Posted at 11:21 a.m., Wednesday, March 6, 2002
Cleanup workers being retested for mercury
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
But Bruce Anderson, director of the health department, stressed today that the mercury levels were not out of the range that is considered normal for people who eat a lot of fish.
"We are going to be following up and retesting these individuals," Anderson said. "If there is any evidence that they were exposed in the workplace, we would pursue an investigation. We have no evidence of any adverse health affects among any of our staff."
The second round of tests should be completed in about a week.
The initial tests are part of annual monitoring of about 20 people who routinely investigate or clean-up hazardous substances, Anderson said.
The workers were involved with cleaning mercury from an abandoned pump house near Pearl Harbor last spring. Children from the nearby housing complex took some of it home with them, contaminating apartments. Some said they swallowed it.
