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See the Light; Mercury is NOT Green
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Part Two - Cleaning Up . . . . Carefully!
The first step in fluorescent bulb safety is
planning to avoid breakage. Consider not
using fluorescents in table and floor lamps
or children's play areas where they are more
likely to be broken. Also, consider not
using them in bedrooms or other carpeted
areas where infants, small children or
pregnant women may spend significant time.
Finally, consider whether the area could be
adequately ventilated in the event of
breakage. Bulbs not in use should be stored
in a safe location with the same
considerations. Do not allow too many bulbs
to accumulate before you recycle them. When
changing a bulb, put down a drop cloth to
facilitate easier clean up in the event of a
dropped bulb.
What should you do if a fluorescent bulb
breaks in your home or workplace?
The official clean-up protocol is still a "work in progress" as new studies provide more complete information on the safety of various methods. The most thorough study to date was published in February 2008 by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and is available on their Website. The researchers broke various types of CFLs in a controlled environment and took measurements of the air concentrations of mercury at specific time intervals and distances off the floor. They also tested various methods of containing the hazardous clean-up materials until they could be properly recycled.
The following guidelines are derived from the
current recommendations by the State of
Maine, the U.S. E.P.A, and Health Care
Without Harm - Europe as of August 1, 2008.
SafeMinds has provided the most stringent
recommendations of the three organizations
due to the uncertainties of not having
multiple studies and the lack of sufficient
data on mercury toxicity in fetuses and young
children. Our goal in furnishing these
guidelines is to err on the side of caution.
Due to the ongoing state of research in this
area, these guidelines should be considered
informational only and not relied upon as
final. These guidelines will continue to
change and evolve as additional data becomes
available.
These guidelines only address small mercury
clean ups. In the event of a larger
exposure, such as breaking a whole box of
fluorescent bulbs, we recommend shutting the
door, turning off any internal ventilation,
opening any exterior doors and windows and
contacting your local health authorities.
Guidelines for a Small Mercury Clean-Up
Step 1: Evacuate and isolate
- Remove all people and pets from the
affected area
- Do not let anyone walk through the
breakage area on the way out
- Close any interior doors and turn off any
internal ventilation system/close vents
- Open exterior doors and windows
- Stay out of the area for at least 15
minutes before continuing with clean up
Step 2: Protect yourself
- Remove all jewelry from your hand and
wrists as the mercury may amalgamate with the
metal if it contacts them
- Change into old clothes and shoes that
can be discarded if they become contaminated
- Put on rubber or latex gloves
- Wear a protective facemask if you have
one
Step 3A: To Clean a Hard Surface
- Use a stiff card (like an index card) to
remove any glass fragments and powder residue
or any visible beads of mercury
- Place them in a glass jar with a metal
screw-on lid. If necessary, empty a food jar
into another container to make it available
for use. A joint compound bucket with a
push-on lid is also a reasonably tight
container. If a glass jar or compound bucket
is not available, you may use two layers of
sealed plastic bags, but be aware that these
will not adequately contain the mercury
vapors and should be removed from the
building for recycling as soon as possible.
- Use sticky tape to pick up any remaining
small glass fragments or powder
- Wipe the area clean with damp paper
towels or wet wipes
Step 3B - To Clean a Carpet or Rug:
- Carefully, pick up the glass fragments
and place them in a glass jar with a metal
screw-on lid. If necessary, empty a food jar
into another container to make it available
for use. A joint compound bucket with a
push-on lid is also a reasonably tight
container. If a glass jar or compound bucket
is not available, you may use two layers of
sealed plastic bags, but be aware that these
will not adequately contain the mercury
vapors and should be removed from the
building for recycling as soon as possible.
- Use sticky tape to pick up any remaining
small glass fragments or powder
- You can also use tweezers, an eyedropper
or a syringe (without a needle) to remove any
small debris, but the tools must be discarded
with the breakage materials, as they will be
contaminated
- Since breakage on soft surfaces is
difficult to clean thoroughly, the safest
choice is to remove the section of carpet or
discard the rug. This is essential if there
is a young child or pregnant woman who may
use the space.
Please note that the current EPA clean-up
protocol allows the option of retaining the
carpet or rug. Based on the data from the
Maine DEP study, SafeMinds does not believe a
homeowner can adequately clean carpet and
rugs contaminated with mercury and recommends
removing them from the site.
Step 3C - Clothing, Bedding or Other Soft
Materials:
- It is nearly impossible to clean
clothing, bedding, or upholstery that has
come in contact with mercury - these items
should be discarded.
- Do not try to wash these items as this
may contaminate your washing machine and
pollute sewage.
- If these items have only come in contact
with mercury vapor (for example, the clothes
that you wore to clean up), these items
should be washed - as long as they did not
contact any of the debris. (Please note that
this recommendation by the EPA is going to be
further investigated in their follow up to
the Maine DEP study).
Step 4 - Final Disposal and Follow Up:
- Ensure that all clean-up materials
including your gloves are sealed in the jar
or bags. Label the container(s) as
"Universal Waste- broken lamp - contains
mercury"
- If you think your shoes may have
contacted the debris during clean up, they
should be discarded with the debris. Even if
you are sure that they have not directly
contacted the mercury, wipe them with a wet
wipe or damp paper towel and dispose of the
towels or wipes along with the other
contaminated debris.
- Wash your hands and face
- Keep the area ventilated to the outdoors
for at least 24 hours after clean up is
complete
- Recycle the waste properly - not in your
household trash
- Do not allow the waste to be stored in
your home - recycle it promptly -
particularly if you had to use plastic bags
for containment
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Six Things You Should Never Do With Mercury
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1. Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up a
mercury spill. It will vaporize the mercury
and spread it around your home. The vacuum
cleaner will be contaminated and may need to
be discarded.
2. Never use a broom to clean up a mercury
spill. It breaks up the mercury and moves it
around. You will also need to discard the broom.
3. Never wash mercury down the drain. It can
lodge in your plumbing and contaminate septic
tanks and the sludge in sewage treatment plants.
4. Never continue to wear footwear or
clothing that has had direct contact with
mercury. This increases your exposure and
spreads the contamination.
5. Never burn or incinerate anything
contaminated with mercury. This puts the
mercury into the atmosphere.
6. Never use household cleaning products to
clean a mercury spill, particularly products
containing ammonia or chlorine. These
chemicals will react violently with mercury,
releasing a toxic gas.
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Research Confirms Mitochondrial Dysfunction Not Rare
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More children may be at risk for autism from multiple vaccines than previously acknowledged
A study published earlier this month
concluded that mutations in mitochondrial DNA
affect at least 1 in 200 individuals, rather
than 1 in 5,000 as previously estimated. The
findings are important because of the recent
U.S. Government concession on Hannah
Poling. The government experts said that
Hannah's autism was triggered by multiple
vaccines given on one day which exacerbated
an underlying mitochondrial disorder. The
publication of this research calls into
question assertions made by promoters of the
official immunization schedule that incidents
of vaccine injury due to mitochondrial
dysfunction are likely to be rare.
The study, Pathogenic
Mitochondrial DNA Mutations Are Common in the
General Population, by Hannah Elliot and
colleagues in the U.S. and U.K. was published
in the August 8, 2008 issue of The American
Journal of Human Genetics and funded in part
by The United Mitochondrial Disease
Foundation (UMDF). The UMDF announced the
findings as groundbreaking, stating that
mitochondrial disorder is likely to be at the
core of many health conditions including autism.
The study authors stated that the 1 in 200
prevalence is a minimum figure because they
only tested blood and not other tissue and
because the mutations were detected only if
present at a minimum level in the blood
samples. The genetic makeup of mitochondria
within a cell or by various tissues can vary
greatly due to unique inheritance and
replication patterns of mitochondria. It
should be noted that the researchers only
looked at ten possible mutations in the
mitochondrial DNA, although there are 37
mitochondria DNA genes. Mitochondria are
under the control of genes located in the
mitochondria themselves as well as genes
located in the cell's nuclear DNA, but a
search for mutations in the nuclear DNA was
not part of the study. Thus, the rate of
total DNA mutations impacting the
mitochondria is likely to be far higher than
1 in 200, as David Kirby has pointed out in a
recent Huffington
Post article.
Mercury, including thimerosal, can
impair mitochondrial function. Several of
the vaccines Hannah Poling received contained
thimerosal. It is possible that mercury
exposure early in development can predispose
an individual with weakened mitochondria from
DNA mutations to a heightened reaction to the
exposure, resulting in a diagnosable
impairment. This interaction between genetic
variations and environmental exposures which
act on the same cellular processes as the
genes is a fruitful area of research.
Gene-environment interaction, as it is
termed, was a key component of the Institute
of Medicine Roundtable on the Environment and
Autism [link to IOM site] and it an objective
of the NIH Autism Strategic Plan now being
drafted [link to related article].
Further research on mitochondria, mercury,
and vaccines will help to understand the
precise mechanisms involved in this
interaction. The new findings on mitochondria
DNA mutations shows that many children are at
risk for autism from mercury exposure and
multiple vaccinations, suggesting that the
research should be undertaken with urgency.
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Boost Vaccine Safety
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From the Atlanta Journal Constitution
By MARGARET DUNKLE
In recent months, a vitriolic public health
debate has been taking place, sparked by the
case of Hannah Poling, a 9-year-old Georgia
girl with autism. Her parents, neurologist
Jon Poling and his wife, Terry, filed in
federal no-fault vaccine court, asserting
that vaccines caused their daughter's
condition and asking for compensation for the
lifelong care Hannah will require.
Without a formal hearing, the federal
government conceded the nine vaccines Hannah
received on July 19, 2000, significantly
aggravated an underlying medical condition -
mitochondrial dysfunction, or an impaired
functioning of how cells create energy. This
predisposed Hannah "to deficits in cellular
energy metabolism and manifested as a
regressive encephalopathy with features of
autism spectrum disorder." In simple terms,
Hannah has autism.
This concession, which became public in
March, has prompted strong reactions. Some
government officials are, ironically, fueling
public distrust of immunizations by failing
to acknowledge - much less address - emerging
vaccine safety issues. And every day, more
parents and some pediatricians reject the
vaccination schedule.
Former National Institutes of Health Director
Bernadine Healy has entered the debate,
saying the scientific community should never
turn its back on a hypothesis out of fear for
what it might reveal: If you know there is a
susceptible group, she said in a television
interview, "you can save those children. If
you turn your back on the notion there is a
susceptible group ... what can I say?"
Yet, amazingly, just last month the Federal
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
refused to mention vaccine safety in its
strategic plan.
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SafeMinds Board Member Katie Wright on the Every Child By Two Press Conference
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Reprinted from The Age of Autism
Today I had the privilege of standing outside
the Peninsula Hotel for two and half hours
with a great group of autism parents. They
are smart, dedicated, hard working parents,
who apparently pose a security threat to
Rosalyn Carter. We all wanted to hear what
Every Child by Two and the AAP had to say at
their vaccination press conference. We were
denied entry to this public event because of
"security risks to Rosalyn Carter." OK, I
have been accused of some crazy things but
being a security risk - to Rosalyn Carter????
Insane and laughable. Because we did not RSVP
in within the allotted half hour of 9:30
-10PM, when the registration was supposedly
open, we were denied entrance.
What a difference between Every Child By Two
and a DAN!, AutismOne or NAA event, where
anyone who purchases a ticket is welcome.
I guess the difference is we have nothing to
hide and are not afraid of opposing points of
view and do not feel the need to stifle or
censor people. Amy Pisani must have been up
all night thinking of ways to get around the
First Amendment. She nearly succeeded from
what I understand. Anytime a parent of an
autistic child posed a question they were
hastily cut off and despite offers by Offit
to remain to respond to questions, Pisani
hastily shut down the event. What a disaster!
How exhausting to be controlled by fear like
that!
Meanwhile out on the street, parents were
amiably chatting with police officers,
assigned to protect Rosalyn Carter from us.
They were all so kind and sympathetic,
horrified to hear the stories of our kids.
They all knew someone with an autistic child.
Even the cameramen and women from various
news outlets got involved asking us
questions, wanting to know where they could
learn more. European passerbys were in
disbelief that so many vaccines are mandated
in this country and were unfamiliar with
autism, no doubt why. Sure one or two people
disagreed with us but we were happy to engage
with them. There was no yelling, just a calm
civilized discussion, nothing to be so afraid
about.
When the event was ending we had to back far
away from Mrs. Carter's limo. Mrs. Carter
looked astounded to see our group protesting
yelling, "too many, too soon." I almost felt
badly for her, thinking she has no idea what
is really going on with our kids and is
blinding supporting an organization that is
actively endangering the health of American
children by forcing upon us the most reckless
infant vaccination schedule in the world. It
is a shame to see her human rights legacy
tarnished like this. Isn't the right to a
healthy life free from untested combination
vaccines a human right? Why is she so opposed
to spreading out the vaccines and creating a
safer schedule with a safer product? In just
glancing at their tax return, Every Child By
Two, is basically a pharmaceutical company,
practically owned and operated by vaccine
makers. They are also big contributors to the
Carter Library. Mrs. Carter or the people
around her should know better than this. They
have let us all down.
So apparently we "street parents" missed Paul
Offit's hysterical response to the Bernadine
Healey question regarding why she too is
questioning vaccine safety. Dr. Offit has
judged Dr. Healey, a former Director of the
NIH, as not knowing her science. Dr. Poling,
the Special Masters and nearly all the
parents in attendance don't know the science
either. Interesting. Everyone else is wrong.
Dr. Offit's world is shrinking by the minute.
It seems to me that it is Dr. Offit's big
friend and supporter, Amanda Peet, is the one
who does not "know her science." I don't know
how many parents caught "Good Morning
America" but the Amanda Peet interview was a
train wreck worth watching. Poor Amanda, this
is really complicated and when you do not
have an emotional investment, other than
calling parents like us parasites (what is
she so mad about anyway?) and you do not live
this, it is easy to make mistakes. Amanda
said Jenny McCarthy had her facts "wrong" and
it was only 14 shots that babies under 2
receive, not 36.What? Then a crazy diatribe
about antigens, raisins and fettucini. What?
Then, the most bizarre part of all, Amanda's
analogies to the New Orleans levies and
people not listening to the engineers. How
did we get there and what does that have to
do with autism???? I kept thinking, if only
Jenny were there. But it would almost be too
easy.
The good news is if these are the individuals
who represent the brain trust trying to keep
us quiet and prevent the facts from being
reported, we will be in great shape. Thank
you to all the parents in attendance who
represented our children.
Katie Wright has two young boys. Her oldest
son, Christian, is severely affected by
autism. He developed normally; smiling,
talking, walking; only to lose every skill
and every word by the age of 2 and a half.
Upon the advice of medical professionals
Katie and her husband were advised to pursue
only high quality behavioral therapy, speech
and OT for Christian. It had no meaningful
impact on Christian until his parents sought
help from DAN! doctors who treated the
underlying causes of Christian's descent into
autism. Christian has improved but still has
far to go. He has Inflammatory Bowel Disease,
the measles virus in his gut and an immune
system akin to a late stage AIDS patient.
Christian does not have a psychiatric
disorder. Before autism, Katie Wright was the
Clinical Director of Sexual Assault Crisis
Center in Stamford Connecticut. Katie is
proud to serve on the Boards of NAA and
SafeMinds.
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In Memoriam Dr. Frank Engley
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Reprinted from the World Mercury Project
On May 24th we interviewed Dr. Frank Engley,
who many claim to be the pioneer that
determined thimerosal is not effective as the
preservative it was invented for, and that
thimerosal is extremely toxic at
nanomolar(parts per billion) exposures. His
credentials would take up this entire blog,
as he has degrees from three major
universities, and has been in the field of
Microbiology for over seventy years. He has
been a consultant to many government agencies
such as the FDA, CDC, CIA, and NASA. Dr.
Engley started researching the toxicity of
thimerosal in the 40's, and published several
studies starting in 1948 that some say should
have been enough proof to stop using
thimerosal around 60 years ago. We were very
fascinated by what Dr. Engley had to say, and
we can only imagine what would be different
about this world if only the right people had
listened to him back then. Click
here to view a video highlighting some of
what he had to say.
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SafeMinds is a Proud Member of AutismCares
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AutismCares is a consortium of leading autism
organizations who have united to support
individuals with autism and their families
during natural disasters and other crises.
The consortium is comprised of Autism Speaks,
the Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation, the Doug
Flutie Jr. Foundation, The Help Group, TACA,
Talk Autism, Unlocking Autism, SafeMinds and
SARRC.
AutismCares provides Family Support Awards of
up to $1,500 to help families coping with
autism who have experienced a natural
disaster; a death, critical illness or injury
of an immediate family member; a loss of
home; or a loss of job. The funds may be used
to pay for housing, utilities, insurance
premiums, prescriptions, daycare, automobile
repairs, funeral expenses or other approved
items. Eligible families may apply for an
AutismCares Family Support Award online.
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Looking for an easy way to support SafeMinds?
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Go Shopping!
That's right, go ahead and buy something for
yourself -- a new CD, the latest bestseller,
everyday essentials like pet food or
vitamins, even a computer. But first join
www.iGive.com/SafeMinds.
Every time you shop at one
of the over 680 name-brand stores in the
iGive.com Mall, we'll receive a donation of
up to 26% of each purchase you make, at no
cost to you.
Remember, donating to SafeMinds won't cost
you a thing. But we'll miss out on a lot of
extra dough, if you don't join. So visit
www.iGive.com/SafeMinds
now. Membership is
free and your privacy is guaranteed.
Click
here to join.
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Visit The Age of Autism
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The Age of Autism is the nation's first daily Web newspaper for the environmental-biomedical community - those who believe autism is an environmentally induced illness, that it is treatable, and that children can recover. For the most part, the major media in the United States aren't interested in that point of view, they won't investigate the causes and possible biomedical treatments of autism independently, and they don't listen to the most important voices - those of the parents. Visit the website at www.ageofautism.com.
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