Dangers of Mercury
Mercury Conference and Expo
Venue: Philippine Heart Center, East Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines.Date: January 25 and 26, 2006
One of the most serious – and preventable – pollutants stemming from the health care industry is mercury.
This heavy metal is a potent neurotoxin that is directly linked to developmental disabilities in children, as well as a wide array of other negative health and environmental impacts. For example, the amount of mercury in one thermometer, when it is dispersed and metabolized in an aquatic environment, can contaminate a 20-acre lake.
According to the United Nations Environmental Program: “As awareness of mercury’s adverse impacts has increased, the uses of mercury have been reduced significantly in many industrialized countries. “
Alternatives are commercially and competitively available for most uses. However, these reductions in use have had the effect of lowering demandrelative to the supply of mercury, which has kept mercury prices low andencouraged ongoing (and in some cases, increased) use of mercury andoutdated mercury technologies in less-developed regions or nations .
As mercury regulations and restrictions are less comprehensive or less well enforced in many less-developed regions, these trends have contributed tothe concentration, in these areas, of a disproportionate burden of some of the health and environmental risks that accompany mercury.”
*This pattern has held true for healthcare services, as the use of mercury in medical products is decreasing significantly in more developed countries, while holding steady in the global south.
Most U.S. and Northern Europeanhospitals already employ safer alternatives such as digital thermometers, but mercury-based devices are still given out regularly to patients and hospital staff in countries such as the Philippines and throughout SouthEast Asia. This practice persists despite the high risk of breakage, and the low levels of public education about how to clean up hazardous mercurywaste.
Given that healthcare professionals take the Hippocratic Oath to “first do no harm,” it is deeply ironic that hospital products are such a significant source of toxic mercury pollution. By activating healthcare professionals tobecome more informed advocates for mercury use reduction, this project aimsto leverage the resources of the healthcare sector – and the authority of doctors and nurses – in favor of safer alternatives, making hospitalpractices more ecologically sustainable in the process.
With the above considerations in mind, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), theUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Philippine Heart Center(PHC), with the support of the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) is organizing the Mercury in Healthcare Southeast Asia Conference in QuezonCity on January 25 and 26, 2006.
Objectives: The conference will discuss the threats posed by the continued use ofmercury containing medical devices. It will also promote alternativetechnology and policy solutions.
The conference and exhibit will be the first in a series of fourcontemplated events—with the other three taking place in Argentina, SouthAfrica and India. Each conference will build upon the one before it, whilealso focusing on generating specific action to eliminate mercury in theHealth Care Sector in each country/region, and substituting mercurycontaining medical devices with financially viable, high qualityalternatives.
The events will be designed to result in input from the Health Care Sectorto national, regional and global discussions on mercury elimination. They will discuss implementing the brand new World Health Organization policy on mercury in health care. And they will also generate input from the health care sector to the UNEP Governing Council’s 24 th Session in early 2007. The Governing Council will at that time “consider progress and assess the need for further action on mercury, considering a full range of options, including the possibility of a legally binding instrument.”#
Great blog I hope we can work to build a better health care system as we are in a major crisis and health insurance is a major aspect to many.