First Polio, Now Mercury: World Unites Against Global Health Threat
Mercury pollution is next on the list of global health threats to face concentrated action with the goal of elimination. According to Zero Mercury Working Group, yesterday the first significant steps toward a binding treaty to control mercury pollution were announced at a United Nations Environmental Program meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in advance of negotiations that will take place in Stockholm next summer.
The global nature of mercury pollution lies in its ability to travel long distances from its point of emission through the food chain. In fish it accumulates in its most toxic form, methylmercury. Zero Mercury hopes to achieve a treaty by 2013 that promotes more sustainable alternatives to mercury in products and industrial processes, with the broad goal of addressing all controllable emissions of mercury in the environment.
