Directive to Education Department: Ban mercury in schools

This month, four years ago, an explosive piece of news crudely jolted us out of our complacency. The headline screamed: 24 students downed by mercury. At least 24 students of St. Andrew’s School, Parañaque, most of them aged 13, ended up in the hospital as confirmed cases of mercury poisoning. The report said that the students were poisoned after toying around with 50 grams of mercury meant for a science experiment. St. Andrew’s was closed for months while local and international experts cleaned up and decontaminated it.

A civil case was filed by John Seth Cerillo, one of the students exposed to mercury at St. Andrew’s School. We learned some bitter lessons from that sad incident, which has been ingrained in our collective memory. Or did we?

As far back as 1991, the World Health Organization has recognized the danger posed by mercury to humans when it concluded that a safe level of mercury exposure, below which no adverse effects occur, has never been established. 

In 2002, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) zeroed in on the growing danger of mercury exposure in its report that says “new findings during the last decade indicate that toxic effects may be taking place at lower concentrations than previously thought ...”

This lethal metal and its compounds are commonly used in chemical laboratories, hospitals, dental clinics, and facilities involved in the manufacture of products like fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, and explosives. Eating mercury-contaminated fish is the most significant source of mercury poisoning. We can also get it from eating foods with mercury residues from processing, improper use or disposal of mercury and mercury-containing objects, improper disposal of fluorescent lamps, and breathing contaminated air. Coal plants emit approximately half of the atmospheric mercury while natural sources like volcanoes account for the rest.

Affected children, who are the most sensitive victims of this culprit, suffer from kidney dysfunction, memory impairment, insomnia, loss of hair, teeth, and nails.

Ban Toxics! has urged Education Secretary Jesli Lapus to immediately issue an order to all schools in the country to: immediately prohibit the purchase of and use of mercury and mercury-containing equipment, and ensure their proper and secure storage. 

For more information on Ban Toxics’ petition, read letter below.  (You can visit www.bantoxics.org for more info on mercury.)

Dear Consumerline,

This is Richard Gutierrez again, the lawyer/environmental advocate, not the actor. I’d like to send out the message that mercury should NOT be used in schools. We sent Education Secretary Jesli Lapus yesterday an open letter urging the DepED to immediately take action.

Our request is based on the following facts:

• Mercury is a biased poison; its ill effects are not borne equally by the population. The most sensitive to its adverse impacts are children, the fetus, and pregnant women.  Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, affecting the brain and nervous system. And once mercury penetrates either the blood-brain barrier in children or bypasses the placental barrier between the fetus and the mother, the effects could be as subtle as lowered IQ or as severe as developmental problems when the child is born.  In all cases, the effect is permanent, incurable.

• Last Tuesday, Feb. 16, we marked the fourth year of the most publicized mercury spill in the Philippines — the St. Andrew’s School incident.  This tragedy exposed the dysfunction of how we view this toxin in our society. First, the lack of awareness of teachers and educational institutions of the toxins they expose their students to.  Schools have an obligation not only to nurture the mind, but also to protect the health of their wards. It is the height of irony, that by using mercury lab experiments in school, teachers and school administrators are actually exposing their students to danger, that could very well debilitate the very organ which houses the intellect they are attempting to cultivate — the brain.

• Second, our government’s lackadaisical approach to stemming mercury use in our country.  The Department of Health has taken a significant step towards this goal with AO 21, but the other agencies’ efforts, particularly those of the Department of Education, are wanting. Four years have elapsed and there has been no order coming out of DepEd that prohibits the use of mercury in schools. Reaction to a spill is not the appropriate response to mercury. As mentioned previously, the effects of mercury are often permanent and incurable. So once a child is exposed to mercury and is adversely affected, it is too late. The solution is in preventing mercury use, to begin with.

• Lastly, there’s the lack of awareness among parents of the toxins their children are exposed to in school.  No parent would willingly expose his/her child to harm.  Yet this is what happens in schools as long as toxins, such as mercury, are used in laboratories, clinics, and classrooms. 

We must stop using mercury or mercury-containing products, not only in hospitals, but also in our homes and in our schools, where the most precious and vulnerable among us spend their time.

It will only take one order from Secretary Lapus to get the schools to stop using mercury and begin a path to be mercury-free. 

— Atty. RICHARD GUTIERREZ

Executive director, Ban Toxics!

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A burning issue

A reader asked: How do we dispose of old batteries? Some are leaking already. What dangers do leaking old batteries pose?

EcoWaste Coalition head Manny Calonzo gives this answer:

Used household batteries are considered as “special waste” under R.A. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and should not be mixed with ordinary solid waste. Unlike your typical discards, batteries have harmful chemicals that consumers should be aware of.

While major brands of alkaline batteries claim to contain no cadmium and mercury, some battery types may still have these toxic metals and other substances of concern.  Throwing them into the dumps or into the fire can cause the chemicals to be released and cause health, safety, and environmental problems.  The EcoWaste Coalition encourages consumers to consider the following guidelines to prevent harm and injury from the improper disposal of used batteries:

• Read the product safety instructions. A major brand has this warning on the battery label: “Do not install backwards, charge or put in fire — may explode or leak.”

• Do not mix different battery types, or use used batteries with new ones, including batteries with varying expiry dates. The batteries can leak, ignite or explode, causing harm to you and the electronic item.

• Do not leave batteries in a product for an extended period as the batteries may leak and ruin the product.

• Steer clear of leaking batteries as potassium hydroxide may be released, causing chemical burns.

• Store old batteries in a Ziploc bag or other sealed containers until you can dispose of them properly.  Properly label the bag or container.

• Do not store used batteries together or dispose them in big amounts. These batteries might still have some small charges remaining that can cause them to ignite or explode.

• Do not dispose of old batteries in fire as this can result in explosions that can discharge harmful chemicals and cause damage to health and property.

• Check with your municipal or city Environmental and Natural Resources Officer (ENRO) on the proper disposal of used batteries in your locality or contact the National Solid Waste Management Commission (phone/fax: 920-2252; e-mail: nsmwc2004@yahoo.com) for advice.

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