mercury poisoning

15 Stories

Lula Airlifts Starving Tribespeople, Points Finger at Bolsonaro

Hundreds of Yanomami children have reportedly died as a result of illegal mining

(Newser) - Brazil's president has accused his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro of committing genocide against the remote Amazon tribe of Yanomami, whose territory has been infiltrated by illegal miners . President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who said he was "shocked" while visiting tribespeople in Brazil's northern state of Roraima...

Woman in Coma After Using Face Cream
Woman in Coma After
Using Face Cream

Woman in Coma After Using Face Cream

Sacramento woman bought skin-lightening cream in Mexico tainted with mercury

(Newser) - A 47-year-old woman from Sacramento, Calif., stumbled into the ER earlier this summer, slurring her speech and complaining of numbness in her face and hands. Soon after, she slipped into a semi-comatose state, which she's now been in for weeks, and health officials say they've traced the cause...

A Family Didn't Feel Well. Then They Found More Silver Droplets

AC installer charged after mercury found in Queens home

(Newser) - Silver droplets on the floor of a Queens home provided the first sign that something was amiss. A further probe into Roman Pinkhasov's air-conditioning vents, where more of the silver material was found, led to the guy who had installed the units—and now that guy, 48-year-old Yuriy Kruk,...

After 600 Tons of Mercury Flowed, the Trouble Began

How Minamata disease in Japan changed what we know about mercury poisoning

(Newser) - It is, writes Joshua Sokol at Digg , "one of the most famous environmental disasters in history." And the cause is now known to be fairly straightforward: From 1932 to 1968, a chemical factory in Minamata, Japan, dumped 600 tons or so of mercury into the local harbor. One...

How a Gold Rush Sickened 50K in Peru

Mining process sends mercury into waterways

(Newser) - Gold miners hoping to strike it rich in Peru appear to have inflicted the miserable side effect of mercury poisoning on an estimated 48,000 people. Peru's government declared a 60-day health emergency last month after Duke researchers analyzed hair from a sample of 3,000 Madre de Dios...

Piven: Stop Making Fun of Me!

Play mocking mercury poisoning must stop defaming him, comedian insists

(Newser) - Jeremy Piven has had it up to here with people mocking his sushi poisoning. The comedian slapped the Public Theater with a cease-and-desist letter over The Piven Monologues, a show that explores his mercury poisoning fiasco. Piven’s attorney clarifies, “We didn't say you cannot do the play, we...

Letterman Goes Easy On Poisoned Piven

Actor says he could have had heart attack

(Newser) - Jeremy Piven and his terrible case of sushi-related mercury poisoning got off easy during last night's Late Show appearance. David Letterman skipped questions prepared by the National Fisheries Institute—such as "why is it that people in Japan eat far more fish than you, yet don't complain about mercury...

Fishy Tale Gets Piven Off the Hook

(Newser) - Jeremy Piven was on the level when he blamed mercury poisoning for his decision to bail on a Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow last December, an arbitrator has ruled. "While we respect the decision, we strongly disagree with it," the producers of the David Mamet play said in a...

Susan Boyle Back on Stage
 Susan Boyle Back on Stage 
GOSSIP ROUNDUP

Susan Boyle Back on Stage

Plus, Rihanna subpoenaed, and more

(Newser) - Today is the day Susan Boyle returns to singing, the Mirror reports. The troubled star is set to join rehearsals for the Britain’s Got Talent tour. “There is no pressure on her but everyone hopes it means she will perform on Friday,” says a source. “It’...

Producers Press Case Against Piven

(Newser) - The producers of Speed-the-Plow haven't given up their legal pursuit of Jeremy Piven,Variety reports. They plan to seek independent arbitration, which could result in serious fines for the actor. A panel of actors and producers failed to reach consensus on a possible penalty last week, leading to the producers'...

Hit Man May Have Offed Fabled Scholar

Decoded diary points to distant cousin as Tycho Brahe's killer

(Newser) - Seminal Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe died in 1601 of mercury poisoning, a demise that funeral orators called "unexpected" and modern scholars are calling murder, Der Spiegel reports. As they plan to exhume Brahe's body, one specialist says he has uncovered the killer's diary: "It contains the details of...

Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven
 Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven

Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven

Star defends decision to leave Broadway production

(Newser) - Jeremy Piven has taken a lot of flak since leaving the Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow due to unhealthy amounts of mercury in his body—including anonymous sources who said medical reasons were a cover for the fact that he was fired—but the condition was real, the actor tells People....

Piven Wasn't Sick, He Was Fired: Source

Mercury poisoning just easy excuse for bored diva

(Newser) - It may have been a pink slip, not a doctor's note, that prompted Jeremy Piven's premature exit from Speed-the-Plow. Diva behavior befitting that of his Entourage persona got him booted, Broadway insiders tell E! Piven—who cites mercury poisoning—wanted out, they claim, because he couldn't handle the nightly grind....

Russian Activist Lawyer Poisoned by Mercury

Ill, she misses hearing on journo's murder

(Newser) - French police are probing the mercury poisoning of Russia's leading human rights lawyer, the New York Times reports. Toxic pellets were found in the car of Karinna Moskalenko in Strasbourg. She had been due to attend the Moscow trial of men accused of involvement in the murder of her late...

High Mercury Levels Found in Tuna Sushi

FDA reconsidering warnings on seafood mercury

(Newser) - A quarter of tuna sushi sampled in New York contained mercury levels so high that the FDA could take legal action to ban the fish from the market, reports the New York Times.  Although the sushi was collected in New York City, experts believe samples elsewhere would be similar....

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