CHAPTER 6 Curtailing Mercurys Global Reach

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CHAPTER 6 Curtailing Mercurys Global Reach

• Linda Greer, Michael Bender, Peter Maxon, and
  David Lennett

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• The Arctic is the barometer of the health of the
  planet, and if the Arctic is poisoned, so are we
  all
• -Sheila Watt-Cloutier
• Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference

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• The residents of Quaanaag, Greenland are among
  the most chemically contaminated people on earth.
• 650 residents, blood mercury levels 12 times
  recommended by U.S. guidelines
• A result of the seafood they eat which has been
  contaminated by the industrialized world.

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• Governments across the world are recommending
  restricting intake of certain fishes.
• For more than a billion people seafood is the
  primary source of protein
• Restrictions result in substitution of less
  healthy types of food
• Experts estimate 44 of children in France, and
  630,000 babies born in the U.S. each year are at
  risk of mercury poisoning.

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Threats from Mercury are not Limited to the Food
Supply

• People are exposed from
• Work
• Consumer Products
• Waste Disposal
• Health Care Products

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• Human health is compromised by very small
  concentrations of mercury
• It interferes with brain functions and the
  nervous system
• It interferes with development of the nuron
  connections in the brain crucial to a healthy
  nervous system.
• Prenatal and infant mercury exposure can cause
  mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, or
  blindness.

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Mercury is a Classic Global Pollutant

• When released from a source it may be dispersed
  globally.
• It will deposit far from its original source
• Enters distant food supplies.
• It evaporates in warm temperatures condenses as
  temperatures decrease.
• It is highly persistent.

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How has the Arctic Become so Heavily Contaminated?

• Three Factors
• It condenses in colder climates as it circles the
  globe in gaseous form.
• Polar sunrises trigger a petrochemical reaction.
• Seabirds transport significant quantities via
  their dung.

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Other Major Causes of Contamination

• Batteries
• Mercury in batteries is not normally released
  during use.
• It is released during manufacturing and disposal
  in large quantities.
• Gold
• Small scale miners separate trace amounts of gold
  from soil or sediment by using elemental mercury
• It is heated which allows the more volatile
  mercury to to escape into the atmosphere and
  leave the gold.

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Mercury Trade

• 80 of mercury is used in developing countries
• Imports of mercury to China has decreased since
  2000 but been replaced by mining and smuggling
• The E.U. is the major exporter in the world
• China and India are responsible for 50 of global
  mercury demand

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• Because mercury is globally traded as a
  commodity, the mercury problem cannot be solved
  only on a state, local, or national level. It
  requires the cooperation of all levels.
• Even at the current, extremely high prices,
  companies trading mercury will find buyers for it
  regardless of the local or global health and
  environmental consequences.

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Supply and Demand

• Major sources of mercury supply are relatively
  small in number across the globe.
• A well-considered strategy could focus on a
  handful of key sectors.
• The industrialized world has largely made the
  transition to mercury-free technologies and
  products.
• Transfer and implementation of these technologies
  via governments to the developing world would
  reduce demand.

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• The global need for energy is expanding rapidly
  and an aggressive mercury control strategy is
  needed for coal power plants
• International action should focus on installing
  best available technology for mercury emission
  controls
• Significant emission reductions can be achieved
  at coal fired power plants at a reasonable cost
  through pre-combustion control techniques, and
  the deployment of activated carbon injection.

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UNEP

• In 2001 the UNEP governing council comprised of
  58 countries was empowered to make environmental
  decisions initiating a global assessment of
  mercury pollution.
• The initiative produced a comprehensive
  evaluation showing mercury had caused
  significant adverse impacts on human health and
  the environment throughout the world

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• UNEP established a program to provide
• Capacity building for developing countries.
• Workshops and developing guidance material
• Invited proposals for further measure to be
  considered at its next meeting in 2005
• Encouraged countries to take their own mercury
  reduction measures.

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• As a result of the 2005 meeting, the E.U. nations
  called on other governments to reduce supply and
  demand by
• Prohibiting the introduction into commerce of
  excess mercury supplies
• Phasing out primary mercury mining
• Phasing out mercury cell chloralkali facilities
  by 2020
• Establishing maximum mercury content standards
  for batteries
• Eliminating mercury in products
• Implementing a global strategy for reducing
  mercury in small scale gold mining

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• Of the countries bringing various proposals
  discussed in the 2005 UNEP meeting those
  mentioned in the previous slide proposed by the
  nations in the E.U. plus Norway and Switzerland
  were the most proactive about the need for an
  aggressive global program to address the mercury
  problem.

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• In order to create a healthy and equitable living
  environment for future generations, we must stop
  the circle of poison that mercury use, trade, and
  pollution perpetuate.