Santa Ana Students Ingest Mercury

Three students at a Santa Ana junior high school were rushed to a hospital Wednesday after eating globs of mercury they had sprinkled on a potato chip, and more than 110 other students believed to have come into contact with the element were examined, authorities said.

The three students at Stephen R. Fitz Intermediate, who said they ate the mercury to impress friends, were monitored by the staff at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center and quickly released, hospital officials said.

Meanwhile, other students underwent examinations after spending the morning playing with about 6 ounces of liquid mercury that a seventh-grader had brought to school, officials said.

Though medical experts said the element poses few health risks in liquid form, some students were made to wash themselves and don paper suits as a throng of anxious parents waited outside the school.

“We’re not going to take any chances,” said Santa Ana Fire Battalion Chief Jim Dalton, adding that mercury can be dangerous if allowed to vaporize. “We weren’t extreme in our measures, but we were very careful.”

Teachers noticed students playing with the mercury about 11:15 a.m. during an art class, Dalton said. In interviews with members of the Fire Department’s hazardous materials team, three boys ages 12 to 14 admitted that they had ingested the metal. Later, paramedics treated two girls who they believed also ate the mercury, Dalton said.

Mercury rarely causes health risks unless it is consumed regularly or its fumes are inhaled, said Prakash Bondade, a physician at Fountain Valley Regional who specializes in internal medicine.

“If they had heated it and it had vaporized and they had inhaled the mercury, then there’s a real problem of lung damage,” Bondade said. “As long as these kids haven’t done that, and they’re not going to eat it every day for their lunch, their mothers can be content not to worry about it.”

All parents of the students sent home Wednesday received letters explaining what happened and advising them to ensure that their children thoroughly wash their hands with soap and water.

The school will likely be closed today and possibly for longer so that hazardous-materials experts can make sure that the area is free of mercury, Dalton said.