Mercury-in-glass thermometer Medical Center and Las Piñas Hospital also made steps to ban the toxic chemical. The country was the first one to make a step to ban mercury from its health care system in Southeast Asia. Since European Union directive 2007/51/EC came into force on 3 April 2009, the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported that mercury thermometers could no longer be sold to the general public. Shops holding stocks of unsold thermometers had to withdraw them from sale; mercury thermometers purchased before this date could be used without legal implications. The purpose of these restrictions is to protect the environment
Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 Section 5(h)(3), and radioactive materials and wastes regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The EPA reviews new chemical notifications and if it finds an "unreasonable risk to human health or the environment," it may regulate the substance from limiting uses or production volume to outright banning it. In 2013, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act was proposed as the first major overhaul in many years. The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 mandated the EPA to protect the public from "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment" by regulating the manufacture and sale