22449: (HermantSun-Sentinel-Religious use of mercury persists for some in South Florida (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Religious use of mercury persists for some in South Florida

By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted June 21 2004

At her store in a Boynton Beach strip mall, Vodou priestess ViVi Jean Pierre
sells oils and candles to help clients acsquire money, build a house or find
love. She also sells mercury, a hazardous heavy metal and a common
ingredient in Caribbean religious rituals.

In Vodou, Santeria and other faiths with roots in Africa, many practitioners
sprinkle the silvery liquid on the floor, carry it with them in pouches,
burn it in candles and pour it into bath water. While these practices are
intended to bring luck or success in love, federal health officials say they
could be making people sick and contaminating their homes.











Known in Creole as vidajan, mercury is sold in capsules and vials by
religious supply stores called botanicas throughout Palm Beach, Broward and
Miami-Dade counties. At the Saint-Jacques Botanica on Boynton Beach
Boulevard, Jean Pierre sells $10 vials of mercury, which she buys in the
Dominican Republic during trips abroad to acquire products to serve the
Caribbean community. She said she doesn't use it herself or advise anyone to
use it, but a few people buy it and put it in their baths.

Long-term exposure to low doses of mercury can cause tremors (initially of
the eyelids, tongue and fingers), irritability, excessive shyness,
nervousness, insomnia, memory loss and a decline in cognitive abilities,
according to a 2002 report on the ritualistic use of mercury by the
Environmental Protection Agency. When many of these symptoms appeared among
19th century British hat makers, who used hot mercuric acid to make felt
hats, they inspired the expression "mad as a hatter."

Many people sprinkle mercury in their homes, where it can work into carpets
and floorboards and emit hazardous vapor for years.

"That's a real concern," said John Risher, senior science advisor in the
toxicology branch of the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry. "I know some practitioners sprinkle it in their houses, near
cribs. Then you leave the house or the apartment, and somebody has just
bought a contaminated home."

Religious traditions

Vodou and Santeria are rooted in the beliefs of West African people who came
to the Caribbean as slaves. Vodou became established in Haiti, Santeria in
Cuba. Both religions have a supreme being, as well as lesser deities on whom
believers call for help with their lives. Just inside the door of the
Saint-Jacques Botanica, for example, stood a statue of Legba, the most
important Vodou spirit, surrounded by gifts: muffins, a bowl of coins,
bottles of wine and champagne.

Both religions use Catholic imagery, with Africa-derived deities represented
through portraits and statues of Catholic saints. Both use magic and rituals
to achieve earthly goals.

Persisting for centuries in the face of oppression from the British, French
and Spanish, these religions developed traditions of secrecy that have made
it difficult for health officials to learn about the use of mercury.
Although mercury is a legal product, few people who use it or sell it will
cooperate with researchers, preventing any systematic study of its impact on
health, according to the EPA report.

When government and academic researchers visited religious supply shops in
New Jersey and Connecticut, many denied selling it and asserted incorrectly
that it was illegal. But when the researchers sent Haitian or Cuban
colleagues to the same shops, they were able to buy it.

"No one really has a clue in terms of numbers," said Arnold Wendroff,
founder of the New York-based Mercury Poisoning Project, who originally
brought the issue to the attention of the federal government. "One survey in
the Bronx found that in 1995, between 25,000 and 155,000 units of mercury
were sold."

In the northern Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti, where dimly lit
botanicas are crammed with jars of herbs, votive candles and portraits of
Vodou spirits, many stores claimed not to have mercury. Others sold it.

At the Tous les Saints Botanica on Northeast Second Avenue just north of
79th Street, a man behind the counter brought out a bottle and poured a few
drops of mercury into a vial, spilling beads of it on the counter. The vial
of mercury cost $5. At the Isidor & Carmel Botanica on Northeast 54th
Street, a woman first denied having any for sale, saying "they don't want us
to sell it no more." Then she relented and allowed a clerk to sell a capsule
for $2.

Visits to botanicas in Hialeah and Little Havana found none that
acknowledged selling mercury, known in Spanish as azogue. But health
officials say Santeria uses mercury in rituals similar to those of Vodou.

In the book Rituals and Spells of Santeria, sold by a botanica in Fort
Lauderdale, five rituals call for the use of mercury. To attract men, the
book recommends a weekly bath of parsley, cinnamon, anis seed, honey and a
"bit of quicksilver." To win someone's love, the book advises writing the
person's name on a piece of parchment; placing it in an empty tuna can;
adding mercury, mint oil, cinnamon and other ingredients; setting a wick on
the solution; and lighting it for one hour.

Ernesto Pichardo, a prominent Santeria priest in Hialeah, said he doesn't
use mercury and has only rarely seen it used in rituals.

"I've seen some people use it, just a capsule," said Pichardo, whose church
successfully went to the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to sacrifice
animals. "Its use is not common. It's not significant. I don't see the
hazard. I don't see the danger."

Studying the problem

Several state and local governments in areas with large Caribbean
populations have taken steps to research the impact of ritualistic mercury
use and encourage people to find less dangerous alternatives.

New York City, for example, is working with the federal government on a
study of mercury levels of children in communities that have historically
used mercury in rituals. New York health officials have met with botanica
owners to discuss the use of mercury and have distributed brochures warning
against the practice. Most officials reject the idea of making it illegal,
saying that would simply drive it underground.

It's unclear what Florida has done. Several botanica owners in Miami-Dade
County said they had received a letter from the government last year warning
against selling mercury but weren't sure who sent it.

Arnold Wendroff, of the Mercury Poisoning Project, said the large Caribbean
population of South Florida made it certain that a lot of mercury was burned
and sprinkled in homes.

"There should be a major problem down in Florida," he said. "The Florida
state health authorities are well aware of this issue, as are specifically
the Miami-Dade County health authorities. And they have refrained from
investigating these exposures, apparently due to political considerations."

Virgilio Miniño, president of the Latin American Foundation for
Environmental Protection, which tries to discourage the ritualistic use of
mercury among Hispanics, said, "I think they're just worried about the
votes. If they do anything about the mercury issue, that might hurt them."

Jack Price, environmental manager for the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, said the responsibility rested with the Florida
Department of Health. Dr. David Johnson, executive medical director for the
health department's Division of Environmental Health, said the state has
distributed a general brochure on mercury that mentions the danger of using
it in religious rituals. He said primary responsibility for public outreach
rested with county health departments, which are branches of the state
health department.

But officials with the health departments in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm
Beach counties said they were not doing any specific public outreach on this
issue.

"The ritualistic use has been around a long time, and it's not something we
control," said Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health
Department, after checking on whether any health officials were doing
anything about it. "They're aware of it, and they just don't know what we
can do about it."

David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
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