{"id":515,"date":"2009-11-24T10:35:59","date_gmt":"2009-11-24T10:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/?p=515"},"modified":"2009-12-12T07:24:18","modified_gmt":"2009-12-12T07:24:18","slug":"first-lead-now-mercury-makes-a-toxic-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/2009\/11\/24\/first-lead-now-mercury-makes-a-toxic-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"First lead, now mercury makes a toxic comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Workers<\/a>

GREEN COLLAR Workers suffered mercury poisoning at this UK recycling firm.<\/p><\/div>\n

The world could be facing an epidemic of poisonings by highly toxic metals you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking were a hazard of yesteryear \u2013 and all in the name of the environment. The problem arises from new uses for the toxins in \u201cgreen\u201d products or from a disregard for health and safety in recycling and reuse operations.<\/p>\n

Lead is the most notable comeback kid. Use of the metal, which can cause cancer, neurological, reproductive and a host of other problems, has increased dramatically in recent years<\/a>. And increased production of electronic equipment worldwide is set to see the use of lead soar over the next decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The hazards come both in lead\u2019s production and use, and in the profitable but often poorly controlled practice of recycling \u2013 over 50 per cent of lead used today is recycled.<\/p>\n

And now it looks like mercury, the metal that turned hatters\u2019 mad, is to have a major revival.\u00a0The long term downward trend in mercury production stalled in 2006 and 2007. Latest figures, published in the 2009 edition of the authoritative World Mineral Production<\/a><\/em>, show 1.4 million kilograms were produced in each of these years, a figure the report suggests is an underestimate.<\/p>\n

As the mercury use in medical equipment declines on environmental grounds \u2013 it\u2019s been the subject of a long-running and successful campaign by Health Care Without Harm<\/a> – the same metal is being pressed into routine use in soon to be mandatory low energy lightbulbs, supposedly also on environmental grounds.<\/p>\n

Old style incandescent lightbulbs are being phased out across the European Union by 2012. But the mercury risk from the \u201cenvironmentally friendly\u201d alternative is so apparent the UK government recommends evacuating the room for 15 minutes<\/a> if you break one.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an option if your job involves recycling mercury-containing lights, as workers at the UK-based Electrical Waste Recycling Group<\/a> found to their cost.
\n
\nWorkers at the Huddersfield factory became sick with mercury poisoning in a \u201cblatant\u201d examples of management neglect of health and safety. Staff at the company, which recycles hazardous electrical equipment including TVs and light tubes \u2013 old style fluorescent tubes also contain mercury – suffered headaches, stomach upsets and mood swings.<\/p>\n

Mercury poisoning can damage the brain and other organs, leading to personality changes and even low level exposure may cause brain and other neurological cancers.<\/p>\n

On 23 November 2009, at Bradford Crown Court, company director Craig Thompson, 38, admitted two charges of failing to discharge his duty in relation to hazardous substances. The company, which is\u00a0one of the UK’s leading recycling firms, said it would be pleading guilty to all 10 health and safety charges. The director and the firm will be sentenced in January 2010.<\/p>\n

At an earlier hearing at Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court, the breaches were described as \u201cvery grave offences indeed\u201d by Health and Safety Executive inspector Jeanne Morton. She added: \u201cThis is a blatant example and one of the worst failings of health and safety management seen for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The factory filtration system was not working and had pumped air containing mercury vapour and lead into the factory office, she said. Tests on 34 workers revealed that 20 showed mercury \u201cway above the limit expected in the general population.\u201d Thompson knew about the high levels of mercury as he was given readings carried out by his own staff but he \u201cignored\u201d them and the poisoning continued, the court was told.<\/p>\n

Some workers were hospitalised. Ryan Wilkes, who worked at the firm for 10 months, began passing blood after just six weeks in the job and suffered headaches and mood swings. \u201cI had tests and they found I had 57 times more mercury than should be there,\u201d he told local paper the Yorkshire Post<\/a>. \u201cI was hospitalised for two nights. It is not something you expect an employer to put you through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleague Andrew Makison, 26, suffered anxiety attacks, a possible symptom of mercury poisoning. He believed the exposure may have damaged his brain and is seeking medical advice. \u201cFriends say I keep blanking out. I may have something wrong.\u201d He added: \u201cProduction was more important than health and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Makison, who carried out mercury readings at the plant, said he alerted Thompson about the \u201coff the scale\u201d figures. \u201cI got told off for talking about mercury,\u201d he added. \u201cA colleague was pregnant and was worried about her baby. She was in tears.\u201d The woman has since given birth and tests are still being carried out to determine if the child has suffered any damage.<\/p>\n

The clamour to go green is seeing the introduction to workplaces of risks from new hazards, old hazards and entirely unassessed potential hazards<\/a>, and from there into the environment and consumer products. But policymakers are demonstrating a serious case of green fever, talking environmental talk without much thought about what they are really doing and why.<\/p>\n

Green jobs are a great idea. Less environmental pollution is essential. Energy saving measures must be introduced to preserve resources and stem climate change.<\/p>\n

But \u201cgreen\u201d initiatives that lead to increased use of highly toxic substances and an upturn in the risk from occupational and environmental exposures are not green, they are reckless. It\u2019s not so much a case of a lack of joined up thinking. It\u2019s a lack of considered thought at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world could be facing an epidemic of poisonings by highly toxic metals you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking were a hazard of yesteryear \u2013 and all in the name of the environment. The problem arises from new uses for the toxins in \u201cgreen\u201d products or from a disregard for health and safety in recycling and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[101,81,99,19,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762,"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hazards.org\/greenjobs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}