Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention

[ScienceRocks]

Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention


BBC News - Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention

Nations have begun signing a legally binding treaty designed to curb mercury pollution and the use of the toxic metal in products around the globe.

Mercury can produce a range of adverse human health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system.

The UN treaty was formally adopted at a high level meeting in Japan.

The Minamata Convention was named after the Japanese city that, in the 1950s, saw one of the world's worst cases of mercury poisoning.

In January, four years of negotiations concluded with more than 140 countries agreeing on a set of legally binding measures to curb mercury pollution.

UN data showed that mercury emissions were rising in a number of developing nations.

The convention regulates a range of areas, including:
•the supply of and trade in mercury;
•the use of mercury in products and industrial processes;
•the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining;
•the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from power plants and metals production facilities.

Earlier this year, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) published a report warning that developing nations were facing growing health and environmental risks from increased exposure to mercury.

It said a growth in small-scale mining and coal burning were the main reasons for the rise in emissions.

As a result of rapid industrialisation, South-East Asia was the largest regional emitter and accounted for almost half of the element's annual global emissions, it said.

 

[bripat9643]

Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention


BBC News - Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention

Nations have begun signing a legally binding treaty designed to curb mercury pollution and the use of the toxic metal in products around the globe.

Mercury can produce a range of adverse human health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system.

The UN treaty was formally adopted at a high level meeting in Japan.

The Minamata Convention was named after the Japanese city that, in the 1950s, saw one of the world's worst cases of mercury poisoning.

In January, four years of negotiations concluded with more than 140 countries agreeing on a set of legally binding measures to curb mercury pollution.

UN data showed that mercury emissions were rising in a number of developing nations.

The convention regulates a range of areas, including:
•the supply of and trade in mercury;
•the use of mercury in products and industrial processes;
•the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining;
•the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from power plants and metals production facilities.

Earlier this year, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) published a report warning that developing nations were facing growing health and environmental risks from increased exposure to mercury.

It said a growth in small-scale mining and coal burning were the main reasons for the rise in emissions.

As a result of rapid industrialisation, South-East Asia was the largest regional emitter and accounted for almost half of the element's annual global emissions, it said.

This is just a scam intended to outlaw coal fired power plants. It won't get past the Senate.

 

[Mr. H.]

Make that coal fired plants in the U.S. only.

You think other countries will enforce compliance?

 

[Old Rocks]

Make that coal fired plants in the U.S. only.

You think other countries will enforce compliance?

Given that here on the West Coast, over 1/4 of the mercury in our air comes from Asia, I think that tariffs on imports should be used to enforce their compliance. After all, it is quite easy, with satellite technology, to trace the source of the pollution.

 

[Old Rocks]

Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention


BBC News - Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention

Nations have begun signing a legally binding treaty designed to curb mercury pollution and the use of the toxic metal in products around the globe.

Mercury can produce a range of adverse human health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system.

The UN treaty was formally adopted at a high level meeting in Japan.

The Minamata Convention was named after the Japanese city that, in the 1950s, saw one of the world's worst cases of mercury poisoning.

In January, four years of negotiations concluded with more than 140 countries agreeing on a set of legally binding measures to curb mercury pollution.

UN data showed that mercury emissions were rising in a number of developing nations.

The convention regulates a range of areas, including:
•the supply of and trade in mercury;
•the use of mercury in products and industrial processes;
•the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining;
•the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from power plants and metals production facilities.

Earlier this year, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) published a report warning that developing nations were facing growing health and environmental risks from increased exposure to mercury.

It said a growth in small-scale mining and coal burning were the main reasons for the rise in emissions.

As a result of rapid industrialisation, South-East Asia was the largest regional emitter and accounted for almost half of the element's annual global emissions, it said.

This is just a scam intended to outlaw coal fired power plants. It won't get past the Senate.

Given that your posting seems to indicate that you have been living downwind of a coal fired plant with no scrubbers for most of your life, I suggest we use you as a prime exhibit in the Senate for passing this treaty.

 

[bripat9643]

Make that coal fired plants in the U.S. only.

You think other countries will enforce compliance?

Given that here on the West Coast, over 1/4 of the mercury in our air comes from Asia, I think that tariffs on imports should be used to enforce their compliance. After all, it is quite easy, with satellite technology, to trace the source of the pollution.

95% of all Mercury added to the environment every year comes from natural sources. It's simply not a problem that can be solved with government regulations. Perhaps the AGW nutburgers can have the government prevent continental drift from occuring which causes volcanic vents on the sea floor to spew millions of tons of mercury into the ocean every year.

 

[bripat9643]

Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention


BBC News - Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention

This is just a scam intended to outlaw coal fired power plants. It won't get past the Senate.

Given that your posting seems to indicate that you have been living downwind of a coal fired plant with no scrubbers for most of your life, I suggest we use you as a prime exhibit in the Senate for passing this treaty.

ROFL! Nutburgers like you are the onese who fall for every scam that comes down the pike. Your support for the treaty is sufficient indication that it's a con.

 

[Mr. H.]

Make that coal fired plants in the U.S. only.

You think other countries will enforce compliance?

Given that here on the West Coast, over 1/4 of the mercury in our air comes from Asia, I think that tariffs on imports should be used to enforce their compliance. After all, it is quite easy, with satellite technology, to trace the source of the pollution.

With U.S. Co2 emissions at or near 20-year lows, the Obama administration continues to hammer away at domestic hydrocarbons in order to make up for the shit floating across from Asia.

 

[whitehall]

How does that impact the mercury based lightbulb industry?

 

[bripat9643]

Make that coal fired plants in the U.S. only.

You think other countries will enforce compliance?

Given that here on the West Coast, over 1/4 of the mercury in our air comes from Asia, I think that tariffs on imports should be used to enforce their compliance. After all, it is quite easy, with satellite technology, to trace the source of the pollution.

With U.S. Co2 emissions at or near 20-year lows, the Obama administration continues to hammer away at domestic hydrocarbons in order to make up for the shit floating across from Asia.

Obama doesn't care about anything happening in Asia. He's totally focused on destroying the American coal mining industry and thereby helping to make wind and solar power look more economically attractive than the pigs they are.

By the time he's through, electricity will cost 3 times what we're paying now.

 

[bripat9643]

How does that impact the mercury based lightbulb industry?

Where you expecting some kind of rational that actually made sense?

 

[flacaltenn]

How does that impact the mercury based lightbulb industry?

That wasn't mentioned in the list of tasks ---- was it?

Seems to me -- this is first a MEDICAL issue.. Not a political one.. I know from the "arsenic in the water" wars that medical evidence is NOT REQUIRED for this type of political gang meeting..

 

[polarbear]

Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention


BBC News - Nations adopt landmark mercury pollution convention

This is just a scam intended to outlaw coal fired power plants. It won't get past the Senate.

Given that your posting seems to indicate that you have been living downwind of a coal fired plant with no scrubbers for most of your life, I suggest we use you as a prime exhibit in the Senate for passing this treaty.

Using cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy to detect Mercury was my first job with the Canadian & US FDA.
At that time the largest polluters was the pulp&paper industry which used Hg electrodes to generate Cl2 for bleaching...not the coal fired power plants. At that time we also assembled a large data base which included environmental samples from remote areas to establish the natural Hg background levels. Many of these natural background levels were surprisingly high, I remember numbers in the 0.01 to 0.05 ppm range.
In biological samples such as northern pike they were even (10 x) higher due to bioaccumulation...0.1 to 0.5 ppm
Now compare that to coal:
Mercury concentration in coal?unraveling the puzzle

Based on data from the US Geological Survey's COALQUAL database, the mean concentration of mercury in coal is approximately 0.2 μg g−1. Assuming the database reflects in-ground US coal resources, values for conterminous US coal areas range from 0.08 μg g−1 for coal in the San Juan and Uinta regions to 0.22 μg g−1 for the Gulf Coast lignites.

That`s in the same range what you get when you eat arctic char caught in the most pristine far north regions and way below what`s in the canned tuna from your local super market.
Furthermore the most toxic form of Mercury is the Methyl-Mercuric Chloride which is by far the most toxic of all the Mercury compounds.
The next most toxic form is Mercury vapor, but it is not present as such in coal flue gas emissions...there it would be present in it`s oxidized state which is by far less toxic.
I`m not saying that coal burning power plants should get a free pass regarding Mercury emissions but they pose by far a lesser threat to your health than your dentist that plants Mercury amalgam fillings in your mouth....which reacts over time with your saliva.
During my time with the FDA and Dep. of the environment we also analyzed hair and fingernail samples of people who had dental fillings and found levels far above what Inuit had in their blood stream every year when their main diet was raw seal liver. The RCMP called it "Eskimo spring sickness" because during that time the murder and general violent crime rate was always way up....(one of the tell tale symptoms of Mercury poisoning)

Dental amalgam controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My take on this is...it`s politically "sexier" to go on a coal fired power plant witch hunt while allowing the dentist to administer a dosage of Mercury which can range as high as 27 µg/day for every day after...which is way more than what you would get living downwind of a coal fired power plant in the USA....and they are working on that problem...!!...But is is your dentist ?

 

[bripat9643]

This is just a scam intended to outlaw coal fired power plants. It won't get past the Senate.

Given that your posting seems to indicate that you have been living downwind of a coal fired plant with no scrubbers for most of your life, I suggest we use you as a prime exhibit in the Senate for passing this treaty.

Using cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy to detect Mercury was my first job with the Canadian & US FDA.
At that time the largest polluters was the pulp&paper industry which used Hg electrodes to generate Cl2 for bleaching...not the coal fired power plants. At that time we also assembled a large data base which included environmental samples from remote areas to establish the natural Hg background levels. Many of these natural background levels were surprisingly high, I remember numbers in the 0.01 to 0.05 ppm range.
In biological samples such as northern pike they were even (10 x) higher due to bioaccumulation...0.1 to 0.5 ppm
Now compare that to coal:
Mercury concentration in coal?unraveling the puzzle

Based on data from the US Geological Survey's COALQUAL database, the mean concentration of mercury in coal is approximately 0.2 μg g−1. Assuming the database reflects in-ground US coal resources, values for conterminous US coal areas range from 0.08 μg g−1 for coal in the San Juan and Uinta regions to 0.22 μg g−1 for the Gulf Coast lignites.

That`s in the same range what you get when you eat arctic char caught in the most pristine far north regions and way below what`s in the canned tuna from your local super market.
Furthermore the most toxic form of Mercury is the Methyl-Mercuric Chloride which is by far the most toxic of all the Mercury compounds.
The next most toxic form is Mercury vapor, but it is not present as such in coal flue gas emissions...there it would be present in it`s oxidized state which is by far less toxic.
I`m not saying that coal burning power plants should get a free pass regarding Mercury emissions but they pose by far a lesser threat to your health than your dentist that plants Mercury amalgam fillings in your mouth....which reacts over time with your saliva.
During my time with the FDA and Dep. of the environment we also analyzed hair and fingernail samples of people who had dental fillings and found levels far above what Inuit had in their blood stream every year when their main diet was raw seal liver. The RCMP called it "Eskimo spring sickness" because during that time the murder and general violent crime rate was always way up....(one of the tell tale symptoms of Mercury poisoning)

Dental amalgam controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My take on this is...it`s politically "sexier" to go on a coal fired power plant witch hunt while allowing the dentist to administer a dosage of Mercury which can range as high as 27 µg/day for every day after...which is way more than what you would get living downwind of a coal fired power plant in the USA....and they are working on that problem...!!...But is is your dentist ?

I've been pointing out these facts for years, but the eco-nutburgers don't believe in the concept of safe levels of Mercury. They really don't care because they use Mercury to scare people into acquiescing to their Jihad against capitalism and technology.

BTW, most dentists use plastic resin for fillings these days.

 

[mamooth]

95% of all Mercury added to the environment every year comes from natural sources.

Um, no. More like two-thirds.

http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/5951/2010/acp-10-5951-2010.pdf
---
On an annual basis, natural sources account for
5207 Mg of mercury released to the global atmosphere, including the contribution from
re-emission processes, which are emissions of previously deposited mercury origi- 5
nating from anthropogenic and natural sources, and primary emissions from natural
reservoirs. Anthropogenic sources, which include a large number of industrial point
sources, are estimated to account for 2320 Mg of mercury emitted annually.
---

Of course, far more people live downwind from a power plant or factory than from a volcano, hence the human emissions have much more effect. The rational people actually look at such factors, and don't just declare there's more natural, hence human emissions of mercury are insignificant, therefore it has to be a great global socialist conspiracy.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Somehow, before knowing anything about this thread, I guessed that every righty would be opposed to whatever it was about. Surprise surprise.

 

[flacaltenn]

Somehow, before knowing anything about this thread, I guessed that every righty would be opposed to whatever it was about. Surprise surprise.

I'm not a rightie -- but I see nothing wrong with making this a MEDICAL issue first -- BEFORE you ham-handed leftists get all policy wonky on us..

Tell me OldSchool --- What level of mercury should be illegal in the environment and why?
Or dont you concern yourself with such piddling little details??

 

[TheOldSchool]

Somehow, before knowing anything about this thread, I guessed that every righty would be opposed to whatever it was about. Surprise surprise.

I'm not a rightie -- but I see nothing wrong with making this a MEDICAL issue first -- BEFORE you ham-handed leftists get all policy wonky on us..

Tell me OldSchool --- What level of mercury should be illegal in the environment and why?
Or dont you concern yourself with such piddling little details??

Making it a medical issue? It's already a medical issue

What level of mercury should be illegal in the environment? All of my rivers out here have signs telling me to throw any fish I catch back in the water because they contain dangerous levels of mercury. But I suppose that's fine. Probably just another Al Gore conspiracy.

 

[mamooth]

I'm not a rightie

And everyone collapses in laughter.

And flac wonders why he's not taken seriously.

 

[flacaltenn]

I'm not a rightie

And everyone collapses in laughter.

And flac wonders why he's not taken seriously.

I can out-left you on most social issues.. Always could. I was working for maryjane reform before it was cool. Also used to be only crazy Libertarians who thought that Americas' arsenal shouldn't be deployed like we're a bunch of drive-by gang-bangers. Or that Corporate America REALLY SHOULD STOP sucking Govt TiT like YESTERDAY.

Nope -- not a conservative. Not a Republican.. Not a rightie.. Not since James Carville and Mary Matalin were shagging in cheap motels on the campaigns trail at night and running the Clinton v Bush fake war during the day...

Hope YOU never take me seriously.. That could damage my cred..