| Comparison of Indoor Mercury Vapor in Common Areas of Residential Buildings with Outdoor Levels in a Community Where Mercury Is Used for Cultural Purposes Gary Garetano,1,2 Michael Gochfeld,3,4 and Alan H. Stern2,5 1Hudson Regional Health Commission, Secaucus, New Jersey, USA; 2Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; 3Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; 4Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; 5New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research, and Technology, Trenton, New Jersey, USA Abstract
Elemental mercury has been imbued with magical properties for millennia, and various cultures use elemental mercury in a variety of superstitious and cultural practices, raising health concerns for users and residents in buildings where it is used. As a first step in assessing this phenomenon, we compared mercury vapor concentration in common areas of residential buildings versus outdoor air, in two New Jersey cities where mercury is available and is used in cultural practices. We measured mercury using a portable atomic absorption spectrometer capable of quantitative measurement from 2 ng/m3 mercury vapor. We evaluated the interior hallways in 34 multifamily buildings and the vestibule in an additional 33 buildings. Outdoor mercury vapor averaged 5 ng/m3 ; indoor mercury was significantly higher (mean 25 ng/m3 ; p < 0.001) ; 21% of buildings had mean mercury vapor concentration in hallways that exceeded the 95th percentile of outdoor mercury vapor concentration (17 ng/m3) , whereas 35% of buildings had a maximum mercury vapor concentration that exceeded the 95th percentile of outdoor mercury concentration. The highest indoor average mercury vapor concentration was 299 ng/m3, and the maximum point concentration was 2,022 ng/m3. In some instances, we were able to locate the source, but we could not specifically attribute the elevated levels of mercury vapor to cultural use or other specific mercury releases. However, these findings provide sufficient evidence of indoor mercury source(s) to warrant further investigation. Key words: cultural use of mercury, elemental mercury, indoor air quality, mercury, mercury exposure, mercury vapor, Santeria, voodoo. Environ Health Perspect 114:59-62 (2006) . doi:10.1289/ehp.8410 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 20 September 2005]
Address correspondence to G. Garetano, Hudson Regional Health Commission, 595 County Ave., Secaucus, NJ 07094 USA. Telephone: (201) 223-1133. Fax: (201) 223-0122. E-mail: ggaretano@hudsonregionalhealth.org We thank D. Riley, C.A. Newby, and T.O. Leal for their assistance with related portions of this project ; and J. Burger (Rutgers University) for use of the Lumex analyzer. J. Klotz, J. Zhang, and M. Robson provided valuable input during the preparation of the manuscript. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection provided grant support for the project. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 18 June 2005 ; accepted 20 September 2005.
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