The Mad as a Hatter Campaign is a voluntary pollution prevention initiative intended to improve awareness of mercury hazards and eliminate unnecessary uses of mercury at all NIH facilities.
This effort builds on the successful mercury reduction campaign in the mid - 1990's conducted by the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center (CC) at the NIH. John E. Porter past chairman of the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations, noted that the CC Campaign was an example of the leadership that NIH was taking in reducing the use of environmentally damaging chemicals and that such efforts should pervade the entire research community.
Paris Glendening, past governor of Maryland cited the campaign as setting "a high standard for environmental outreach and education."
We invite all members of that community, within and outside NIH, to join us in this effort.
What do we mean by "mercury-free"?
There are some uses of mercury in biomedical research, medicine and facility infrastructure for which there are presently no satisfactory alternatives. The intent of this campaign is to eliminate all unnecessary uses of mercury and reduce human exposure to potential releases of mercury to the environment from unavoidable uses to the lowest level that can be reasonably be achieved.
Awards (to come)
Campaign History (to come)
Hatter’s Pledge
History of Mad Hatters – Why were Hatters MAD?
In Alice in Wonderland (1865), Lewis Carroll selected a hat maker as the demented host for the tea party. Hatters of the time commonly exhibited slurred speech, tremors, irritability, shyness, depression and other neurological symptoms; hence the expression "mad as a hatter." Carroll was probably unaware that the hatter's disabilities were symptoms of mercury poisoning. In the mid-1800s hat makers used hot solutions of mercuric nitrate to shape wool felt hats. They typically worked in poorly ventilated rooms leading to chronic occupational exposure to mercury and neurological damage that followed.
Tools (to come)
Mercury in the News (to come)
Goals
Partners
Mercury Home
