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Every one of us has handled it at least once. And as children we used to delight at the silver strip that went up the glass tube. It was the only thing that went up in a fever, except the temperature, of course.
Who invented it? The mercury thermometer was invented by British physician Sir Thomas Allbutt in 1866. It is simple and cheap and a precise aid of a doctor. Once upon a time they were the most common way of measuring your temperature and in the majority of Asian and African countries they still are. Ban Ban all over The thermometer is on its way out and soon may be extinct. Mercury thermometers have been banned in many countries in the west. Sweden banned it in 1992 and France did it in 1999. Many states in USA have already banned it or are in the process of doing so. The problem is the toxicity of mercury, the main constituent of clinical thermometers. Mercury is poisonous and attacks the body's central nervous system. It can harm the brain, kidneys, and lungs. Mercury can also cause stuttering, slurred speech and uncoordinated movements. It can be absorbed into the blood and cause birth defects, including brain damage or hearing impairments.Beware, mothers to be Depending on the level of exposure, mercury can have varied health effects ranging from mental retardation to death. Pregnant women need to be especially concerned about mercury contamination. Women of childbearing years, nursing mothers and children under the age of 15 are also at risk from exposure to mercury. Let it not batheStudies in America have shown that the gram of mercury contained in a standard household thermometer can contaminate up to 5 million gallons of water if it finds its way in to a water source. According to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) around 17 tons of mercury from thermometers is expected to end up as municipal waste in America this year. Mercury down the drain Millions of thermometers are sold every year around the world and a large percentage of this break and are discarded. We generally wash the spilled mercury down the drain and from there it reaches the sewage system and finally to a water source. Once mercury enters an aquatic source, it is converted in to its most toxic form, methyl mercury. If mercury spills If a mercury thermometer breaks and the mercury spills, remember the following:
Garbage is often incinerated and this releases highly toxic mercury vapours in to the atmosphere from where it comes back to earth by way of rain. Once it becomes airborne, mercury can be carried by winds and deposited locally or it can be carried for thousands of miles before being deposited on soil and bodies of water. Consequently, mercury that was not readily available to fish in a particular lake prior to redistribution may now be concentrating in their tissue. The likelihood of exposure to humans and wildlife that consume fish from this lake is now increased.
In 1972, 6,500 Iraqi adults and children developed neurological problems and 459 people died after they ate grain coated with a fungicide containing methyl mercury. In another example that occurred in Minimata, Japan, 700 people died, 9,000 individuals experienced varying degrees of paralysis and brain damage, and 50,000 individuals experienced at least mild symptoms after being exposed to methyl mercury in seafood they consumed. The alternative Alternatives to mercury thermometers are digital types or that use a mix of three metals that don't pose health or pollution problems. Why not in India? Many states in USA have launched a campaign to remove the toxic thermometers from households. To encourage people to switch over to digital type thermometers many companies are offering a free digital type thermometer for each mercury thermometer returned to them. May be the Indian manufacturers should take a cue and start a similar campaign here to rid the Indian households of this toxic apparatus. Anoop Khanna For further details contact: |
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Seafood kills