140カ国は、健康への影響のために水銀の使用を禁止することに同意する
140 countries agree to veto the use of mercury for their impact on health
Over 140 countries close a convention that prohibits use in lamps and batteries in 2020
The metal accumulates in fish and may affect neuronal development
140 países acuerdan vetar el uso de mercurio por su impacto en la salud
Más de 140 países cierran una convención que prohíbe usarlo en lamparas y baterías en 2020
El metal se acumula en el pescado y puede afectar al desarrollo neuronal
Rafael Méndez Madrid 19 ENE 2013 - 18:42 CET
140 countries agree to veto the use of mercury for their impact on health
Over 140 countries close a convention that prohibits use in lamps and batteries in 2020
The metal accumulates in fish and may affect neuronal development
Rafael Mendez Madrid 19 ENE 2013 - 18:42 CET
In the '50s came a strange neurological disease in the Japanese city of Minamata, located on the coast. Hundreds of people suffered involuntary movements, muscle weakness, hearing and speech problems. In addition, mothers without symptoms gave birth to sick children. In 1968, Japan announced that it had discovered the cause: mercury poisoning through contaminated seafood. The origin was in the discharge of a large petrochemical plant and evil was baptized as Minamata disease.
Mercury slowly began to die then and Saturday in Geneva more than 140 countries worldwide closed a deal to restrict their use. In one of the first environmental conventions from Kyoto, agreed to ban from 2020 mercury in batteries, lamps, relays and cosmetics in addition to controlling emissions from thermal plants, cement and chemical industries, among others. The pact includes Phasing out the use of mercury in dentistry. Yes you will use as a preservative in vaccines and other devices in which there are no substitutes.
The treaty, which will be called Minamata Convention-must now be ratified by the states to enter into force, which will occur between 2015 and 2018.
The Minamata Convention pays homage to the city where evil came
Mercury emissions peaked in the '70s, but since 2000 have stabilized. While reduced in developed countries increased in emerging-Southeast Asia already accounts for 40% of emissions. A report by the United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP) estimates that are issued to 1960 tons of mercury from human activities (industrial process 475 come from burning coal). The boom in gold mining has also increased the use of this substance, which is used to separate small-scale ore rock.
The UNEP report estimates that about 1,000 tons a year end up in the sea. In the first hundred meters from the ocean, the mercury concentration has doubled in the last century. That has a huge life mercury in the environment and often accumulates in some fatty fish with long life.
In 2011, the Spanish Government recommended that pregnant women and children under three years not to eat bluefin tuna emperor and the high content of mercury, a neurotoxin considered. In 2003, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography conducted a comprehensive study that found high levels of mercury in samples of mako, swordfish and shark in waters where Spanish fishing fleet. The report was confidential and the government declared hid for seven years, until the High Court ruled in favor of the NGO Oceana and forced publish.
Emissions up in Asia for industrial processes
Mercury is obtained from cinnabar, a mineral abundant in Almaden (Ciudad Real). Although the mines have been closed since 2002 by the falling price and toxicity, there has extracted much of the mercury used in the story.
The agreement comes after four years of negotiations that lasted all night on Saturday. Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, said: "All citizens will benefit from the decision in Geneva, especially the miners and their families, the people of the Arctic and the next generations of mothers and their children." Michael Bender of the NGO coalition against mercury, considered the agreement "is a great achievement," but criticized that has "weak controls on emissions from large sources such as coal power plants."
Mercury emissions will not fall dramatically, but it will be gradually reduced. The agreement shows that countries are able to agree on sectoral issues, such as the Montreal Protocol was signed 25 years ago to reduce the use of CFCs, compounds widely used in refrigerators and aerosols then and were damaging the layer ozone.
But getting a binding international treaty to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 to replace the Kyoto Protocol is far more complex. The emission of greenhouse gases is linked to energy (transport, electrical generation), but also to deforestation and agriculture. So a treaty would impact on the entire economy. Thus there who advocates approach the problem from different covenants to be short cut emissions in each sector.
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