Storm Clouds on the Horizon

My son did the usual things for his first year, year and a half. He started walking at almost exactly one year. Put on weight like he should, his blond hair was too pretty to cut, so his hair was getting long and driving his Great Grandma nuts, (She used to be a Beautician, back when people actually went to school to learn their trade).

The storm was coming.

My wife REALLY took to the Internet. She has a masters degree in marketing and LOVES to research. Once she figured out search engines, (back in the late '90s) she was off and running. After we found out she was pregnant, she REALLY started to research health and safety information for children. To her credit, she tried to explain her misgivings to me, hell, she tried to explain to her regular doctor, the OB, even her chiropractor, but I was blissfully ignorant of any possible problems, and so were her doctors, every one of them. She looked healthy and attractive, what could be the problem?

You see, my wife knew some things that I didn't, (obviously). She had worked in a job while she was in college doing mercury porosimetry, (it's materials analysis, but it's easier for you to Google it than for me to explain). The company she worked with didn't/wouldn't install fume hoods, so everyone there got dosed with industrial grade mercury.

How can someone get away with that you ask. Well, when you're friends with the OSHA inspector, it's easy to 'accidentally' find out about surprise inspections so that you can close down areas that might, (read that, would) violate OSHA regulations. Keeps the safety records nice and clean, and since the employees are making the only decent wage to be found in a small southern town, they're pretty desperate to keep working and not rock the boat.

[sarcasm] On the other hand, when her hair started to fall out and her gums started to bleed, my wife decided a toxicity test was in order [/sarcasm]. Submitted a hair test and found out she was nearly lethally toxic with mercury, which was enough impetus to get her to quit the job. Unfortunately, back then, no one really understood the problems she was going to have nearly 20 years later.