Hello, welcome to Roundtable,
where we serve up piping hot debates on the issues that sizzle in China and beyond.
I'm Niu Helin.
It's late at night, somewhat in the house feels warm, a little off.
You open a drawer, pull out a slim glass thermometer, shake it a few times, and wait.
For generations, that small ritual has been part of family life in China.
But soon, that familiar object will quietly disappear,
not because it stopped working, but because the world around it has changed.
Are you ready to say goodbye to the mukri thermometers?
For this episode, I'm joined by Fei Fei and Steve Heatherly.
Now grab your virtual compass and follow us to the heart of the discussion.
When news broke out that mercury thermometers would soon stop being produced,
the reaction was immediate and a little emotional.
Stockpiling, price spikes, online debates,
the response reviewed something deeper than simply just consumer panic.
How attached people can become to tools they are familiar with.
Starting from January 1st, 2026, China will fully bend on the production of mercury and mercury,
a test or a kind of tool that can test your blood pressure and we call it sigmoma nometers.
And this is due to safety concerns.
So let's take a look at the reality of the issue exactly what kind of harm mercury can do to human society and how much effort we've already put in to stop that harm from happening.