U.N. clinches global deal on cutting mercury pollution

January 21, 2013 - More than 140 nations on Saturday adopted the first legally-binding international treaty aimed at reducing mercury emissions, capping four years of negotiations on how to set limits on the use of a highly toxic metal. The treaty was adopted after all-night negotiations that capped a week of talks in Geneva, United Nations environmental officials and diplomats said. A signing ceremony will be held later this year in Japan, and then 50 nations must ratify it before it comes into force, which officials said they would expect to happen within about three to four years. The legally-binding agreement aims to phase out many products that use the toxic liquid metal such as batteries, thermometers and energy-saving light bulbs, through banning global import and exports by 2020, and putting new controls on power plants and small-scale mines. The treaty will require countries with coal-fired power plants such as India and China to install filters and scrubbers on new plants and to commit to reducing emissions from existing operations to prevent mercury from coal reaching the atmosphere. As mercury is released to the air or washed into rivers and oceans, it spreads worldwide, and builds up in humans mostly through consumption of fish. According to the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP), mercury and its various compounds have a range of serious health impacts, including brain and neurological damage especially among the young. Besides damaging the kidney and the digestive system, they also causes memory loss and language impairment alongside many other well documented problems.