New law requires removal of parts from vehicles sent to scrap heap

CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law Saturday a measure that requires the removal of light switches that contain mercury from vehicles headed to the scrap heap.

The switches are a major source of mercury pollution from junked cars and trucks, federal and state regulators say. They are found in the hood and trunk lighting systems of vehicles manufactured before 2003 and the anti-lock braking systems of some four-wheel drive vehicles.

The bill requires automakers to create mercury switch collection programs.

"What we're doing today is really about our kids," Blagojevich said at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, where he signed the bill. "It's about leaving them a cleaner and healthier world."

Most of the state's lakes, rivers and streams have some form of mercury in them, Illinois health officials say. One gram of mercury can contaminate a 30-acre lake and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency estimates that between 400 and 800 pounds of mercury are released into the environment each year from the switches.

Pregnant woman and their unborn children are especially vulnerable to the effects of mercury, which can lead to birth defects, according to the health officials.

Coal-fired power plants and steel mills are a primary source of mercury pollution.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule in March 2005, which places a limit on allowable pollution for each state starting in 2010. The EPA said it wants to cut mercury pollution by 70 percent by 2018.