Mercury Poisoning in Nicaragua a Case Study of the Export of Environmental and Occupational Health Hazards by a Multinational Corporation

Abstract

Pennwalt Inc., a multinational chemical and pharmaceutical firm based in the United States, operates a chloralkali plant in Managua, Nicaragua. This plant utilizes elemental mercury in the production of chlorine and caustic soda for markets throughout Central America. The plant was recently found to be contaminating the waters of Lake Managua (on which the plant is located) with 2 to 4 tons of inorganic mercury effluent per year-over 40 tons in the 13-year history of the plant. Examination of the 152 workers employed in the plant showed that 56 (37 percent) were suffering symptoms and signs of mercury poisoning, including tremors (in 45), memory and attention deficits (in 45), and paresthesias (in 52). Levels of airborne mercury vapor in the plant were found to range as high as 600 μg/m3. (The airborne standard set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is 100 μg/m3.) Workers in the plant had never been alerted to the hazards of mercury. The plant was found to be in deteriorated condition, with no recent investments in maintenance or modern safety equipment. It is reported that the parent corporation, Pennwalt, has been withdrawing capital from the operation (and from Nicaragua) since the fall of the Somoza regime.