DT News - MEA - Delegates meet to put global mercury agreement into force

Dental Tribune International

Sun. 13 March 2016

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AMMAN, Jordan: Over 550 representatives have gathered for the seventh session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee on mercury (INC 7) in Jordan to finalise the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which is considered one of the most important legally binding international agreements on the use of mercury. It aims to implement measures to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The INC7 is the last meeting before the convention enters into force.

Named after a Japanese city in which thousands of people were poisoned by mercury-tainted industrial water, the Minamata Convention was signed in October 2013 under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In adopting the treaty, governments agreed on the development and implementation of national strategies to reduce or eliminate the production and industrial use of the substance. To date, 128 countries have signed and 23 countries out of the 50 required for its entry into force have ratified it.

The treaty has implications for the dental industry too, as dental amalgam contains about 50 per cent mercury. The metal, when released from industrial and other man-made sources, can circulate and accumulate in water and soil for several years before reductions in mercury emissions have a demonstrable effect on levels in nature and the food chain. In this respect, dental amalgam is considered a significant source of mercury released into the environment.

In addition to the environmental impact, mercury and its various compounds have been associated with a number of serious adverse health effects, including brain and neurological damage, especially in the younger population, as well as damage to kidneys and the digestive system.

“Today, the world desperately needs to get mercury under control and the week ahead provides that opportunity to delegates gathered at the Dead Sea shores,” said UNEP Deputy Executive Director Ibrahim Thiaw, issuing a strong call for countries to accelerate the implementation of the convention. “By taking the final step to put the mercury convention into force, they can deliver meaningful impact on the ground and solve a lethal and often-invisible issue.”

According to UNEP, decisive action to limit the release of mercury into the environment is a public health priority. The organisation hopes that a positive outcome of the meeting in Jordan will send a strong message to world governments.

The INC 7 is being held at the King Hussein bin Talal Convention Centre and runs until tomorrow.

More information can be found at www.mercuryconvention.org.

Go to Topic to learn more about mercury in dentistry and dental amalgam.

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