Manila, January 25-26–In a first-of-its-kind conference in the Southeast Asian region, health care executives will meet at the Philippine Heart Center here to discuss mercury as a hazardous pollutant from hospitals and strategize steps toward gradually eliminating its use in hospitals in the region.
The conference, a collaborative effort of Health Care Without Harm, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Department of Health (DOH), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will feature plenary sessions on mercury toxicology, mercury pollution from the health care sector, occupational health safety issues for health care personnel exposed to mercury, and environmentally-safe alternatives to mercury.
“The mercury conference in the Philippines will be a unique opportunity for hospital executives in the region to sit down and address their often overlooked contribution to mercury pollution,” said Merci Ferrer, coordinator of Health Care Without Harm-Asia.
Featured speakers in the conference include Dr. Esperanza Cabral, Philippine Hypertension Society; Peter Orris, Director of the Occupational Health Service Institute at University of Illinois at Chicago; Irma Makalinao, toxicology professor at the University of the Philippines; Genandrialine Peralta, chemical engineering professor at the University of the Philippines; Susan Wilburn, International Council of Nurses; Dr. Peter Ng of the Research Center for the Health Sciences at the University of Sto. Tomas; Sondang Widya Estikasari, National Agency for Drug and Food Control of Indonesia; Ong Hean Te, Penang Environmental Working Group; Mao Da, Global Village in Beijing; and Michelle Sunico, Philippine Society for Oral Health Research.
The conference will also feature an exhibit of alternative mercury-free products at the MAB Hall lobby of the Philippine Heart Center. The conference and exhibit will be the first in a series of four events–with the other three taking place in Argentina, South Africa and India.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks the health care sector as the fourth largest source of mercury release into the atmosphere because of emissions from the incineration of medical waste. Mercury is found in thermometers, blood pressure devices, lab chemicals, cleaners and other products used in health care.
Mercury is also present in dental amalgam, the most commonly used dental filling material. Dental amalgam is a mixture of mercury and a metal alloy. The normal composition is 45-55% mercury; approximately 30% silver and other metals such as copper, tin and zinc.
The most common potential mode of occupational exposure to mercury is via inhalation of metallic liquid mercury vapours. If not cleaned up properly, spills of even small amounts of elemental mercury, such as from breakage of thermometers, can contaminate indoor air above recommended limits. Since mercury vapour is odourless and colourless, people can breathe mercury vapour and not know it.
The global health care industry, in an effort to address the problem of mercury pollution, has been moving toward mercury-free health care. Some countries have restricted the use of mercury thermometers or have banned them without prescription. A variety of associations have adopted resolutions encouraging physicians and hospitals to reduce and eliminate their use of mercury containing equipment.
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call of nature po ma'am sass. masama po talagang galitin ang nature, matindi ang balik!
pagaling po kayo!
welcome pa rin naman po ang mga lalaki dito, ano po?
ok na 'ko! TY.
of course welcome lahat pwera assholes hahahaha
Sassy, magaling na ang pain!
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