing lung damage.

Healthcare facilities are one of the main sources of mercury release into the atmosphere because of emissions from the incineration of medical waste.

Healthcare exposure to mercury can occur during repair of broken thermometers, sphygmomanometers, or during sterilization and centrifugation of thermometers in maintenance areas.

This course takes a closer look at the healthcare industry and how workers can protect themselves from potential health hazards from mercury.

Module

Click on the link below to access the module. You can also click on the link at the top of the page.

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Course 173 Final Exam

After studying the course material and answering the quiz questions, it is time to take the final exam. We highly recommend answering the module quiz questions to check your understanding of the course material. The final exam questions are typically developed from these quiz questions.

OSHAcademy course final exams are designed to make sure students have gained a sufficient understanding of the content covered within each course. To help demonstrate this understanding, students must achieve a passing score on course final exams. It is OSHAcademy's policy to protect the integrity of our exams: as a result, we do not provide missed questions to students.

This is an open book exam. Students are permitted to use a separate browser window to review course content while taking the exam. If you do not pass a final exam, you will see a "Retake Exam" button next to the course on your student dashboard.

If you have already paid for your certificate

If you have already paid for certificates, your exam score will be displayed on your student dashboard after successfully passing the final exam. If you chose PDF certificates, you can view and print your certificate and personal transcript from your student dashboard. If you chose original printed documents, they will be prepared and mailed to the address in your student account.

If you only want free training

OSHAcademy provides free access to all training materials, including course modules, practice quizzes, exercises, and final exams. However, exam scores, certificates, and transcripts are provided only if you purchase a certificate package to document your training. If you do not require official training documentation, we will archive your exam results should you decide to purchase official certificates later.

Take the Final Exam

Endnotes

• "Healthcare Wide Hazards: Mercury." Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Retrieved from: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hospital/hazards/mercury/mercury.html
• "Health Effects of Exposure to Mercury." United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from: https://www.epa.gov/mercury/health-effects-exposures-mercury#self
• "Mercury in Hospitals." State of Colorado. Retrieved from: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/mercury-hospitals
• "Mercury and Healthcare." Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2992864/
• "What to Do if a Mercury Thermometer Breaks." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from: https://www.epa.gov/mercury/what-do-if-mercury-thermometer-breaks#clean

Additional Resources

• Mercury in Healthcare, Healthcare Without Harm
• Elminating Mercury in Health Care, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Eliminating Mercury in Hospitals, EPA