Green Group Encourages Schools Go Mercury-Free

Almost two years ago, mercury in schools was a big headline. A mercury spill had occurred in a school in Parañaque, exposing dozens of students to mercury poisoning and creating a clean-up and decontamination effort that cost millions of pesos.

A different and more benign mercury incident is happening at the School of Saint Anthony (SSA) at Lagro, Quezon City, as the administration of the school together with the environmental group, Ban Toxics!, are launching the Mercury-Free Schools Programme in Quezon City.

The Mercury-Free Schools Programme aims to raise public awareness on the issue of mercury, particularly schools, in the hope of convincing them to wean themselves away from using mercury and mercury containing products and devices in their facilities.

Atty. Richard Gutierrez, Executive Director of Ban Toxics! talks about the Mercury-Free Schools Programme, “This is a no-brainer. Mercury is a neurotoxin, it affects the brain. Sa eskwelahan kung saan natin pinag-iibayo at pinagyayaman ang karunungan ng mga bata, bakit natin sila ilalapit sa panganib sa paggamit ng mercury sa paaralan? (In schools where we strive to impart and increase a child’s ability to learn, why should we expose them to the dangers of mercury by using these toxins at school?”

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin which can cause adverse effects on the developing brain. These adverse effects can include attention deficits as well as IQ, motor, memory, and language impairment. Growing children, the unborn fetus, and pregnant women are most susceptible to the ill-effects of mercury. Mercury also affects the kidney and thyroid. High exposures also resulted in death.

“Our school is committed to excellence, not only in the curriculum we give our students, but also in the learning environment they are in,” expressed Mrs. Victoria A. Coralejo, Directress of SSA. “We strive to look for ways to bring out the best in our students, and it is incumbent upon us the school administration, the teachers, all the way down to the cleaning staff, to ensure that they are kept safe from toxins such as mercury while they are in school.”

Ban Toxics! developed modules for elementary and high-school students to help teachers impart knowledge on mercury in a meaningful and fun way, without using mercury. The modules center on alternatives and activity enriching devices designed to make learning easy and safe.

The Mercury-Free Schools Programme is also advocating the phase-out of mercury and mercury containing devices and equipment in schools, which will be part of its Phase 2 later this year. For now, Ban Toxics! is targeting several schools to pilot the project, and they intend to increase the number of participating schools throughout the year.

“The challenge of converting all of the schools mercury-free will not happen instantly,” explained Gutierrez. “We are counting on progressively minded schools such as SSA to lead the way. And we see schools really responding to this initiative.”

The Mercury-Free Schools Programme is supported by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, the largest and most influential environmental organization in Sweden, under its small grant program on toxic chemicals.

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