Attention all schools: Ban mercury
Not too long ago, a mercury spill in a school in Parañaque hogged headlines and caused alarm among irate parents. The incident exposed dozens of students to mercury poisoning. The clean-up and decontamination efforts cost millions of pesos.
Today, a different — and most welcome — mercury incident is happening at the School of Saint Anthony (SSA) in Lagro, Quezon City. The SSA administration, together with the green group Ban Toxics!, is launching the mercury-free schools program in Quezon City. The program hopes to raise public awareness on the issue of mercury, particularly in schools, and convince the authorities to refrain from using mercury and products and devices containing mercury in their facilities.
Taking the mercury issue to heart, Atty. Richard Gutierrez, executive director of Ban Toxics!, asserts, “This is a no-brainer. Mercury is a neurotoxin, it affects the brain. In school, where we strive to impart and increase a child’s ability to learn, why should we expose them to the dangers of mercury by using these toxins?”
A friendly note of warning on mercury: Mercury, also known as quicksilver, is one of the most dangerous metals known to man. Together with lead, it causes thousands of poisonings every year all over the world. The incidents involve something as simple as breaking a thermometer or an everyday household item such as a fluorescent light bulb, or being exposed to certain latex paints. Mercury is also found in electrical switches, certain art supplies, and dental amalgams. It is likewise present in many fungicides and pesticides.
Mercury affects the central nervous system, damaging the kidneys and causing severe brain damage. Mercury vapors cause serious respiratory system disorders.
Ban Toxics! particularly notes that mercury is a potent neurotoxin which can cause adverse effects on the developing brain. Its adverse effects include attention deficits as well as IQ, motor, memory, and language impairment. Most susceptible to the ill effects of mercury are growing children, the unborn fetus, and pregnant women. SSA directress Victoria Coralejo stresses, “Our school is committed to excellence, not only in the curriculum we give our students but also in the learning environment they are in. We strive to look for ways to bring out the best in our students, and it is incumbent upon us the school administration, the teachers, all the way down to the cleaning staff, to ensure that they are kept safe from toxins such as mercury while they are in school.”
Ban Toxics! has developed modules for elementary and high school students to make the teachers’ job of imparting knowledge on mercury more meaningful and fun, without using mercury. The modules center on alternatives and activity-enriching devices designed to make learning easy and safe.
The mercury-free schools program is also pushing for the phase-out of mercury and mercury-containing devices and equipment in schools, which will be part of its Phase 2 later this year.
But for now, Ban Toxics! has zeroed in on several schools to pilot the project, and they intend to increase the number of participating schools throughout the year.
“The challenge of converting all schools to being mercury-free will not happen instantly,” explains Gutierrez. “We are counting on progressive-minded schools such as SSA to lead the way. And we see schools really responding to this initiative.”
The mercury-free schools program is supported by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, the largest and most influential environmental organization in Sweden, under its small grant program on toxic chemicals.
Say yes to no mercury in the schools.
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For more information on mercury, visit www.zeromercury.org. Call Richard Gutierrez of Ban Toxics! at 09175067724 or e-mail bantoxics@gmail.com; Leslie D. Irang, School of Saint Anthony, 02 417 8565 local 111 or e-mail t.leslie_irang@yahoo.com.
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