Meeting convened by UN environment agency to explore need for action on mercury

A year after adopting a treaty to rid the world of hazardous chemical pollutants, government representatives gathered in Geneva today for the start of a meeting sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to consider the environmental and health effects of mercury.

During the weeklong meeting of the UNEP Global Mercury Assessment Working Group, 150 experts will explore options for addressing such effects, including reducing or eliminating the use of mercury in products and industrial processes, cutting mercury emissions and releases, improving international cooperation and sharing information.

"We live now in the 21st century and there can no longer be any excuse for exposing people and the natural environment to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. "In the case of mercury - which has destroyed the lives of thousands of people - we need to make mercury poisoning a thing of the past."

The risks of mercury poisoning and of chemical pollution in general gained worldwide attention in the 1960s and ’70s when several thousand people living on the shores of Minamata Bay in Japan became ill or died after eating seafood contaminated with mercury from a nearby factory.

According to UNEP, many governments have national regulations to control mercury emissions, reduce or eliminate the use of mercury in certain products, and protect workers. Several have succeeded in reducing emissions and uses of mercury by as much as 75 per cent over the past 10 to 20 years.

The Working Group's recommendations will be forwarded to the next UNEP Governing Council meeting in February.