A thermometer is a maximum temperature gauge, also known as a "medical thermometer," or a "thermometer needle" in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It records the highest temperature ever measured.
On October 16, 2020, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) published a notice on its website regarding the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The notice explicitly requires that, starting January 1, 2026, my country will completely ban the production of mercury-containing thermometers and mercury-containing sphygmomanometers.
In December 2025, the topic of "Mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers banned from production next year" trended on Weibo, sparking heated discussion. On the 10th, reporters noticed that mercury thermometers were out of stock in many stores on major e-commerce platforms. As of December 13, 2025, the price of mercury thermometers had risen from 2 yuan to over 20 yuan, and even as high as 99 yuan, according to online sellers.
