EU seeks global mercury ban 

The 'Stay Healthy, Stop Mercury' campaign launched on 10 January 2007 details a report  revealing alarming results of a survey measuring women's low-level exposure to mercury during pregnancy. It also describes the effects such exposure can have on unborn child's brain development.

According to the report, "more than one in six women involved in a small-scale study in 21 countries has a level of mercury above a widely accepted recommended safety dose". In general, Europeans are exposed to methylmercury primarily through eating large, predatory fish, such as shark, swordfish or tuna. To protect themselves from mercury exposure, the report's authors advise women to eat, both before and during pregnancy, smaller fish that are lower in the food chain.

The report gets scientific backing from research findings, published recently in the  The Lancet medical journal. They show how maternal exposure to methylmercury and other neurotoxicants can cause brain damage and loss of IQ in unborn children. 

The 'Stay Healthy, Stop Mercury' campaign thus calls for European politicians to show leadership in supporting a global ban on mercury in the United Nations Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF ) in Nairobi 5-9 February 2007.

More information on the chemical element mercury, can be found on the Wikipedia  website.

The European chlor industry, represented by EuroChlor, is trying hard to reduce emissions through a voluntary agreement, but thinks that a unilateral EU export ban is "unlikely to solve the global mercury issue". 

In December 2002, the United Nations Environment Programme published a "Global Mercury Assessment