POST 00820E : WHO MERCURY POLICY 7 August 2005
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Yves Chartier (mailto:[email protected]) from WHO sends herewith a new WHO
policy document on mercury, thus filling an identified gap.
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Mercury is highly toxic, especially when metabolized into methyl mercury.
It may be fatal if inhaled and harmful if absorbed through the skin. Around
80% of the inhaled mercury vapour is absorbed in the blood through the
lungs. It may cause harmful effects to the nervous, digestive, respiratory
system and to the kidneys, besides causing lung damage. Adverse health
effects from mercury exposure can be: tremors, impaired vision and hearing,
paralysis, insomnia, emotional instability, developmental deficits during
fetal development, and attention deficit and developmental delays during
childhood. Recent studies suggest that mercury may have no threshold below
which adverse effects do not occur.
The most common potential mode of occupational exposure to mercury is via
inhalation of metallic liquid mercury vapours. If not cleaned up properly,
spills of even small amounts of elemental mercury, such as from breakage of
thermometers, can contaminate indoor air above recommended limits and lead
to serious health consequences. Since mercury vapour is odourless and
colourless, people can breathe mercury vapour and not know it. For liquid
mercury, inhalation is the route of exposure that poses the greatest health
risk.
A variety of studies demonstrate that mercury containing health-care
equipment will invariably break. Small spills of elemental mercury on a
smooth, non-porous surface can be safely and easily cleaned up with proper
techniques. However, beads of mercury can settle into cracks or cling to
porous materials like carpet, fabric, or wood, making the mercury extremely
difficult to remove. Spilled mercury can also be tracked on footwear.
Inadequate cleaning and disposal may expose already compromised patients
and health-care staff to potentially dangerous exposures
The risks associated with mercury have attracted a high number of inquiries
in the past few months. So far, WHO has not had a firm stance on this
subject. For these reasons, it was felt and expressed both within HQ and in
the regions that WHO should have a clear policy on mercury.
The attached policy paper addresses this problem, highlighting the risk
factor of mercury and placing it into context. This document also proposes
short-, medium- and long-term strategies, while remaining realistic as to
the challenges faced in many developing countries.
Yves CHARTIER
Public health engineer
Water, Sanitation and Health
Protection of the Human Environment
World Health Organization
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