Mercury Policy Project

There was news coverage today of a letter sent last month by 40  scientists and NGOs, urging HHS Secretary Sebelius  to expedite release of an updated  consumer advisory.  “This policy update needs to be sent out for comment to ensure it’s in line with the latest science.” said MPP Director Bender.   Several months ago, Sebelius assured 22 US Senators that “…completing the updated advisory remains a priority for the Administration,” in response to an earlier letter from the senators to President Obama about the 2010 Dietary Guidelines.  Yet  scientists pointed out to Sebelius in 2011 how they were  flawed.  To separate the facts from the ‘fishy’ fables, see:  http://mercuryfactsandfish.org/.

Over the past decade, awareness about the risks of mercury in certain fish has increased and pregnant women in particular have been alerted to shop carefully and a recent study indicates that over one-third of American’s mercury exposure is from tuna.  But what about the risks from fish children consume at school?  In it’s 2011 Annual Report to the Governor, Legislature and Citizens of the State of Vermont, the state mercury advisory committee recommended:  “….collaboration between the Vermont Department of Health and the Department of Education to communicate with Vermont schools and raise awareness among faculty, staff, and parents about the methyl mercury exposure risk to young children of consuming excessive amounts of tuna fish in school lunch programs,” see:  page 2 and 5 of the 2011 report. To further investigate this, MPP announced today in a statement that it is co-releasing with other groups a first ever report on testing for mercury in tuna sold to schools,  “Tuna Surprise,” which received extensive  media coverage.

Dental mercury fillings pollute the environment, contaminate fish and are far more costly for taxpayers than the alternative tooth-colored material, according to an economics report released by MPP and a broad coalition of health, consumer and environmental groups. The study was prepared by Brussels-based Concorde East/West Sprl and details how society pays for dental mercury through additional pollution control costs, deterioration of public resources, and the health effects associated with mercury contamination. The report shows that when the real cost to taxpayers and the environment is considered, amalgam is significantly more costly than composite as a filling material, by at least $41 more per filling, as reflected in the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology brochure.

The findings of a new WHO/FAO Report on Benefits and Risks of Seafood Consumption were challenged today by MPP as missing a key opportunity to advise governments about mercury risk from fish consumption. “Surprisingly, this expert group failed to address exposure concerns about fish with higher mercury levels, which have led to consumption advisories in the U.S. and around the world,” said MPP director Bender, in a statement.  “The concept of ‘net benefits’ is severely flawed, because benefits accrue to everyone who eats seafood, but risks are concentrated in the small fraction of the population who regularly choose high-mercury fish,” said Dr. Ned Groth, an MPP science consultant. “It is not acceptable to tolerate significant harm to a minority just because the large majority are better off.”

MPP recently provided testimony to an FDA panel charged with re-examining  dental amalgam.  We pointed out  that while FDA panel re-evalutates, the World Health Organization  is expected to recommend that amalgam use be “phased down.”   “We welcome WHO’s  support for “phase down” , and urge FDA to do the same,” said MPP’s director.   The WHO is expected to soon final its meeting report in preparation for the upcoming  International Negotiations Committee deliberations  in Chiba, Japan, 24-28 January, 2011, that will ultimately lead to the adoption of a legally binding instrument on mercury by 2013.

The European Environmental Bureau and MPP recently wrote a letter urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to correct inaccuracies, misleading and incorrect statements  before finalizing its meeting report.   Unfortunately, the draft report’s bias is already being diffused on various pro-amalgam websites, including one from Australia  and the other from the USA.  Among other things, the letter encourages WHO to correct for the record that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss alternatives to amalgam, and not debate or assert the safety of amalgam,  — and instead to highlight opportunities for “phasing down” the amalgam use, as WHO discussed in Stockholm in June.

A  key U.S. House Committee today adopted an amendment  offered by Congressman Dennis Kucinich  to H.R. 5504, which requires USDA to inform schools and those in WIC programs to avoid higher mercury fish.  “There is no reason for the government to help kids grow up healthy with one hand while impairing them with the other,” said Kucinich.  In addition, MPP and Got Mercury! recently filed comments on the USDA’s draft Committee Report , outlining steps to reduce mercury exposure.

Thirty academic scientists, medical doctors and consumer advocates wrote to FDA and EPA last Friday, urging them to strengthen the Federal fish consumption advisory for mercury and also to do a better job of warning consumers.   “Recent research shows that both beneficial effects of fish nutrients and harm from mercury exposure occur in a baby’s developing brain when a pregnant woman eats ordinary amounts of fish,” said Edward Groth III, PhD, a Mercury Policy Project science consultant. “There is no evidence of a threshold for the harmful effects of mercury, and even the amount in a single can of tuna should probably be avoided.”

World governments today completed the first step towards a mercury treaty, issuing a meeting report and providing  the  basis for developing treaty text for INC2 in Japan in January 2011, according to ZMWG and press reports.  NGOs lauded W.H.O.  for supporting mercury reductions. “We applaud W.H.O.’s statement to stop production of skin cosmetics containing mercury, as they are an exposure risk worldwide ,” said MPP director Bender. “We welcome W.H.O’s interest in “phasing down” amalgam,  which is reflective of the WHO meeting last fall, and consistent with what  NGOs wrote  to WHO on.” This may be of interest in the US as FDA decided yesterday to review amalgam risks.

Today, a Japanese official proposed that the treaty be signed in Minamata, as their Prime Minister proposed earlier.   Takeshi Yasuma, of Citizens Against Chemicals Pollution,  responded, outlining steps and then concluding that the best way to show respect for Minimata is “…by substantial actions for a strong global treaty that eliminates all human sources of mercury.”

June 10 Update- As the INC proceeds, NGOs provided statements on several more topics, including:  awareness raising; coal fired power plants and mercury supply issues.

June 9 Update- NGOs made a number of interventions, including ZMWG opening statement;  ZMWG-IPEN statement on the treaty framework and waste issues (in response to a Basel Convention document);  compliance; monitoring; storage; and mercury reduction in products, processes and ASGM.

June 7 Update- As negotiations start, a global NGO coalition today called on governments to curb mercury pollution worldwide.  A ZMWG Exhibition provided information on mercury and our position papers.

June 6 Update- UNEP held a briefing on mercury issues and a WHO-HCWH  report was presented on reducing mercury in health care.  In the afternoon, the ZMWG organised an NGO training on how to use a LUMEX.

June 3 - The first Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) begins negotiating a mercury treaty next week, funded by the Nordic Council and discussed on YouTube.  ZMWG  prepared partial concept treaty text, a treaty framework,  an ASGM thought starter, and observations on UNEP documents.