Posted on 09/01/2006 8:17:12 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ritualistic use of toxic mercury by followers of Voodoo and other religions is dangerous but regulating it could drive the practice underground and possibly violate U.S. guarantees of freedom of religion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday.
Mercury can be worn in amulets, sprinkled on the floor, or added to an oil lamp as part of some Latino and Afro-Caribbean practices including Santeria, Palo, Voodoo, and Espiritismo, according to the EPA's inspector general.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I would not add it to a candle or oil lamp. Otherwise it is fairly harmless.
WOW! I played with that stuff as a kid (45 years ago)! I'm gonna die!.........
So nice to see that EPA's inspector general is on top of this deadly issue.
Sheesh.
I think adult practitioners of Santeria should be welcome to all the mercury they want.
Not to start one-upping, but I played with mercury nearly 80 years ago. I'm gonna die, too.
It was so much fun plating a dime with quicksilver, making it a shiny dime.
Like many things that can act as poisons, small amounts are not harmful. The thing that sets mercury (and other heavy metals apart) from many other materials is that our bodies take a long time to purge it.
Therefore it is necessary to be cautious with even relatively small exposures to mercury and other heavy metals if contact occurs regularly.
Playing with mercury a few times isn't likely to be harmful. Handling it regularly (such as through a ritual that is performed often) very well could be harmful.
The government really cannot effectively regulate such things other than to require proper warnings and recommending medical testing that could show that mercury is building up in someone's system.
I think of it the same way I think of the risk from lead from shooting firearms.
The government can't regulate it well. Even their current actions place a huge burden on people, most of whom face no real risks.
However, if you often work at or shoot at an indoor range with poor ventilation, you should have your doctor run tests to make sure you aren't building up unsafe levels of lead in your system.
I know a number of people who ended up with elevated lead levels due to being very active in indoor shooting matches in the winter time. These are people that shoot and are around people shooting a lot and didn't have trouble with elevated lead levels until they reached a point where the exposure was increasing the amount of lead in their systems faster than their bodies purged it. Then it became a problem.
People need to be aware that the risk is there and take appropriate precautions, however the government really cannot properly regulate the exposure because there are too many factors involved and what is safe for one person might not be safe for another.
It's something that the people who choose to involve themselves in the activities need to be aware of and take responsibility for on their own.
Here's some folks selling a "liquid metal alloy" which is most likely the same stuff:
Liquid Metal Alloy
"A non-toxic liquid metal to use instead of mercury. This alloy is liquid down to -20° C (-4° F). It can coat objects to make them conductive. It can coat glass to make mirrors. It can make low friction electrical connections."
Disclaimer: I have no connection with the linked site, whatsoever.
Someone dropped some flurorescent tubes at our public library, and the city paid an envirnmental clean-up company over 200K to take out all the books, replace the carpets, etc., believe it or not.
Reminds me of the guy who actually ate DDT to show how dangerous it was.....
An old friend back in Elk City, OK (mebbe it was you) and I would make coins shiny with mercury, and it hurt none didn't me!
The mercury I played with as a child was from batteries and thermometers............the real thing.........BTW, mercury is very heavy. I had a coffee can full of it in a place where I once worked. It was like being full of lead.........
What a waste of tax payers' money! Just get a broom and dustpan, for cryin' out loud! I don't think they still use mercury in those tubes anymore!..........
Without dropping any more clues about my age, I will admit that I may have done the same. I do know that old thermometers and batteries used real mercury.
I'm not certain about battery applications, but thermometers are now using the gallium alloy:
"The take-home thermometer might be digital, chemical strips or a glass thermometer filled with a non-mercury liquid metal alloy.
I see the same thing when someone spills a little heating fuel oil, sometimes just drips from a nozzle. Contractor or fuel supply guy calls building comm'r, who calls his `clean-up' crony', they get homeowner to sign agreement, `finder's fees' along the line I suppose--"We don't want the Dept. of Environmental Mangement involved (big frown)", they put on Hazmat suits, remove yards of soil and present their bill for several hundred, usually over a thousand or more.
When a $2.00 bag of cat litter would do.
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