CHICAGO (AP) - The American Academy of Pediatrics says doctors and parents should stop using mercury thermometers, joining a movement that could send the once ubiquitous household items to the medical junkyard.

Long-term exposure to mercury can cause neurological damage and developmental problems in children. If mercury thermometers are broken, the harmful vapors can be absorbed by the body.

In addition, burning and other inadequate disposal of mercury thermometers can release the vapors, which may contribute to contamination of fish. Mercury-contaminated fish can cause fetal damage if eaten by pregnant women.

"Efforts should be made to reduce exposure to the extent possible to pregnant women and children as well as the general population," the academy said in a report in the July issue of its journal, Pediatrics.

Pediatricians can help by phasing out the medical use of mercury-containing devices including thermometers and advising parents to remove them from their homes, the report said. Alternatives such as digital thermometers are widely available.

While several cities and hospitals have banned mercury thermometers and some major retailers have stopped selling them, they remain a problem "because they were the standard up until very recently. There's a lot of them in medicine cabinets," said Alexis Cain, an environmental scientist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Having a doctors' group say we can do without this" is helpful, Cain said.

But he noted that proper disposal of mercury thermometers is essential, and said parents should take them to a household hazardous waste collection center. The mercury then is recycled and used in products such as fluorescent lamps, Cain said.

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