Safe Storage Needed for Discarded Mercury Thermometers
Thermometers that use mercury, a toxic liquid metal, are expected to be phased out from both public and private hospitals by 2010. But in the meantime the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should find safe storage for disposed thermometers.
"Mercury impairs neurological development of infants and children. Even a fetus inside a pregnant woman's body that has been exposed to mercury is instantly affected."
Program Coordinator
HCWH-SEA
Health officials, backed by over 400 organizations working to curb pollution in the health sector, made the call on Thursday at a news conference.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III instructed the phase-out in Administrative Order 2008-0021, making the Philippines the first in Asia with such an order.
The Committee on Mercury Phase-out is chaired by Dr. Edwin Sanchez, with engineer Elmer Benedicto as vice chairman.
"Actually, mercury as an element can't be disposed," Sanchez told reporters at the conference. "So we need a safe storage for mercury thermometers until such time that we find a technology wherein they can be disposed safely."
Even in the United States and Europe, there is still no way to safely dispose of mercury thermometers, according to Sanchez.
In the Philippines, the agency tasked with providing storage for mercury thermometers is the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the DENR.
As an engineer, Benedicto proposed a storage vault made of concrete to ensure that any accidental spillage of mercury will not seep out.
Faye Ferrer, Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA) program coordinator, said the DENR and EMB should identify a place for mercury thermometers.
Most Vulnerable
Also at the conference, children dressed like little gods and goddesses presented mercury-free thermometers in an unusual Valentine box to Lozada, who received the gift for Duque.
Children are among the most vulnerable to mercury exposure.
"Mercury impairs neurological development of infants and children," Ferrer said. "Even a fetus inside a pregnant woman's body that has been exposed to mercury is instantly affected. It may disrupt the baby's growing brain and nervous system."
Children exposed to low levels of methyl mercury in the womb show effects on cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and motor and visual spatial skills, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Symptoms of methyl mercury poisoning include impairment of the peripheral vision, disturbances in sensations, lack of coordination of movements, impairment of speech, hearing and muscle weakness.
Compliance
Under the administrative order, the phase-out process started on Sept. 11, 2008, with hospitals stopping further distribution of mercury thermometers.
The Arroyo administration has allocated P13.2 million, through the 2009 General Appropriations Act, for the purchase of mercury-free thermometers, according to Health Undersecretary Dr. David Lozada.
Of that amount, P200,000 will be allotted to the 66 government hospitals nationwide.
"The budget will be exclusively used for the purchase of alternatives to mercury containing thermometers," Lozada said. "We now have the digital mercury and the dot matrix."
The Philippine Heart Center is now 100-percent free of mercury thermometers, and almost all government hospitals in Metro Manila have started complying with the order, according to Lozada.
Public hospitals in the other regions, meanwhile, are still using their available stocks of mercury thermometers while waiting for their funding.