Religious use of mercury persists even after health warnings

In a strip mall in Lauderhill, Fla., behind a window displaying statues of Voodoo spirits, the St. Ange Botanica sells herbs and candles to help people gain love, money or health. It also sells mercury, a hazardous heavy metal and a common ingredient in Caribbean religious rituals.

In Voodoo, Santeria and other faiths with African roots, 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 said they could be making people sick and contaminating their homes.

Although mercury is a legal product, the St. Ange and most other religious supply stores keep it out of sight. When a reporter requested it by its Creole name, vidajan, a clerk went to a room in the back and returned with a plastic bag of mercury capsules. They cost $6 each.

Ribert Mones, the store's owner, whose business card identifies him as a spiritualist able to assist with evil spirits, jinx removal and love problems, said clients mix mercury with a cologne called Florida water and spread it on their bodies for luck.

"It's not dangerous," he said, standing by a counter stacked with jars of powdered herbs. "I can put it on my body, and nothing will happen. It's not something that can hurt people."

But 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 adviser 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."

Voodoo and Santeria are rooted in the beliefs of West African people who came to the Caribbean as slaves. Voodoo 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 St. Ange Botanica, for example, stood a statue of Legba, the most important Voodoo spirit, surrounded by gifts: a store-bought cake, a bowl of coins and dollar bills, candles and champagne bottles.

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 French, British and Spanish, these religions developed traditions of secrecy that have made it difficult for health officials to learn about the use of mercury. 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 in New Jersey and Connecticut visited the religious supply shops called botanicas, 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 (New York) 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 Voodoo spirits, many stores claimed not to have mercury. Others sold it.

At the Tous les Saints Botanica on in Miami, 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, also in Miami, 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 Miami's Hialeah and Little Havana neighborhoods found none that acknowledged selling mercury, known in Spanish as azogue. But health officials said Santeria uses mercury in rituals similar to those of Voodoo.

In the book Rituals and Spells of Santeria, sold by a botanica in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 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."

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 Florida officials didn't want to deal with the issue because it carried political risks.

"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 Minino, 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.

"We can talk about the health issues of mercury in general," said Rosa Oses, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade County Health Department. "But when it's something related to religion in rituals, it's not something we deal with."