Life is Healthy

Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, May 20, 2010

Public health and environmental activists on Tuesday called for lawmakers to introduce legislation regulating the use of mercury in consumer goods and small mining operations.

“Southeast Asia is probably the biggest user of mercury,” said Yuyun Ismawati, director of environmental group Bali Fokus Foundation. “We use it in electrical and medical equipment, batteries and even dental fillings.”

Increasingly, medical and scientific bodies are pushing for tighter controls on mercury to curtail the shopping list of health problems brought on by the prolonged exposure to the toxic element. And what a list it is. It includes: damage to the brain, tissue, kidney and lungs, as well as birth defects.

But in major urban areas such as Jakarta, where the treatment of general waste has been an issue for years, the dearth of safe disposal facilities is compounding the problem.

Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) chairwoman Husna Zahir said the increasing rate of mercury poisoning found among the public is also a question of low awareness of the element’s side-effects.

“Most consumers have little knowledge of the dangers posed by substances such as mercury because they only start exhibiting symptoms once the toxin has accumulated inside the body,” she said.

Skin-whitening creams, hot sellers at glitzy urban department stores, were singled out for flying under the radar of public conciousness.

“Women should be particularly concerned about this, because of the proliferation of mercury-containing cosmetic products, some of which are actually licensed for sale,” Husna said.

Husna called on the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the country’s main consumer and public health watchdog, to tighten licensing requirements of products before they are brought to market.

Yuyun echoed that call, urging the government to adopt a policy of “No data, no market,” for manufacturers who fail to provide accurate product information about toxic or potentially harmful substances.

“People must be careful about consuming fish caught in polluted waters, as they could also contain high levels of accumulated mercury,” Yuyun said.

UN Industrial Development Organization Indonesia country coordinator Rini Sulaiman said mercury use in Indonesia has been driven by increasing discoveries of gold and other precious metal deposits.

Smaller miners often use mercury amalgamation to extract gold and other precious metals. The process is no longer used by the big mining companies because of the severe environmental degradation it leaves behind.

“There are so many miners now exhibiting symptoms of mercury poisoning, including tremors, fever and nausea,” Rini said.