| The NIH’s “Mad as a Hatter?” Campaign – Protecting People and the Environment from Mercury |
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bridges vol. 15, Sept 2007 / Feature Article by Edward H. Rau * In the mid-1990s the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a voluntary initiative to eliminate the use of mercury in medical applications at its research hospital, the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center. The intentions of the initiative were to prevent human exposures and spills, reduce facility decontamination costs, and contribute to state, regional, and national pollution prevention goals for persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals. The initiative was expanded in 2001 into a more organized, agency-wide campaign covering the approximately 5,000 laboratories and other non-clinical areas of NIH installations across the US. The campaign used the "Mad Hatter" character from Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in designing publicity materials to stimulate employee interest, improve awareness of mercury hazards, and encourage participation in campaign activities. The high level of public interest in the campaign and the high use of its Web site, brochures, and information materials by other government agencies, schools, and individuals came as quite a surprise. The evolution of an internal, laboratory-focused chemical health and safety initiative into a program with broad public health impact was probably unprecedented, and the methods used by the campaign could represent a best-practice model for similar national and international public health efforts. "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" 
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat..." - the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland"
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