As hundreds of thousands of clunkers head to the scrap yard, General Motors has dropped out of a partnership that collects toxic parts from recycled automobiles to prevent mercury pollution.

Participants in the environmental program said GM's departure could undermine their work. The government's "cash-for-clunkers" program will lead to trade-in and recycling of an estimated 750,000 vehicles, some of which contain mercury switches.

GM said its new company is not a member of the partnership because it no longer makes vehicles with mercury switches and is not responsible for the older vehicles. The old company, still under bankruptcy court supervision, said it is reviewing agreements involving the former company and declined to comment.

Roughly 36 million mercury switches were used in trunk convenience lights and antilock brakes in vehicles built in the 1980s and 1990s. More than half of them are in GM vehicles built before 2000.

Mercury released into the air can accumulate in plants, fish and humans. Children and fetuses are vulnerable to the effects of the toxic metal, which can damage nervous system development.

The auto industry partnership, called the End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corp., or ELVS, was created in 2005 to prevent mercury emissions from being released into the environment when vehicles are crushed and shredded. It works closely with the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, which the Environmental

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Protection Agency helped form with automakers, the steel industry and environmentalists in 2006.

The program, which is scheduled to run until 2017, has recovered 2.5 million switches and disposed of nearly 5,600 pounds of mercury. Before its bankruptcy, GM was the group's largest participant. It informed partners of the change last week.

Mary Bills, the partnership's executive director, said GM has not paid its dues since filing for bankruptcy. Its annual bill is $700,000 to $1 million, a substantial portion of the program's funding. Without GM's payments, the organization may be forced to scale back or cease operations, making it more difficult for recyclers to dispose of mercury recovered under the $3 billion "cash-for-clunkers" program and other recycled vehicles in the future, she said.

"We're surprised that GM, who wants to have this great, green image, would do this," Bills said.