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Disturbing reports have arrived from Germany. The state laboratory was to examine samples of water taken from the Odra River and find there a toxic substance that may be responsible for the mass death of the fish. It’s mercury, local rbb24 TV reported. Doctors have no doubts: if it is confirmed, we have something to fear.
- Mercury is a toxic substance. Poisoning with its compounds can lead to extensive damage to internal organs and even death. Pregnant women and children are particularly at risk
- According to experts, if it turns out that there is mercury in the Oder, hospital wards, especially in the western part of the country, will start to fill up quickly with patients with symptoms of poisoning with this poison
- “Regardless of the chemical contamination, with such physicochemical parameters, rotting fauna and high air temperature, the water in the Odra River becomes a biological bomb – says Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, an immunologist
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“Mercury damages the brain, kidneys and intestines”
Tests by a German state laboratory have shown a high presence of mercury in the water from the border river, local TV rbb24 reported on Thursday evening. The concentration was to be so high that it was decided to repeat the tests. It is not certain that it was mercury that contaminated the waters of the Odra River, but the substance responsible is certainly very toxic: it led to the mass death of fish and other animals. It is very possible that it is also a great threat to humans.
The information about the possible contamination of the Odra’s waters with mercury caused considerable anxiety among doctors. Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, a pediatrician and immunologist, emphasizes in his Twitter entry that the substance is toxic, and pregnant women and children are particularly at risk. «It damages the brain, kidneys and intestines. Mercury is absorbed through the skin, respiratory system and digestive system»- says the expert, calling for caution.
Dr. Grzesiowski explains that not only the presence of toxic substances in the river should worry us. «Regardless of chemical contamination, with such physico-chemical parameters, rotting fauna and high air temperature, the water in the Odra River becomes a biological bombthat endangers humans and animals. Infections transmitted by this route can pose a serious threat »- he points out.
Information about the deaths on the banks of the Oder was announced at the end of July. This means that the contamination of the river has been in fact for at least several weeks. According to experts, it is a double catastrophe: not only ecological, but also health-related, because people have been in contact with a toxic substance for a long time.
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This applies not only to taking a bath in a contaminated river or eating fish caught in it, but also to such mundane situations as inhaling air by the Oder (especially on warm and humid days when the water evaporates) or – as noted by Dorota Korycińska, president of the Polish National Cancer Federation – collecting forest fruits growing near the river.
Jakub Kosikowski, an oncologist, also writes about the consequences of mercury poisoning. “If this is true with this mercury, then the toxicology departments may have their own 5 minutes” – he predicts.
“If there is a concentration that kills beavers, I do not recommend bathing” – adds the doctor, explaining that “the most dangerous are its [mercury – ed.] vapors, it is less absorbed by touch and from the gastrointestinal tract«.
Mercury poisoning – symptoms and treatment
Mercury is a heavy metal that is usually liquid. Its volatile form is poisonous – inhalation of vapors of compounds containing this substance leads to mercury poisoning. Its symptoms appear very quickly, several minutes after taking the poison. Primarily:
- violent vomiting with more or less blood,
- burning sensation in the mouth and esophagus,
- salivation,
- stomach pain,
- profuse bloody diarrhea,
- dehydration
- shock,
- circulatory failure
- swelling of the glottis.
Symptoms of mercury poisoning may also appear more slowly. They concern, among others kidney problems, uremia or anuria may occur. Ulcerative and necrotic lesions begin to appear in the mouth, covered with gray coating, and a black mercury limestone appears on the gums.
These ailments require immediate medical attention, as they can even lead to death.