Litmus Test for Governmental
Ambitions to Curb Toxic Pollutant Says UN
Environment Head
Bangkok/Nairobi, 12 November 2007 -Governments
need to accelerate the effort to deliver
an international agreement on the poisonous
heavy metal mercury Achim Steiner, Executive
Director of the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) said today.
Experts are becoming increasingly concerned
that increased burning of coal-naturally
contaminated with mercury-is leading to
releases to the air in some parts of the
world from where it can spread around the
globe.
The soaring gold price may also be increasing
mercury pollution locally and world-wide.
The poisonous heavy metal is used to extract
gold from ore in many artisanal mining operations
which involve millions of workers and their
families.
Mr Steiner, also a UN Under-Secretary General,
said scientists have been warning about
the dangers to human health, wildlife and
the wider environment for well over a century.
"And it is true that many countries
have, in recent decades, taken steps to
reduce mercury uses and releases and to
protect their citizens from exposure to
this toxic heavy metal," he added.
"However the fact remains that a comprehensive
and decisive response to the global challenge
of mercury is not in place and this needs
to be urgently addressed," said Mr.
Steiner.
Mercury is linked with a wide range of
health effects including irreversible damage
to the human nervous system including the
brain and scientists have concluded there
is no safe limit when it comes to mercury
exposure.
Every person alive today-some 6.5 billion
people- is thought to have at least trace
levels of the heavy metal in their tissues.
Today governments and experts are meeting
in Bangkok under the auspices of the UNEP's
Chemicals Branch to discuss how best to
reduce environmental sources of mercury
with a range of options on the table from
voluntary measures and initiatives up to
legally binding treaties.
Their report will be presented to environment
ministers meeting in February in Monaco
attending UNEP's Governing Council/Global
Ministerial Environment Forum.
UNEP is urging governments, working with
industry and civil society, to begin setting
"clear and ambitious targets"
to get global mercury levels down and to
set the stage for mercury-free products
and processes world-wide.
Such targets might include:
- an agreement to phase-out mercury from
products and processes, such as in the manufacture
of medical equipment and in chlorine factories,
with an aim of realizing mercury-free products
by 2020.
- Reductions in emissions from coal-fired
power stations with the additional benefits
of reduced greenhouse gases and improved
local air quality.
- Support for initiatives like those of
the UN Industrial and Development Organization
which has a goal to cut by 50 per cent the
use of mercury in artisanal mining by 2017
en route to a total phase-out
"The global public has been watching
and waiting for action-it is now time to
start delivering it. This meeting, aimed
at narrowing the options and resolving outstanding
concerns, comes against a background of
worries over rising levels of mercury emissions
and releases in several key areas"
said Mr Steiner.
UNEP's flagship report-the Global Environment
Outlook-4-launched last month states that
that coal burning and waste incineration
account for about 70 per cent of the total
quantified emissions of mercury.
"As combustion of fossil fuels is
increasing, mercury emissions can be expected
to increase, in the absence of control technologies
or prevention," says the GEO-4, the
peer reviewed work of well over 1,000 scientists
and experts.
Scientists are also testing suggestions
that climate change may be triggering releases
of new and re-activation of old deposits
of mercury as a result of rising lake temperatures;
erosion and the accelerated melting of permafrost,
ice sheets and icebergs at the poles.
From here the mercury-in form known as
methymercury- can enter the global food
chain via marine mammals such as whales
and seals and internationally caught and
traded fish such as swordfish, shark, marlin,
mackerel, walleye, sea bass and tuna.
The Bangkok "Open-Ended Working Group"
meeting-which will also be attended by industry
and civil society groups- is expected to
be followed up by a second one in late 2008.
Mr Steiner added:"I sincerely hope
that at this second meeting, the international
community can finally bring closure to the
debate about the way forward and open a
new chapter of clear, decisive, action on
mercury-action that leads to the setting
of clear and ambitious targets in order
to deliver measurable reductions to protect
human health and the wider environment".
"There is no real reason to wait on
many of the mercury fronts. Viable alternatives
exist for virtually all products containing
mercury and industrial processes using mercury,"
he added.
Notes to Editors
In 2001, governments requested UNEP to produce
a global study on mercury. The Global Mercury
Assessment report was published in December
2002, and was presented to UNEP's Governing
Council in 2003.
- The Governing Council considered the assessment
at its 22nd session in February 2003, and:
- concluded that there was sufficient evidence
of significant global adverse impacts from
mercury and its compounds to warrant further
international action to reduce the risks
to human health and the environment
- decided that national, regional and global
actions, both immediate and long-term, should
be initiated as soon as possible.
- urged all countries to adopt goals and
take national actions, as appropriate, with
the objective of identifying exposed populations
and ecosystems, and reducing anthropogenic
mercury releases that impact human health
and the environment.
- requested UNEP to initiate technical assistance
and capacity building activities to support
the efforts of countries to take action
regarding mercury pollution
- In 2005, the Governing Council, included
the possibility of a legally binding instrument
as in its consideration of actions to deal
with the significant global adverse impacts
of mercury. Governing Council also:
- requested UNEP to develop a report on
the supply, trade and demand for mercury
on the global market
- called for partnerships between Governments
and other stakeholders as one approach to
reducing risks to human health and the environment
from the release of mercury and its compounds
to the environment
- encouraged Governments, the private sector
and international organizations to take
immediate actions to reduce the risks to
human health and the environment posed on
a global scale by mercury in products and
production processes.
- In February 2007, Governing Council recognised
that efforts to reduce risks from mercury
were not sufficient to address the global
challenges posed by mercury and concluded
that further long term international action
is required. It called for a review and
assessment of the options of enhanced voluntary
measures and new or existing international
legal instruments in order to make progress
in addressing this issue. It also
- called for strengthening of the UNEP mercury
programme partnerships; and
- established an ad hoc open-ended working
group of Governments, regional economic
integration organizations and stakeholder
representatives to review and assess options
for enhanced voluntary measures and new
or existing international legal instruments.
The open ended working group will report
to the GC at its twenty-fifth session of
the in 2009.
Further notes:
Mercury has been used in various products
and processes for hundreds of years due
to its unique chemical properties
Mercury and mercury-containing compounds
are highly toxic and have a variety of significant
adverse effects on human health, wildlife
and the environment.
- In the human body, mercury damages the
central nervous system, thyroid, kidneys,
lungs, immune system, eyes, gums, and skin
- Neurological damage done by mercury that
has reached the brain cannot be reversed.
There is no known safe exposure level for
elemental mercury in humans, and effects
can be seen even at very low levels.
- In recent years, environmental mercury
levels have increased.
Once released, mercury can persist in the
environment where it can circulate between
air, water, sediments, soil and biota in
various forms. Atmospheric mercury can be
transported long distances in the atmosphere,
incorporated by microorganisms and may be
concentrated up the food chain. The most
common exposure to mercury is through ingestion
of fish and other marine species contaminated
with methyl-mercury.
- Localized hot spots exist from use of
mercury in industrial processes, mining,
waste sites, and other air emission point
sources.
Arstisanal and small scale gold mining uses
mercury to collect gold from the ore. The
mercury/gold amalgam is then burnt to release
the mercury and leave molten gold. This
is often done without any protective equipment
or way of collecting the mercury, and can
lead to local and widespread poisoning of
the environment, workers and their families.
This industry is expanding due to the rising
price of gold, and involves an estimate
10 to 15 million miners worldwide, including
4.5 million women and 1 million children.
Many mercury-containing devises are produced
using methods which result in major releases
of mercury to the environment.
UNEP Chemicals-Mercury: http://www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/default.htm
GEO-4 Media Resources: http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/media/index.asp
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson,