THE Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) considers mercury, a silvery metal in liquid form, as “one of the top 10 threats to public health.” A naturally occurring element in the Earth’s crust, mercury is one of the world’s most toxic metals. It is released into the atmosphere with natural events such as volcanic activity.
Science books state there are two types of mercury: inorganic and organic. Metallic mercury, which is a type of inorganic mercury, is used in familiar items such as fluorescent lights, batteries and thermometers.
The methyl mercury is a type of organic mercury. Scientists say this white powdery substance “smells like the sulfur in a hot spring.” It is easily absorbed from the stomach into the blood and carried to the liver and kidney, and then the brain and even the fetus, where it is absorbed and concentrated, and causes great damage to the human body.
“Human activities like coal burning, gold mining and chloralkali manufacturing plants currently contribute to the vast majority of the mercury released into our environment,” explained Dr. Anne M. Davis, an assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics director at the Didactic Program in Dietetics of the University of New Haven.
In an article, which Live Science published, author Alina Bradford wrote: “When mercury is released into the atmosphere, it dissolves in fresh water and seawater. A type of mercury called methylmercury is most easily accumulated in the body and is particularly dangerous.”
A paper published by the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health said that about 80 percent to 90 percent of organic mercury in a human body comes from eating fish and shellfish, and 75 percent to 90 percent of organic mercury existing in fish and shellfish is methyl mercury.
Mercury has long been known to be toxic; the phrase “mad as a hatter” refers to the 19th-century occupational disease that resulted from prolonged contact with the mercury used in the manufacture of felt hats. Despite this, there are still workers, especially laboratory technicians, nurses and machine operators, who are still exposed to mercury, as it is part of their job.
Mercury poisoning is its biggest health threat. And it is almost always associated with Minamata disease. It is named after a port city in southeastern Kyushu in Japan. It was first reported in 1953 when 13 persons were suffering from what was then a strange malady.
A historical narrative for Michiko Ishimure, who won the 1973 Ramon Magsaysay Award for publicizing writings about the Minamata disease, shared this information: “[The strange malady] usually manifested itself first in numbness and a ‘drunken’ loss of coordination, which progressively led to a total loss of the ability to walk, speak, write, see, hear, smell and feel. In its later stages, it resulted in severe deformation of the body, convulsions, fantastic behavior and death.”
Records show that some early severe victims of the unknown disease went insane, became unconscious and died within a month of the onset of the disease. In addition to the physical damage, there was also social harm, such as discrimination due to the disease.
By 1956, some 52 persons were known sufferers, and by 1958, the Minamata City Hospital had to add a wing to accommodate the patients. It was not until in July 1959 that Japanese medical experts identified mercury as the cause of what became officially known as Minamata disease.
In 1965, Minamata disease was again reported in Niigata, on the East Coast of Honshu. Again, scientists made public their definite conclusion: the disease was from mercury emptied into the river.
“Although mercury poisoning is not that common, it is a serious condition that can lead to complications,” said Dr. Willie T. Ong, an internist and cardiologist, who is currently running for the Senate this coming May election.
“Adults with mercury poisoning may develop muscle weakness, tremors, impaired speech, difficulty walking, headaches, insomnia, irritability and skin rashes,” he said, adding that people with severe exposure to mercury, the effects can escalate to kidney disease, respiratory failure and even death.
The US National Institutes of Health said that mercury poisoning is a slow process that can take months or years. Since the process is so slow, most people don’t realize they are being poisoned right away.
“The populations most vulnerable to mercury are pregnant women [because it affects fetuses] and small children,” wrote Linda Greer, Michael Bender, Peter Maxson and David Lennett, authors of Curtailing Mercury’s Global Reach, one of the reports included in the “State of The World” published by the Worldwatch Institute.
“A child’s brain develops throughout the first several years of life, and mercury interferes with development of the neuron connections in the brain crucial to a healthy nervous system. High levels of prenatal and infant mercury exposure can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness or blindness,” the four authors noted.
Even in much lower doses, mercury exposure is still dangerous. “[It] may affect a child’s development, leading to such results as poor performance on neurobehavioral tests, particularly those relying on attention, fine motor function, language, visual spatial abilities [such as drawing], and verbal memory,” the four authors pointed out.
Although it travels through the atmosphere, mercury settles in oceans and waterways, where naturally occurring bacteria absorb it and convert it to methylmercury. Here’s what happens, according to Bradford:
“Once in the water, mercury makes its way into the food chain. Inorganic mercury and methylmercury are first consumed by phytoplankton, single-celled algae at the base of most aquatic food chains. Next, the phytoplankton are consumed by small animals such as zooplankton. The methylmercury is assimilated and retained by the animals as waste products. Small fish that eat the zooplankton are exposed to food-borne mercury that is predominantly in the methylated form. These fish are consumed by larger fish, and so on until it gets to humans.”
“In a normal diet, very little mercury gets into our body,” Dr. Ong said. “However, certain fish have higher amounts of mercury. Generally, the larger the fish, the greater the mercury content.”
Fish species with the lowest levels of mercury are dilis (anchovies), hito(catfish), galunggong (mackerel), salmon, sardines, tilapia and bangus.
According to Dr. Ong, some people are at higher risk for mercury poisoning than others. “In cases of acute mercury poisoning,” he suggests, “bring the patient to the hospital for emergency treatment. Those who ingested mercury may be given activated charcoal to soak up and remove the chemical from the body.”
Good news: The Philippines will soon be mercury-free once the country ratifies the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
A report prepared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has already outlined the national requirements and needs for the implementation of the convention.
“Once it ratifies the convention, the Philippines will be protected from being a dumping ground for products containing mercury and will help avoid further risk to the country’s aquatic life, where mercury levels have been increasing,” pointed out Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.
In 2013, the Philippines was one of the 128 countries that signed the convention, which regulates the use and trade of mercury. However, the country has yet to ratify the convention, which entered into force in August 2017.
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