Sunday, March 19, 2006
School remains closed due to mercury contamination
MANILA -- With mercury levels in St. Andrew's School in Parañaque City still abnormally high, health authorities have decided not to lift the temporary closure order it issued against the school last month.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the school's premises are still considered unsafe for children.
"The school remains closed because mercury levels at the rooms where the spill occurred are still above the acceptable limits," Duque said after he inspected the school premises Saturday.
Mercury is a highly toxic metal, which can be absorbed by the lungs or skin.
Duque said they have to be 100 percent sure that the school is safe and has the recommended ambient air limit of about 0.0002 mg/m3 before the Department of Health (DOH) lifts the closure order.
"We are requiring the school administration to provide us with information on how they acquire, stock, and exercise proper safety precautions when handling and using mercury in their school," Duque added.
Twenty-five students of St. Andrew's School were hospitalized recently due to mercury poisoning while 35 of 98 individuals had detectable levels of mercury in their blood after an experiment using mercury went haywire.
Of the victims, two were recommended for chelation therapy to remove the toxic metal from their blood.
Duque recommended that proper guidelines be set up and implemented in the use of hazardous chemicals and laboratory safety procedures, especially in schools to avoid a recurrence of the incident.
High exposure to mercury vapor may cause acute poisoning, skin rashes, dermatitis, mood swings, memory loss, mental disturbance and muscle weakness. Symptoms usually begin with cough, chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and upset stomach, he said.
He also warned that very high exposure to the substance can lead to neurologic symptoms such as chronic or frequent headaches, dizziness, ringing or noises in ears, and fine tremors in hands, feet, eyelids and tongue as well as cause birth defects to children of exposed mothers.
At the moment, Duque said the DOH "is closely coordinating with school authorities, the City Government of Paranaque, the National Poison Management and Control Center (NPMCC), and the Inter Agency Committee on Environmental Health (IACEH) on matters regarding the continuous monitoring of the effects and blood mercury levels of those who were exposed and the post-clean-up activities." (MSN/Sunnex)
(March 19, 2006 issue)
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