EU sets 2011 deadline to ban mercury exports
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Environment ministers from the European Union, the world’s largest producer of mercury, called on Friday for exports of the toxic substance to be banned by 2011.
Europe also wants to phase out the use of the metal in thermometers and improve global efforts to stop the dumping of the dangerous liquid metal.
Mercury poisoning can harm the nervous system, brain and kidneys and even cause death. Pregnant women are advised to limit intake of some fish due to mercury pollution in the sea.
“This is a very sensitive issue for the environment and people,” Luxembourg Environment Minister Lucien Lux, chair of the meeting, told a news conference.
Sweden and Denmark had wanted to ban mercury exports from 2008 but did not get enough support, said EU officials.
The export ban will have the greatest effect on Spain, the only country in the EU where mercury is mined.
The EU supplies about one-third of global demand for mercury, approximately 1,000 tonnes a year, most of it from the chlor-alkali industry, which produces chlorine. The sector is converting its plants away from mercury to abide by EU laws.
Mercury is also used in dentistry and to produce some chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
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