BY A GT REPORTER
PANJIM: The mercury in thermometer or in the Sphygmomanometers (Blood pressure machine), dental amalgams is a toxic substance that can endanger our health.
It has been also listed as a hazardous waste under the Hazardous Waste Management and Handling Rules (1989).
It can accommodate in the tissues, especially muscles. This was revealed at the workshop organised by Goa Desc Resource Centre in collaboration with Toxics Link, New Delhi, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and GOACAN at Caritas Centre, Panjim, yesterday. It spoke about the hazards of mercury and its safe disposal.
Dr Ragini Kumari, of Toxic Link stated, “The 1 gm of mercury can contaiminate 20 acres of surface water and the one thermometer has 0.6 gms of mercury. Then it gets mixed with bacteria and produces methyl bacteri and cumulates in the fats of the fish.”
The studies also show that average-size hospital can release around 3 kg of elementary mercury in the environment in a year.
She maintained that it generates from the bio-medical waste. Thus, the key for it is going for alternatives or the proper disposal. “The person can switch to digital thermometer and in case of sphygmomanometers can opt for aneroid machine.
However for this they need to create awareness, and this workshop was in that direction. Doctors, nurses, dentists and also students attended it.
It also had a panel of discussions by the experts. Like Dr Pascal Pinto, Dental Surgeon and professor stated that the main source of mercury is the ceramic filling. However, it is already banned in some European countries. Thus, some foreign tourists opt for it when they are in Goa. But, as there’s no proper disposal for it, the mercury is settled on the beach belts and thus contaminating it.
Clinton Vaz, the waste management expert remarked that key lies in proper segregation and disposal of the waste. It is understood that 85 per cent of bio medical waste is non-infectious. But, when it is not separated then the remaining 15 per cent contaminates the rest.
Raj Vaidya, community pharmacists elaborated that we should switch to digital thermometer or otherwise do not allow it to break.
It was also revealed that one has to be very careful while disposing the mercury. The person should use mask, gloves and collect with the help of syringe. Then collect it and place it in a bottle of water. It should be never dumped in the dustbin.
Roland Martins of GOACAN is now taking forward this awareness. “We are now visiting the dental institutes, hospitals, pharmacies and colleges and telling the implications about it. Also visiting some public places to tell about it. The important factor is to involve it in our education under environment education” concluded Martins.
