140 Countries Reduce Mercury Levels

In Nairobi, ministers from over 140 countries agreed to reduce levels and exposure to mercury.

An obligatory worldwide treaty should be the result.

The willingness of President Obama to take the lead and comply with such treaties was an important part of the successful agreement.

The US government will actively work for the treaty to be signed, Nancy Sutley of the White House environment council said.

The Bush administration had not ratified such previous agreements.

Nick Nuttall, UN environment spokesman said there was an obvious dramatic change in the US government from the previous administration.

The US representatives had been given a new brief from Washington, possibly the President, to meet with other countries and find a way forward.

Accordingly, India and China were persuaded to drop their objections to such a treaty, increasing expectations for advancement later this year, in Copenhagen, at the vital UN meeting on climate change.

President Obama had already made several decisions differing from George Bush’s attitude to the environment, principally by reinstating the authority of government agencies in controlling carbon emissions by power plants.

Achim Steiner, the United Nations Environment Programme’s Executive Director, said they had for seven years, organised and added to a serious discussion about handling the mercury problem.

In Nairobi a provisional plan was agreed to reduce pollution, including:

• Increasing global ability to store stocks of mercury safely

• Reducing mercury from, for example, initial mining

• Increasing awareness of the dangers and ways to reduce usage in rural, private mining employing about 10 million

• Reducing mercury in thermometers and lighting, plastics and paper-making

Mercury is naturally released from volcanic eruptions, rocks and soils. Levels are increased by burning coal and waste. Mercury is also used for panning gold.

The vast majority of human emissions come from the burning of coal and the incineration of waste materials.

Methyl mercury affects people through the nervous system, resulting in fatigue, speech, vision, and hearing problems.