Assessing elemental mercury vapor exposure from cultural and religious practices.

Abstract

Use of elemental mercury in certain cultural and religious practices can cause high exposures to mercury vapor. Uses include sprinkling mercury on the floor of a home or car, burning it in a candle, and mixing it with perfume. Some uses can produce indoor air mercury concentrations one or two orders of magnitude above occupational exposure limits. Exposures resulting from other uses, such as infrequent use of a small bead of mercury, could be well below currently recognized risk levels. Metallic mercury is available at almost all of the 15 botanicas visited in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, but botanica personnel often deny having mercury for sale when approached by outsiders to these religious and cultural traditions. Actions by public health authorities have driven the mercury trade underground in some locations. Interviews indicate that mercury users are aware that mercury is hazardous, but are not aware of the inhalation exposure risk. We argue against a crackdown by health authorities because it could drive the practices further underground, because high-risk practices may be rare, and because uninformed government intervention could have unfortunate political and civic side effects for some Caribbean and Latin American immigrant groups. We recommend an outreach and education program involving religious and community leaders, botanica personnel, and other mercury users.

Comparison of Indoor Mercury Vapor in Common Areas of Residential Buildings with Outdoor Levels in a Community Where Mercury Is Used for Cultural Purposes

“…By comparison, elemental mercury for cultural use is commonly distributed in gelatin capsules containing approximately 9 g elemental mercury (Riley et al 2001; Wendroff 1990), which, when released, can result in high concentrations of vapor (Riley et al 2001; U.S. EPA 1993).…”

Ataxia and cranial neuropathies from subcutaneously injected elemental mercury

“…Practitioners of Espiritismo use elemental mercury for magical spells, mixing it in perfume, or orally to treat gastrointestinal illness. 3 Elemental mercury vaporizes at room temperature and can be inhaled and absorbed into the bloodstream. 4 Its lipophilic nature allows crossing the blood brain barrier within minutes where it oxidizes to Hg þþ and reacts with protein sulfhydryl groups, resulting in nonspecific inhibition of enzyme systems.…”

Subcutaneous Injection of Mercury: “Warding Off Evil”

“…Riley et al (2001) reported a 5% prevalence of elevated mercury levels in urine of 100 children in Bronx, New York, in August 2001. Of these children, 55% were Latino and 43% were African American (Riley et al 2001). …”