The Pymm Thermometer Corporation of Brooklyn, NY, two of its executives and a plant foreman were indicted on charges of criminally assaulting and recklessly endangering the lives of their workers by "knowingly and continually" having them exposed to toxic mercury. It was the first time that criminal charges had been brought in NY against corporate executives for wrongful exposure of workers to toxic chemicals. The indictment says that one of the 80 employees of the plant suffered permanent brain damage from mercury poisoning and the defendants were charged with assaulting the man with mercury as the weapon. According to the state attorney general, an undetermined number of other employees were endangered by the mercury, a chemical that has been linked to kidney damage and loss of vision. The Pymm defendants established a covert mercury-recovery operation in Apr. 1983 in the cellar of the plant and managed to hide it from federal inspectors until Oct. 1985. The injured employee worked in the cellar for 11 months, where he received the exposure that led to his injuries. The defendants, also accused of conspiracy and falsifying business records, pleaded not guilty.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

Descriptor terms: ny; pymm thermometer corporation; poisons; corporations; mercury; workers; enforcement; occupational safety and health; toxic heavy metals; indictments;