Source: ANN
Baguio City (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - In some places in the Philippines, breathing would be like committng suicide.
The air in some mined-over communities in three provinces, a study presented here said, has been poisoned by one of the earth's most toxic chemical elements--mercury.
According to the study, released here on Wednesday, levels of mercury vapor in some mining communities in Benguet, Camarines Norte and Palawan were higher by 30 times than levels that are considered safe.
While the presence of a minute amount of mercury in the air is normal, levels of mercury in the air in these places were unusually high.
Lawyer Roberto Gutierrez, executive director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), said his group scanned various parts of the country, including areas near Malaca�ang, using a portable mercury analyzer between the latter part of 2010 and the early part of 2011.
No detection
Based on its findings, BAN said it believed the government is unable to detect high levels of mercury circulating in the atmosphere, he said.
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Baguio City (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - In some places in the Philippines, breathing would be like committng suicide.
The air in some mined-over communities in three provinces, a study presented here said, has been poisoned by one of the earth's most toxic chemical elements--mercury.
According to the study, released here on Wednesday, levels of mercury vapor in some mining communities in Benguet, Camarines Norte and Palawan were higher by 30 times than levels that are considered safe.
While the presence of a minute amount of mercury in the air is normal, levels of mercury in the air in these places were unusually high.
Lawyer Roberto Gutierrez, executive director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), said his group scanned various parts of the country, including areas near Malaca�ang, using a portable mercury analyzer between the latter part of 2010 and the early part of 2011.
No detection
Based on its findings, BAN said it believed the government is unable to detect high levels of mercury circulating in the atmosphere, he said.
