1969 Huckleby Mercury Poisoning

Mercury poisoning incident in New Mexico February 2025 The 1969 Huckleby Mercury Poisoning was an incident in which American farmer Ernest Huckleby unwittingly fed his livestock grain contaminated with mercury, resulting in his family's poisoning after the consumption of one such hog they cooked and ate for dinner. His 8-year-old daughter, Ernestine Huckleby, was impacted most severely, becoming blind and quadriplegic; her photograph was later featured in the 1971 National Geographic publication As We Live and Breathe: The Challenge of Our Environment. Consumption of Mercury-treated grain In 1969, Ernest Huckleby of Alamogordo, New Mexico, purchased grain from the Golden West Seed Company to feed his livestock.David Brinkley reported the Huckleby's story on the NBC Evening News on Tuesday, February 17, 1970. A more general story appeared on First Tuesday, October 6, 1970, in which the panelists discussed "the perfect pesticide." As part of his purchase, he was also given a portion of "waste" grain that included seeds treated with a mercuric fungicide. These seeds were dyed pink to indicate their toxicity, a warning to which Huckleby was not made privy. The poisoning occurred after he served contaminated pork to his wife, who was 3 months pregnant, and his 8 children. Several of Huckleby's hogs had appeared to be ill, rousing suspicions that they were suffering from what farmers called the "blind staggers"; however, the hog Huckleby fed to his family appeared to be unaffected, leading him to believe it would be safe to eat.Mercury Poison Peril Continues. The Palm Beach Post, Aug 13, 1970.March 2017 Within 3 months, the children had developed "ataxia, agitation, visual impairment, and impaired consciousness." When born, baby Michael was severely neurologically impaired, blind, subject to convulsive seizures, and only minimally aware of his environment. Ernestine, 8 years old, became blind, unable to sit unsupported or to roll over, unable to hold objects, incontinent and unable to speak. Amos, 13 years old, became functionally blind, with sensory degradation and impaired coordination. Dorothy Jean Huckleby, 20 years old, suffered from tunnel vision, slurred speech, impaired coordination and numbness and tingling in her extremities.Snyder R. D. Seelinger D. F. Methylmercury poisoning, Clinical follow-up and sensory nerve conduction studies J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry July 1976 39 7 701–4 10.1136/jnnp.39.7.701 993801 492407 Mr. and Mrs. Huckleby were unaffected, which corresponds well with current medical findings that methylmercury is more dangerous to the developing nervous system of infants and children, but, for reasons the doctors did not understand, 4 of the Huckleby's 8 children—all of whom shared the meal—were unaffected. Of the 4 children that were affected, Dorothy Jean and Amos were hospitalized in a rehabilitation center in Roswell, New Mexico for 18 months. When she had entered the facility, Dorothy had not been able to stand or use her arms or legs; she had no control over her bowels or bladder, and was unable to speak. After 18 months in the facility, she had regained most of her function, a recovery her doctors and the press lauded as "miraculous." Upon his own release, Amos was blind and in a wheelchair, his speech significantly impaired. Baby Michael was born blind, with profound physical and mental disabilities. Ernestine was placed in Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital in Alamogordo, where she remained comatose for over a year. When she emerged from the coma, she was blind and quadriplegic; it was reported that "She may never understand what has happened to her."Mercury poisoning victim makes miraculous recovery The Miami News, Jun 9, 1971.Mercury victim leaves hospital https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-ttNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5YoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5798%2C5415445 The Free Lance-Star 17 March 2017 New Mexico February 17, 1972 Photograph Ernestine Huckleby, 8 years old, became "the face of methylmercury poisoning" in the early 1970s after her photograph was featured in the 1971 National Geographic publication As We Live and Breathe: the Challenge of Our Environment. The striking image of Ernestine, a wide-eyed little Black girl clutching a teddy bear, captured hearts across the nation.As we live and breathe : the challenge of our environment https://archive.org/details/aswelivebreathec00gros registration 1971 National Geographic Society, Special Publications Division Washington, D.C. 978-0870440977 Foreword by Gilbert M. Grosvenor. The photographer, James P. Blair, has said that "Of all the assignments I have had over the 35 years I was a staff photographer for the Society, this was one of the saddest."Who Remembers Ernestine Huckleby? http://blog.bolandbol.com/2007/05/30/who-remembers-ernestine-huckleby/ Robin Hill Gardens 30 May 2007 November 22, 2013 Campaign Dorothy Jean later sued the Federal government alleging the government was negligent in oversight of the warning label on the treated seed as the label was insufficient to apprise the Golden West Seed Company of the possibility of food-chain poisoning. She was unsuccessful. The judge expressed his regret that in following the law, he was not able to reach a finding in Dorothy Jean's favor. Most countries had restricted the use of organic mercurial fungicides in reaction to similar poisonings, but legal maneuvers stalled the de-registration of organo-mercurial fungicides in the United States, and it continued to be used as a seed treatment for some time.Roueche Berton Insufficient Evidence The New Yorker August 22, 1970 64 That use was still ongoing at least 10 years later as evidenced by the experience of a Yakima, Washington family whose home flock of chickens was contaminated through feeding of seed grain treated with a mercurial fungicide.Organic mercury exposure from fungicide-contaminated eggs, Englender SJ, Atwood RG, Landrigan PJ, Clarkson TW, Greenwood MR, Smith JC, Arch Environ Health. 1980 Jul-Aug;35(4):224-8 Death of Ernestine Ernestine, who had been 8 years old when she was poisoned, suffered from quadriplegia, blindness, and severe mental retardation until her death at the age of 30. An autopsy conducted showed cortical atrophy, neuronal loss, and gliosis, most pronounced in the paracentral and parietooccipital regions. Massive amounts of inorganic mercury were discovered in her brain, a fact which led researchers to conclude, "Since inorganic mercury crosses the blood-brain barrier poorly, biotransformation of methyl to inorganic mercury may have occurred after methylmercury crossed the blood-brain barrier, accounting for its persistence in brain and causing part of the brain damage."Methylmercury poisoning: long-term clinical, radiological, toxicological, and pathological studies of an affected family, Ann Neurol. 1994 Jun;35(6):680-8, Davis LE, Kornfeld M, Mooney HS, Fiedler KJ, Haaland KY, Orrison WW, Cernichiari E, Clarkson TW. References Category:Accidental deaths in New Mexico Category:Deaths from foodborne illnesses Category:Mercury poisoning Category:1969 in New Mexico Category:1969 health disasters Category:Disasters in New Mexico Category:1969 disasters in the United States Category:Alamogordo, New Mexico