Exposure to a toxic metal in Libby that sickened at least one child and contaminated three homes has elicited a strong response from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The incident occurred sometime in late October when a Libby child's friend brought a fruit cup filled with mercury to the home, according to EPA officials. The mercury was taken from the friend’s grandparent’s collection. 

The mercury was spilled onto a rug in the child’s room and played with before the friend returned home. At that point, the child rolled the mercury beads into the rug and placed it under the bed. 

The child subsequently developed symptoms that were initially diagnosed as scarlet fever by medical professionals. Family pets exhibited similar symptoms. On Nov. 21, a house cleaner discovered and collected the mercury beads under furniture in the child’s room, prompting the parent to alert a physician. The family relocated to a local hotel.

“Saturday night [Nov. 22] we got a call about a possible exposure and we arrived Sunday to begin working to screen the properties,” Eric Sandusky, the federal on-scene Coordinator for the EPA’s Response Section Superfund and Emergency Management Division, told The Western News.

Officials used a mercury vapor analyzer to determine the levels in the homes before formulating a plan to clean up the substance.

"The bulk of the contamination was at the first two locations on Spencer Road," said EPA Community Coordinator Beth Archer. "After the initial discovery of the contamination at the first two properties, seven property owners asked to be screened and that's when the third contamination was discovered."

A school bus and the elementary school are also going to be screened.

Archer said one child has suffered serious health effects and is being treated for it, but officials are not seeing widespread contamination.

The EPA will follow up with mercury screening of all locations related to the incident using the Lumex MVA. The agency will contact local public health officials to inform them of the situation and seek additional support, if necessary. 

The EPA screened homes the children may have visited and did not see elevated concentrations of mercury. At this time it appears the spread of mercury throughout the community is limited. 

Archer said the contaminated materials that are found will be taken with officials when cleanup work is finished. She also said mercury pickups are also available at any Lincoln County landfill, including the following: Libby Landfill, Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m.; Troy Landfill, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Eureka Landfill, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. 

There will be a public meeting with the EPA and Lincoln County Health Department at 6 p.m., Dec. 3 in the Ponderosa Room, Libby City Hall, 952 E. Spruce St. 

The online version is available in a Microsoft Teams (Meeting ID: 257 907 959 683 07, Passcode: nJ6NJ3zk) or by phone: 1-406-247-0520, phone conference ID: 573 816 967#.

The EPA also has set up a website at response.epa.gov/spencerroadmercury. It provides information on ongoing response actions, emergency procedures and technical resources for responders.

TWO OF the three homes affected by mercury were evacuated.

“It wasn’t mandatory, but both families exited their homes,” Sandusky said. “We’re not sure how long the cleanup will take. We have one team working on one residence and another on the way after we found out about the second home.”

Sandusky said the mercury was elemental, or metallic, and it was typically used for hobby mining.

At one contaminated residence, cleanup crews were already on site, including from Salt Lake City, Denver, Arizona and Missouri.

“We worked with the families to see what was contaminated and what was not,” Sandusky said.

He also said the agency wants to do a local mercury take back event at some point in an effort to prevent another exposure and possible illnesses.

According to a EPA fact sheet about elemental mercury, it was historically referred to as quicksilver. When dropped, elemental mercury breaks into smaller droplets which can go through small cracks or become strongly attached to certain materials. 

At room temperature, exposed elemental mercury can evaporate to become an invisible, odorless toxic vapor. If heated, it is a colorless, odorless gas.

According to the EPA, metallic mercury mainly causes health effects when inhaled as a vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms of prolonged and/or acute exposures include: tremors; emotional changes; insomnia; neuromuscular changes; headaches; disturbances in sensations; changes in nerve responses; and poor performance on tests of mental function.

Higher exposures may also cause kidney effects, respiratory failure and death.