READ IF YOU LIKE BREATHING, II

Nations to Write Treaty Cutting Mercury Emissions
Juliet Eilperin, February 21, 2009 (Washington Post)

"More than 140 countries have agreed to negotiate a legally binding treaty aimed at slashing the use of the metal mercury (Hg), with the goal of reducing people's exposure to a toxin that hampers brain development among infants and young children worldwide.

"The agreement, announced at a high-level United Nations meeting of environmental ministers in Nairobi yesterday came after Obama administration officials reversed U.S. policy and embraced the idea of joining in a binding pact. Once the administration said it was reversing the course set by President George W. Bush, China, India and other nations also agreed to endorse the goal of a mandatory treaty…

"'Only a few weeks ago, nations remained divided on how to deal with this major public health threat which touches everyone in every country of the world,' [Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environmental Program] said. 'Today, the world's environment ministers, armed with the full facts and full choices, decided the time for talking was over -- the time for action on this pollution is now.'"

How mercury (Hg) invades. (click to enlarge)

"'The United States will play a leading role in working with other nations to craft a global, legally binding agreement that will prevent the spread of mercury into the environment and improve the health of workers, pregnant women and children throughout the world,' said Nancy Sutley, who chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality…

"...[A]ctivities, including the production of chlorine and the burning of coal, release mercury, which then falls to the earth and the sea in precipitation. The neurotoxin accumulates in fish and marine mammals in the form of methylmercury, which poses a threat to humans when consumed…

"'For six or seven years, the Bush administration had absolutely blocked any attempt to create a legally binding instrument,' [Environmentalist Susan Egan Keane, a policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council ]said. 'The Obama administration, within three or four weeks of inauguration, was able to put that into reverse.'"