Minamata Convention: Safeguarding Health and the Environment from Mercury
Description
Minamata Convention: Safeguarding Health and the Environment from Mercury
Description: Learn about the Minamata Convention, a
global treaty addressing the adverse impacts of mercury on human health and the
environment, with insights into its objectives and significance.
Introduction
- Historical Significance: Named after the Japanese city of Minamata, this international treaty was adopted in 2013 in Geneva, marking a historic moment.
- Global Legal Binding: It holds the distinction of being the world's first globally binding treaty, aiming to safeguard both human health and the environment from the harmful impacts of mercury.
- Tragic Legacy: The city of Minamata itself witnessed a devastating chapter in the 1950s when it became the epicenter of the Minamata disease outbreak. This debilitating neurological condition was a direct consequence of severe mercury poisoning.
- Effective Implementation: With its formal enforcement in 2017, the convention signifies a collective commitment to address and mitigate the adverse effects of mercury pollution.
- Global Participation: Currently, this vital agreement boasts the involvement of 144 Parties and 128 Signatories, highlighting its widespread recognition and support in the global community.
Objectives of the Declaration
The non-binding declaration calls upon parties to:
Develop practical tools and notification and information-sharing systems for monitoring and managing trade in mercury.
Exchange experiences and practices relating to combating illegal trade in mercury, including reducing the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
Share examples of national legislation and data and information related to such trade.
Minamata Convention on Mercury
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury and its compounds.
It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Geneva, Switzerland 2013.
Controlling the anthropogenic releases of mercury throughout its lifecycle is one of the key obligations under the Convention.
The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury as well as health issues.
The Convention covers all aspects of the life cycle of mercury, controlling and reducing mercury across a range of products, processes and industries. This includes controls on:
o mercury mining
o the manufacture and trade of mercury and products containing mercury
o disposal of mercury waste
o emissions of mercury from industrial facilities.
Countries that have ratified the Convention are bound by international law to put these controls in place.
o India has ratified the Convention.
About Mercury
o Mercury a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and soil is considered as one of the top ten chemicals or groups of chemicals by the World Health Organisation (WHO) .
o Exposure to mercury – even small amounts – may cause serious health problems, and is a threat to the development of the child in utero and early in life.
o Mercury may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes.
o People are mainly exposed to methylmercury, (an organic compound) when they eat fish and shellfish and are more vulnerable to Minamata disease.
• Minamata Disease: A disorder caused by methylmercury poisoning that was first described in the inhabitants of Minamata Bay, Japan and resulted from their eating fish contaminated with mercury industrial waste. The disease is characterized by peripheral sensory loss, tremors, and both hearing and visual loss. Methylmercury is very different from ethylmercury. Ethylmercury is used as a preservative in some vaccines and does not pose a health risk.
Here is a link to an article on Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
