Moving Away from Mercury

Moving Away From Mercury

Manila Bulletin, August 18, 2008

Time and again, we have heard stories of the dangers of mercury.

Exposure to mercury among infants and children (and even to the fetus inside a mother’s womb), affects the brain and nervous system of the child and impairs his neurological development. It also affects the child’s cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language and fine motor and visual spatial skills.

Some children after exposure to mercury experience impairment of the peripheral vision, disturbance in sensations, lack of coordination of movements and impaired speech, hearing, and walking, and muscle weakness.

Inhaling its vapor may cause emotional changes, insomnia, neuromuscular changes, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve response, performance deficits in cognitive function and even kidney defects, respiratory failures and deaths.

You may go all day enumerating the dangerous effects of inhaling and absorbing mercury into your body. But the question is what must be done to avoid these harmful effects?

Switching to Alternatives

The Philippine Heart Center is the first hospital in the country to introduce the switch to non-mercury alternatives. The switch happened in just a span of 7 months when it started a mercury spill clean-up in February 2007 to September 2007 when it became a zero-mercury zone.

Alternatives to mercury thermometer and sphygmomanometers are now being used in the Philippine Heart Center and some other hospitals.

Alternatives are readily available in medical device distributors and the price ranges from Php165 to Php6,750 for non-mercury thermometers and Php290 to Php29,480 for sphygmomanometers.

The price may seem higher than mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers. But taking into consideration the risk of mercury spills, cost of cleaning up the spill and cost of training medical practitioners to use mercury devices, mercury-free alternatives are so much cheaper in the long run.

Although alternatives are available, hospital workers, as well as ordinary people, need to be trained on how to properly handle existing mercury-containing devices and how to go about cleaning mercury spills.

Cleaning-up Mercury Spill in Your Home

Spent fluorescent lamps containing mercury in vapor form must be properly and safely stored to prevent mercury leak.

** It must be put in its original box and properly labeled and sealed to prevent leakage in case the lamp breaks. Or better yet, place them in a storage where it will not fall or tip over. Store it in a dry place.

** In case the lamp breaks, do not use vacuum cleaner. Instead, place the broken glass in a closed container.

** Remember that it is best to just keep the spent fluorescent lamp safely stored in your home than to dispose it through garbage trucks. Sadly, we still do not have the capacity to safely recycle fluorescent lamp.

For other smaller mercury spills, HCWH recommends 11 easy clean-up steps:

1. Evacuate the area. Shut the door and turn off interior ventilation system to avoid dispersing mercury vapor.
2. Wear protective face mask.
3. Wear clothes and shoes that maybe discarded when contaminated.
4. Remove jewelry so that it will not combine with the mercury.
5. Wear rubber or latex gloves. Place broken objects on a paper towel then onto a lock bag, properly labeled.
6. Identify the surface. Wood, linoleum and tiles may be easily cleaned while carpets, curtains and upholstery should be immediately disposed.
7. Locate mercury beads. Carefully gather them together using a cardboard.
8. Use eyedropper and sticky tape to pick-up the beads and then transfer it to an airtight-lid plastic container. Put in a sip-lock bag, properly labeled.
9. Put all cleanup gloves and clothing in a leak-proof bag.
10. Contact hospitals for advice on final disposal.
11. Keep the area ventilated from the outside for at least 24 hours after the successful clean-up.

But remember that the best way is always prevention. Please, shy away from mercury devices.

** Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org or check out HCWH-SEA’s Guide to Alternatives.