Parliament heats up over mercury ban 

The draft directive won Parliament backing on 14 November (582 in favour, 17 against, 21 abstentions). 

It would impose a general ban on mercury in measuring devices to prevent release into the environment that could take effect as early as 2010. 

But a permanent derogation for traditional barometers won by the British Conservatives means that the proposal is likely to be sent back to Parliament for a second reading. 

This is because the permanent derogation contradicts a deal passed with member states' ambassadors to limit the derogation to two years, according to Hélène Cuisinier, a Parliament spokeswoman.

The British Conservatives were upbeat after the Parliament vote, saying that they won their campaign to "save the British barometer". 

"Mercury does need to be controlled but banning the traditional household barometer is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut," said MEP Martin Callanan. "Appropriate safety warnings and careful controls will allow the continuation of barometer manufacturer and repair, and safeguard many jobs and small businesses in the UK," he added.

"This is a deeply disappointing outcome," said a representative from the Health & Environment Alliance, a green NGO. "Dozens of tonnes will continue to enter the market and endanger people's health and the environment."

"Mercury is a global pollutant travelling long distances around the globe. Its most toxic form - methylmercury - accumulates in large predatory fish and is therefore transferred to our bodies through the fish diet, affecting the most vulnerable people - pregnant women and children," said the EEB, a federation of 140 environmental organisations.

The Parliament's vote also started a sideline row over the use of mercury in the chlorine industry. In a study published on 10 November, the EEB said emissions of mercury from Europe's chlor-alkali plants "may be significantly under-reported, by as much as five times, and might even equal emission levels from the EU's large coal-fired power stations".

The EEB cited "independent air-quality sampling results from around mercury-cell chlor-alkali factories in Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, which found disturbingly high mercury levels around ten of the eleven plants monitored."

Euro Chlor, a business association representing European chlorine producers, said that the EEB's claims were "inaccurate". It said the measurements were taken "over the full annual operating cycle" of the plants and therefore "take into account varying plant load and seasonal effects".

Euro Chlor Executive Director Alistair Steel said: "The industry is fully on track to meet its commitment to phase out mercury-based chlorine production by 2020."

"Mercury-based production has been reduced from 65% in 1998 to around 50% today and is expected to reduce further to less than 35% by 2010.  All mercury-based operating units continue to reduce emissions, which for Western Europe plants have been reduced by 6% compared to 2003 and over 8% for those in Eastern Europe."