Toxic

A frightening thing has happened: A number of students and personnel of the Manila Science High School (MSHS) have been accidentally exposed to certain dangerous substances including mercury, necessitating the shutdown of the campus since Wednesday. That the accident happened as early as March 11 but was only reported to the principal 10 days later adds to the gravity of the situation.

It’s unclear exactly how many students and school personnel were exposed to the substances in the accident said to have occurred at the chemical laboratory. There is no telling how long they were exposed, or what they were exposed to.

From reports, MSHS principal Maria Eva Nacion initially ordered the closure of the lab located on the second floor of the school’s main building, then declared the entire floor off-limits. Subsequently, Wilfredo Cabral, schools division superintendent of the Division of City Schools in Manila, issued instructions that the entire building be shut down and the parents of the students be apprised of what had happened.

This is not just a case of a science project gone awry. As far as the involved substances are concerned, the one identified is bad enough. Mercury is classified by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 chemicals of major public concern. Inhalation of mercury vapor has harmful effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, lungs and kidneys, and may be fatal.

And this is not the first time such an incident happened in similar conditions, according to the NGO Ban Toxics. In 2006, at least 24 students at St. Andrew’s School in Parañaque City were sent to hospital after falling ill due to mercury exposure in a lab experiment.

“The mercury spill at Manila Science High School is a tragic incident for all those affected. But the greater tragedy is that this is not the first such accident,” Ban Toxics chief operations officer Shalimar Vitan said in a statement.

Vitan said the accident at the MSHS would not have occurred had the Department of Education taken steps in the past decade to ensure that mercury is banned in schools.

“As an urgent step to prevent further accidents from happening, the Department of Education should immediately implement a ban on the use and storage of mercury in schools,” Vitan said.

Mercury used to be a fairly commonplace element used in many trades. In the Philippines, a signatory to the 2013 Minimata Convention on Mercury, an international agreement that calls on governments to take action against mercury emissions and to phase it out in products, the substance is apparently now banned from most economic activity. But hardly enough.

As one of the country’s prestigious science high schools, the MSHS is a magnet for the best and brightest Filipino youth. Parents and teachers are naturally apprehensive of the possible effects of the accident, and are unhappy with the late notification of authorities, as well as the principal’s belated suspension of classes and incomplete incident report. They said they “greatly fear the adverse consequences” of the accident to students and teachers.

At this writing, the Department of Health is in the process of testing an estimated 300 students, teachers and personnel of the school. The DOH spokesperson, Dr. Eric Tayag, said “a multidisciplinary team” from the East Avenue Medical Center and UP-Philippine General Hospital had been deployed.

Ban Toxics’ Tan harps (correctly) on the matter: “Mercury is a highly toxic chemical which has no place in schools. Our schools are supposed to be places of safety, places to nurture the minds of children. But the presence of mercury in schools goes against this very thrust. It harms the same minds that the schools are supposed to cultivate.”

Apart from ensuring that mercury and other toxic substances are removed and banned from labs and other school facilities, a review of standards and regulations is definitely in order, the desired conclusion being a set of protocols ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the hope of the motherland.