September 15, 1997

On Monday, September 15, 1997, Dartmouth College and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reached a settlement agreement concerning citations issued after their investigation of the circumstances involving the death of Dartmouth Professor Karen Wetterhahn. Wetterhahn died in June 1997 from mercury poisoning, after a brief laboratory exposure to the rare research compound dimethylmercury 10 months earlier.

OSHA cited the college for not providing training on the limitations of protective gloves in the laboratory-specifically the limitations of disposable gloves when handling chemicals. OSHA also cited the college's written laboratory safety program for not being more explicit in the uses and limitations of gloves when working with chemicals. In the agreement, OSHA revised its original letter of citation by reducing the number of specific cited violations and by reducing the penalty from the previously proposed $13,500 to $9,000. In turn, Dartmouth restated its plans to continue additional training on choosing and using chemically resistant gloves, hire a Campus-wide Chemical Hygiene Officer and to from a committee to address chemical safety across the campus.

Dartmouth authorities became aware that Wetterhahn had been hospitalized and diagnosed with mercury poisoning on January 28, 1997. Her laboratory was immediately closed and tested for mercury contamination, along with her office, automobile and home. Medical tests were also done to determine if others in her family, research group or staff had been exposed to mercury. Nor surface or airborne contamination was found and no one else was found to have elevated mercury levels in their blood or urine.

Backgrounder/Investigations

On February 24, 1997, college officials informed the Concord OSHA office of the situation and the efforts the college was making to determine the source of the poisoning.

In the meantime, Dartmouth contacted experts in mercury toxicity and consulted with federal and state agencies to enlist additional help. College officials also informed the suppliers of dimethylmercury of the situation.

Based on information provided by Wetterhahn shortly after her diagnosis, college officials determined that the permeability of the disposable latex gloves used in her laboratory was a key concern. Dartmouth hired a certified, independent testing laboratory recommended by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to determine the permeability of latex to dimethylmercury, the compound suspected of causing the poisoning. All of this information was shared with OSHA when its official investigation began April 10, 1997.

On April 29, 1997, college officials sent a letter to the editor of Chemical and Engineering News warning the scientific community of the potential dangers of dimethylmercury. This letter was published in the May 12, 1997, issue.

Dartmouth is continuing to work with the suppliers of dimethylmercury, the research and scientific community and OSHA to ensure that laboratories using the chemical are made aware of its dangers.