The International Conference on Mercury as a
Global Pollutant (ICMGP), held periodically for over 18 years, has
become the pre-eminent international forum for formal presentation and
discussion of scientific advances concerning environmental mercury. The
meeting gathers around 700-1200 experts for a five day conference and
exhibition.
The ICMGP in 2013 will be of particular
public importance as this will be the year of the launch of the United
Nations Environment Programme Global Legally Binding Treaty on Mercury.
The ICMGP 2013 meeting is therefore perfectly timed to celebrate the
official launch of the treaty and to discuss how to put the treaty into
practice. This will be the perfect opportunity to match those looking to
solve mercury-associated challenges with those who are qualified to
give the most appropriate advice.
The ICMGP conference has been running every
2-3 years since the first meeting in 1992. Previous meetings have been
held in Monterey, USA (1992), Whistler, Canada (1994), Hamburg, Germany
(1996), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1999), Minamata, Japan (2001),
Ljubjiana, Slovenia (2004), Madison, Wisconsin, USA (2006), Guiyang,
China (2009), and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (2011).
The 2013 meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, is
expected to gather 800-1200 delegates due to the high political and
public profile that mercury will have by 2013.
Mercury is recognized as a chemical of
global concern (UNEP, 2006) due to its long-range transport in the
atmosphere, its persistence in the environment, its ability to
bio-accumulate in ecosystems and its significant negative effect on
human health.
Mercury can produce a range of adverse
health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system, in
particular the developing nervous system. Due to these effects, and also
because mercury can be transferred from a mother to her unborn child,
infants, children and women of child bearing age are considered
vulnerable populations.
Mercury is released naturally from rocks,
soil and volcanoes. However, human activities have boosted levels in the
atmosphere. Mercury is a global contaminant because it is toxic, does
not break down in the environment and can build up in living things. In
its vapour form, mercury can be carried long distances on wind currents,
staying in the atmosphere for long periods of time. Some types of
bacteria and fungi can change mercury into its most toxic form, methyl
mercury. Methyl mercury tends to accumulate to some degree in all fish,
but especially in predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, and certain
species of tuna.
Mercury comes from a range of natural
sources such as volcanoes, soils, undersea vents, mercury-rich
geological zones and forest fires, as well as from fresh water lakes,
rivers and the oceans. However, human activity has increased the amount
of mercury in the environment in several ways, including through a
variety of combustion and industrial processes like coal-fired power
generation, metal mining (including artesenal gold mining) and smelting
and waste incineration. Products such as button batteries, fluorescent
tube lights, fever thermometers, thermostats, switches and relays,
barometers and dental fillings may contain mercury.
Mercury has been a part of our lives for
many years, in household objects and technical and medical equipment.
However, the problems associated with mercury in the environment now far
outweigh any benefit and it is time for us to stop, think and control
mercury in our lives.
In recognition of the importance of mercury
in the public and political agenda with the 2013 launch of the United
Nations Environment Program's Global Legally Binding Instrument on
Mercury, the theme of the ICMGP 2013 conference is
"Science informing global policy".
To this end, the conference will promote discussion on some of the questions that are likely to arise in 2013 and beyond:
- what form does the new UNEP Legally Binding Treaty take and what does it mean in practice?
- how do we curb current mercury supply and demand?
- how do we reduce emissions from human activities?
- what evaluation tools do we need and is our current “tool-kit” of monitoring and modeling techniques up to the job?
- what health and social effects has mercury had and how will this change in the future?
- how to we deal with remediation of contaminated sites and ecosystems?
- what is needed in terms of technologies and psychologies of social change?
- what synergies are there with existing, impending and potential global treaties, issues and scenarios?
- how do we raise our concern and action on mercury “from local to global”?
Source : http://www.mercury2013.com/
