Mercury contamination incident

Journal of Public Health Medicine
R MacLehoseM A Bellis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe an incident where elemental mercury led to widespread contamination and the exposure of 225 individuals and confirmed toxicity in 19 individuals. The paper describes the incident and difficulties found in trying to assess the risk to individuals and to identify and decontaminate the residences involved. All individuals exposed to elemental mercury in the incident were followed up for 15 months. Thirty-seven individuals were found to be 'at risk' and 13 were symptomatic of mercury poisoning. Five patients required chelation therapy. The incident was closed when the risk of poisoning and re-exposure was minimized. Incident management depends on early effective communication and collaboration between all agencies involved.

Citations

Feb 22, 2012·Pediatric Emergency Care·Basak Nur AkyildizBahadir Konuşkan
Aug 2, 2002·Occupational and Environmental Medicine·Paul Cullinan
Oct 7, 2010·European Journal of Pediatrics·Hasan TezerSabiha Aysun
Sep 19, 2014·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Elizabeth CullenDominique Aerts
Jan 2, 2008·Clinical Toxicology : the Official Journal of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists·E Martin CaravatiUNKNOWN American Association of Poison Control Centers
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May 9, 2007·Clinical Toxicology : the Official Journal of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists·Eduardo Azziz-BaumgartnerC Rubin
Sep 8, 2010·Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care·Stephan Bose-O'ReillyBeate Lettmeier
Nov 7, 2012·Pediatric Emergency Care·Hasan TezerMuge Buyuktasli

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