Lead and mercury pollution
About Mercury, Another Toxic Heavy Metal
A. Mercury's Effects and Exposure
"Most of the problem with mercury toxicity is its indolent, slow, smoldering effects that never let the patient know that mercury is at the root of the problem. Exposure to mercury beings in the womb where the mother transfers mercury to the fetus through the placenta. Once the fetus is out of the uterus there are many ways for mercury levels to begin to accumulate. The common areas where mercury is found are: Auto exhaust, Pesticides, Fertilizers, Amalgams (silver fillings), Drinking water (tap and well), Tanning leather, Felt, Bleached flour, Processed foods, Fabric softeners, Fish, Calomel (talc, body powder), Paint pigments and solvents, Cinnabar (used in jewelry), Laxatives, Mercurochrome/ methiolate, Cosmetics: mascara, Floor waxes and polishes, Wood preservatives, Plumbing—piping, Adhesives, Batteries, Air conditioner filters." -- "Heavy Metal Toxicity," Environmental and Preventive Health Center of Atlanta REF
B. Coal-fired Power Plants and Waste Incinerators Are Causing Massive Poisoning by Mercury in the U.S. MidwestREAD "Toxic Mercury Rains on U.S. Midwest," an article based on a startling report by the National Wildlife Federation, September 1999. (alternate site) [900 words]
C. Events of Mercury PoisoningThere have been several instances of mercury poisoning reported worldwide. In 1965 in Niigata, Japan, 330 people were infected by eating contaminated fish. Thirteen of these people died. In Iraq in 1961, in Pakistan in 1963, and in Guatemala in 1966, over 30 people were infected in each case by eating flour made from seeds treated with mercury containing fungicides. In the U.S., in New Mexico, a farmer and his family were poisoned from eating a hog which had been fed contaminated garbage.
The most infamous large-scale mercury poisoning occurred at Minamata Bay, Japan, in 1952. Minamata Bay: In 1952, in Minamata Bay, Japan, the most well-known instance of mercury poisoning occurred. The Chisson Chemical Company dumped mercury in Minamata harbor. The population of Minamata Bay ate contaminated fish from this harbor. As a result, 397 people were infected. Of these, 68 people died, including 22 unborn children. Minamata was the first known instance of widespread mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning is sometimes referred to as "Minamata disease."Optional: "A Dartmouth College scientist whose specialty was the dangers of heavy metals died of mercury poisoning this week, 10 months after as little as a drop of a rare toxic compound apparently seeped through her rubber gloves. Karen Wetterhahn, 48, had been hospitalized since January, when tests showed 80 times the lethal dose of mercury in her blood, a college investigation showed. After she was diagnosed on Jan. 28, Wetterhahn told investigators she remembered spilling one to several drops of dimethylmercury in August." -- Associated Press, 11 June 1997 01:38 AM ET, HANOVER, N.H. REF
Thomas Detwyler maintains this page (tdetwyle@uwsp.edu)
Last updated 16 October 2000
� Copyright 1998-2001 by Thomas Detwyler