RESUMEN
The yearly mercury released into the environment from discarded broken thermometers was estimated through questionnaires submitted to medical personnel in two major cities, namely Yaounde and Bertoua, in Cameroon. Eighty-three medical personnel made up of 17 assistant nurses, 56 nurses + midwives and 10 physicians responded to have handled a total of 3216 units of thermometers made up of 85% Hg-added and 15% digital during consultations. Six hundred twenty-four units, all Hg-added and making about 19% of thermometers got broken during health consultations. This breakage led to the average annual disposal of 0.646 Kg of mercury. The mean rates of mercury release from broken thermometers were assessed to 0.056, 0.005 and 0, and 0.009, 0.002 and 0 Kg per year, respectively, for assistant nurses, nurses + midwives and physicians in bigger and smaller cities, respectively. Assistant nurses alone disposed of 73%, 27% by nurses + midwives, and none released by physicians for the total estimated of 222.52 Kg of mercury disposed of from broken thermometers by medical personnel in hospitals in Cameroon. Out of the total mercury estimated, 63.71% and 36.21% were disposed of by medical personnel in bigger and smaller cities, respectively. The circumstances of the accidental broken of these mercury-added thermometers will expose medical personnel, patients, and the public to this toxic chemical.
