POWER STATIONS THREATEN PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE WITH MERCURY POISONING; GLOBAL STUDY OF THIS HAZARDOUS HEAVY METAL RELEASED

POWER STATIONS THREATEN PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE WITH MERCURY POISONING;

GLOBAL STUDY OF THIS HAZARDOUS HEAVY METAL RELEASED

UNEP's Governing Council 3 to 7 February

(Reissued as received.)

NAIROBI, 3 February (United Nations Environment Programme) -- Mercury poisoning of the planet could be significantly reduced by curbing pollution from power stations, a new report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) suggests.

The report, compiled by an international team of experts, says that coal-fired power stations and waste incinerators now account for around 1,500 tons or 70 per cent of new, quantified man-made mercury emissions to the atmosphere.  The lion’s share is now coming from developing countries with emissions from Asia, at 860 tons, the highest.

“As combustion of fossil fuels is increasing in order to meet the growing energy demands of both developing and developed nations, mercury emissions can be expected to increase accordingly in the absence of the deployment of control technologies or the use of alternative energy sources”, says the report.

Artisinal mining of gold and silver, which is happening in an increasing number of less developed nations, is another significant source of mercury pollution, releasing an estimated 400-500 tons of mercury annually to the air, soils, and waterways.

Mercury is used to extract these precious metals from ores, resulting in elevated exposures and risks for the miners and their families, as well as contamination of the local and regional environment.

Once in the atmosphere, this hazardous heavy metal can travel hundreds and thousands of miles, contaminating places far away from the world’s sites where the pollution was originally discharged.

Reducing other pollution from power stations may also reduce the threats from mercury to humans and wildlife in indirect but equally important ways.

Temperature can also influence releases of mercury from contaminated sediments and soils into rivers, lakes and other freshwaters, the report suggests.

Here it can convert to methylmercury, one of its most poisonous and hazardous forms, and build up in fish and other aquatic life forms with potentially harmful impacts on adults and infants.  Numerous studies have linked brain damage in babies to mercury poisoning of their mothers as a result of eating contaminated fish.

Fish is still a beneficial food, and low to moderate consumption is considered safe and a healthy dietary practice.  However, people who eat higher amounts of contaminated fish or marine mammals such as seals, may be at risk of mercury poisoning.

Most people are primarily exposed to methylmercury through eating contaminated fish.  However, additional mercury exposures can occur through dental amalgams and certain occupational activities.  Also, personal use of skin lightening creams and soaps, mercury use for religious, cultural and ritualistic purposes, use in some traditional medicines, use of vaccines and some other pharmaceuticals containing mercury preservatives (such as Thimerosal/Thiomersal) and mercury in the home and working environment can contribute to elevated exposures.

A study of women in the United States, also cited in the new report, has found that about 1 in 12, or just under 5 million have mercury levels in their bodies above the level considered safe by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Just three years ago, the United States Research Council estimated that about 60,000 babies born each year in the U.S. could be at risk of brain damage with possible impacts ranging from learning difficulties to impaired nervous systems.  However, based on more recent exposure data published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some scientists think the number of at risk babies could be as high as 300,000.  Globally the number could run into the millions.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said:  “Mercury is a substance that can be transported in the atmosphere and in the oceans around the globe, travelling hundreds and thousands of miles from where it is emitted.  It has long been recognized as a health-hazardous substance.”

For example, the Mad Hatter, of Alice in Wonderland fame, was so called because hatters used mercury to strengthen hats and were once exposed to high levels of mercury vapours.

“This new report, requested from UNEP by governments two years ago, shows that the global environmental threat to humans and wildlife has not receded despite reductions in mercury discharges, particularly in developed countries.  Indeed, it shows that the problems remain and appear, in some situations, to be worsening as demand for energy, the largest source of human-made mercury emissions, climbs”, he said.

“There are many compelling scientific, environmental and health arguments for curbing pollution linked with energy production.  The mercury report gives us another compelling reason to reduce society’s dependence on carbon intensive energy supplies”, added Mr. Toepfer.

Acid rain, again often the result of power station pollution, may be aggravating the problem.

High levels of acidity in rivers, lakes and streams, also appears to trigger releases of mercury from soils and sediments and its conversion into methylmercury.

The findings may explain why so many fish in parts of the world where acid rain has been an issue are contaminated.  For example, in southern and central Finland, an estimated 85 per cent of pike weighing a kilo or more, have methylmercury concentrations that exceed international health limits.

Other important sources of mercury releases include cement production, chlor-alkali production, crematories, manufacture of electrical switches, thermometers, fluorescent lamps, dental amalgams and rubbish tips containing wastes such as old batteries and other mercury-containing products.

Slash and burn agriculture and the clearing of forests may be increasing releases of mercury to rivers.  Meanwhile, mercury contamination in parts of Europe may be affecting the tiny organisms that regulate the fertility of soils, says the study.

This may also be having an indirect effect on climate change as soil microorganisms play a key role in the storage of carbon from the atmosphere.

These are some of the findings to emerge from the global study of mercury carried out by experts for UNEP.  The report is being presented to environment ministers from across the world who are attending UNEP's Governing Council, and will form the basis for political decisions that will set the course for global action on mercury for years to come.  The Council is meeting at the organization's headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, from 3 to 7 February 2003.

The findings also come in advance of World Water Day, which happens on

22 March and is being organized by UNEP.  It will be celebrated at the World Water Forum taking place in Kyoto, Japan. 

Here the findings will have special significance.  Several thousand people were made ill or died in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s as a result of eating seafood heavily contaminated by mercury in Minamata Bay.

The experts who have compiled the report are asking governments attending the Governing Council to consider a list of options for addressing the dangers of mercury.  These include reducing risks by reducing or eliminating the production, use and release of mercury; substituting other non-mercury based products and processes; launching talks for a legally-binding treaty; establishing a non-binding global programme of action; and strengthening cooperation amongst governments on information-sharing, risk communication, assessment and related activities.  They also recommend around a dozen “immediate actions” including public awareness programmes targeted at sensitive populations such as pregnant women; waste disposal facilities for the safe destruction of obsolete, mercury-containing pesticides and pollution control technologies for power stations.

Notes to Editors

Power Stations

Coal fired power stations and waste incinerators account for nearly

1,500 tons of mercury being released to the air annually, mainly as a result of burning coal the latest figures show.  The highest emissions, estimated at

860 tons a year, are from Asia followed by Africa, 197 tons; Europe, 186 tons; North America, 105 tons; Australia and Oceania, 100 tons and South America,

27 tons.

Studies indicate that mercury contamination of fish is higher in smaller lakes.  “This may be explained by small lakes being warmer, increasing the methylation of mercury (conversion into its more toxic form).  This relationship may have further important implications for the methylation of mercury and its accumulation in fish in the context of long-term climate change”, says the report.

Levels of Mercury in the Environment and Their Impacts on Humans Mercury is a naturally occurring metal released into the environment from rocks, soil and volcanoes.  However, human activities, from gold mining to burning coal in power stations, have boosted atmospheric levels three fold since pre-industrial times, the report says.

Mercury and its even more hazardous compounds, such as methylmercury, are highly toxic and can build up the bodies of wildlife and humans.  Effects on the brain can include irritability, tremors, disturbances to vision, memory loss, impaired coordination and other adverse effects.  Fetuses, the newborn and young children are particularly vulnerable because of the sensitivity of the developing nervous system.

The report also cites some recent scientific evidence linking mercury exposure to cardiovascular problems including raised blood pressure, palpitations and heart disease.

Other effects have been found on the thyroid gland, which regulates growth, the digestive system, the liver and the skin including peeling on hands and feet, itching and rashes.

Eating Fish

The biggest source of human exposure is from eating fish.  Low to moderate consumption is not a concern, but those eating higher amounts may be at risk.  Fish is being promoted world-wide as a healthy food.  The report notes that mercury is a “major threat” to this important food supply.

Predatory fish, towards the top of the food chain, are generally more contaminated.  These include species such as king mackerel, pike, shark, swordfish, walleye, barracuda, large tuna, scabbard and marlin.

“The available data indicate that mercury is present all over the globe, especially in fish, in concentrations that adversely effect human beings”, says the report.

In some parts of the world like the Arctic, where marine mammals such as seals are a major part of the diet along with fish, the risks of mercury poisoning are even higher.

The report cites studies from North Greenland, where 16 per cent of the population have blood levels exceeding a level that can be toxic to non-pregnant adults.  These levels are much higher than the levels considered safe for pregnant women.

Mercury contamination of fish has prompted many countries to issue warnings about eating them.  The report cites Sweden where 50 per cent of the approximately 100,000 lakes have pike whose mercury levels exceed international health limits.  Detailed recommendations are now given about eating freshwater fish, such as pike, perch, burbot and eel. “Women of childbearing age are recommended not to eat these fish from Swedish lakes at all, and the rest of the population should not eat them more than once a week”, says the report.

Canadian experts, contributing to the report, say that flooded lands can become an important source of mercury contamination in fish because more mercury is released and converted to the more toxic form, methylmercury.  Indeed one study found that flooded land increases rates of conversion of mercury to the more toxic form 30 fold.

Hot Spots

Some populations are identified in the report suffering chronic mercury exposure.  Most of these are linked with small scale or artisinal gold or mining where mercury is used to extract the precious metal from the ore.

The report cites studies in a gold-mining area near Mount Diwata on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines where 70 per cent of workers were found to be suffering chronic mercury intoxication.  For those workers involved directly in smelting using mercury, the percentage was even higher at 85 per cent.  Around one third of people not directly employed in the industry, but living in the area, also showed signs of chronic mercury intoxication including, tremors, fatigue, sensory disturbances and bluish discolouration of the gums.

Other countries where there may be hot spots as a result of an upsurge in gold mining since the 1970s include Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Indonesia,

Viet Nam, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Burundi, India, Mongolia and Suriname.  In total, some 10 million people involved in the industry could be at risk of mercury poisoning.

Wildlife

Animals such as otter, mink, osprey, eagles, seals and some whales that rely on fish as a large part of their diet, have the highest mercury levels and may also be at risk.  The eggs of certain Canadian birds, such as Leach's Storm Petrel, Atlantic Puffin and Northern Fulmars, have mercury levels that threaten reproduction, the report says.

Mercury levels in Arctic ringed seals and beluga whales have increased by up to four times over the last 25 years in some areas of Canada and Greenland.

For more information, please contact Eric Falt, Spokesperson/Director of UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information, on tel:  254 2 623292, mobile:  254 (0) 733 682656, e-mail:  eric.falt@unep.org or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, on tel:  254 2 623084, mobile:  254 0 733 632755, e-mail:  nick.nuttall@unep.org

For the Governing Council and a copy of the full report, see http://www.unep.org/GoverningBodies/GC22/ and for World Water Day see www.waterday2003.org

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