With lessons from the Minamata disease scourge in mind, progress has been made in this country in promoting what is called “demercuration.” A method for synthesizing chemical products without using mercury has been developed, and the use of mercury has been halted in manufacturing thermometers and dry cell batteries. Efforts should also be made to stop using mercury in the production of fluorescent lights and other products as soon as possible.
There still are cases of mercury-caused damage in developing nations. Particularly serious is the harm caused to people at small-scale gold mines. Mercury is used to extract gold from ore mined there. Symptoms of poisoning have been frequently found among workers, including children, as they inhale a large amount of mercury that has been vaporized through heating.
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