The world took a historic step forward in the fight against mercury poisoning today, as the European Union and seven of its member states (Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden) ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, one of the world’s top ten chemical threats to health.
The Convention, which has been signed by 128 countries, will now come into force in 90 days, on 16 August 2017. It is the first new global Convention related to the environment and health in close to a decade, and commits governments to specific measures to control man-made mercury pollution. These cover the entire “lifecycle” of man-made mercury pollution and include banning new mercury mines, phasing-out existing ones, regulating artisanal and small-scale gold mining, and reducing emissions and mercury use. Since the element is indestructible, the Convention also stipulates conditions for interim storage and disposal of mercury waste.
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