280 to be tested for mercury at Manila school

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 280 teachers and students of Manila Science High School (MSHS) will be screened for mercury exposure and poisoning, an official said yesterday.

“There were no reports of students and teachers getting hospitalized, so we have to do the screening to ensure they have not been exposed starting today (March 24),” Toxicologist Bessie Antonio, of the East Avenue Medical Center  poison control department, told The STAR.

She said they will interview the students and teachers “to check if they are experiencing any symptoms of mercury exposure.”

Antonio belied reports that a teacher was hospitalized following the mercury spill last week.

Assistant Health Secretary Eric Tayag said a cleaning staff of MSHS accidentally spilled up to 60 milliliters of mercury at the second floor corridor outside two classrooms.

Classes at the MSHS have been suspended since yesterday as a result of the spill.

Tayag said classes were suspended to minimize potential exposure to mercury and the school has hired a company to do the cleanup.

The Department of Health (DOH)  is verifying reports that two persons had rashes after the mercury spill, which Tayag said can “cause acute chronic illnesses through inhalation of vapors.”

Antonio said the spill has been cleaned up and they are using a machine to check for traces of mercury in the air.

She said they expect to complete the screening and monitoring today so classes can resume next week.

Liable?

School officials may be held liable if they are found to have been negligent in storing harmful chemicals in the laboratory, Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) chief Johnny Yu said.

Yu said he believes the school should be held liable because the incident, which happened on March 11, was not reported until March 21. 

“We have to ask them why the school still keeps mercury, because it has been banned long before and should have been disposed of,” he said.

 “We also saw some boxes with Chinese characters written on them, which have radioactive chemicals,” Yu added.

He said an inter-agency council will release its recommendations before next week.

According to reports that reached the council, two students and two teachers were cleaning up the science laboratory’s stockroom on the second floor on March 11.

While cleaning, a bottle that carried four vials of mercury fell.

The four called the janitor to help in the cleanup. Yu noted they were all wearing personal protective equipment.

“In between March 11 to 21, the teacher called the DOH, informing them that the leak happened,” Yu said, adding the DOH in turn called MDRRMO.

The council detected 3,758 nanograms per cubic meter in the area where the mercury was spilled, much higher than the normal range of 200 nanograms per cubic meter.  

Yu said the five people who cleaned the area are still under observation but one of the teachers admitted herself to the Philippine General Hospital before calling up DOH to report the leak. – With Rey Galupo, Jose Rodel Clapano