UN Special Rapporteur urges closing a loophole in Minamata Convention on Mercury to stop human rights abuses linked to mercury in gold mining
Tuesday, 13 September 2022
Geneva, Switzerland - As many as 15 million men, women and children around the world suffer significant and potentially life-threatening human rights abuses from mercury used in small-scale gold mining, according to a groundbreaking report presented today by Marcos A. Orellana, the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights.
A brief summary of the happenings and outcomes of the Mercury Treaty COP 4.2 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in Spring 2022, as well as notes about side meetings and future events.
The fourth Conference of the Parties of the Minamata Convention on Mercury was scheduled 21 – 25 March 2022 but actually finished at around 5am on the morning of 26 March with the final decision on Budget and Programme of Work.
Significant advances were made in decisions on dental amalgam and addition of several product groups to Annex A.
This study of mercury levels in women from four Latin American communities is the latest compilation of data in IPEN’s global mercury biomonitoring program. Hair samples were taken from women living in or near the mining towns of Vila Nova, Brazil, El Callao, Venezuela, Íquira, Colombia, and two groups living in Bolvia's Beni river system. The results for the Bolivian women were especially concerning: they had the highest mercury levels in our study, yet have no engagement with mining or contact with mercury and are reliant on a subsistence fish diet.
Newly-issued DOH policy banning dental amalgam draws cheers amid the coronavirus crisis
Friday, 22 May 2020
(Quezon City) A new policy promulgated by the Department of Health (DOH) phasing out dental amalgam, a tooth filling material containing approximately 50% mercury, has received roars of approval from advocacy groups within and outside the Philippines.
