ATHERTON identity Timmy Land believes the 'silvery liquid' two local lads found in 1947 near the Atherton fire station could have been mercury carted to the region during the 1800s mining boom.

The station, southwest of Cairns, is at the centre of a cancer-cluster investigation sparked in December when a sixth staff member was diagnosed with the disease.

In a five-year period, three staff members were diagnosed with brain tumours, two of whom have died, plus there have been two cases of bowl cancer and one of testicular cancer.

Mr Land, 84, said his grandfather Harry Land was one of many men carting mercury to the Tableland on pack mules.

He said it is possible the liquid found by Colin Stace and Alan Agnew while playing a marble game called poison could have been spilt by a miners.

"In the early days a lot of people up here had mercury for gold mining," he said.

Mr Land said as children they used to play with the mercury and he remembered his mother’s wedding ring being ruined. "We didn’t know it was dangerous at the time but it didn’t hurt us – but my mum’s wedding ring went silver," he said.

Environmental testing begins at the station today, but it is unlikely mercury could be a factor in the cluster.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has found there is inadequate evidence to support a link between mercury and cancer.

And while most studies did not find an increase in cancer rates in people exposed to mercury, brain tumours were increased in dentists and dental nurses.

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