Airbag & mercury concern

[isham-research.freeserve.co.uk at pop.pol.net.uk]

> Good friends of mine have recently learned that they both have abnormally
> high counts of mercury in their blood. In the past few months they have had
> mutable tests, had their house and water checked and racked their brains,
> trying to discover the source of the contaminate.

> Today someone mentioned to them that the firing device in some airbags
> contained Mercury Fulminate (sp?), and was a possible cause. Back in 1996,
> these good friends were in a minor accident in their 1995 90q, deploying the
> airbags. They remember having a hard time breathing, and ingesting 'a lot'
> of the white packing powder.

Fulminate of mercury is a very commonly used initiator.  Toy pistol
caps, the firing caps of most ammunition, etc.

Most applications use a tiny amount - a fraction of a gramme.  No way
would a main charge use the stuff - it's too unstable, too expensive
and has the wrong burning characteristics.

A lot of commercial algicides use mercury compounds.  Have your friends
treated a lawn for moss, for instance?  I'd tend to go through the
garden shed first, then their decorating materials.  Anti-mould
preparations used when decorating damp rooms?

--
 Phil Payne
 http://www.isham-research.freeserve.co.uk/quattro
 Phone +44 7785 302803   Fax: +44 7785 309674