Mercury Policy Project

Joined by the EU, Canada and other developed countries, the U.S. opposed a separate health provision during the fourth (of five) mercury treaty negotiation earlier this week in Punta del Este, Uruguay.  “This is an example of north–south double standard over whether health issues will be addressed equitably,” stated Michael Bender , MPP director, who provided a statement on behalf of the Zero Mercury Working Group during the negotiation. “Mercury is a basic human rights issue. Health strategies to address reducing exposure to mercury must be included in this treaty.”

The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a global legally binding instrument on Mercury (INC4) will be held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 27 June to 2 July 2012.  The Zero Mercury Working Group has prepared its views on the INC 4 draft_treaty text.  Noting that mercury gets transported great distances through the air and in trade, NGOs are urging governments to cut mercury off at the source by adopting strong treaty provisions.

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.”

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.

Due to potentially unsafe levels of mercury contained in light tuna, MPP and Got Mercury formally opposed its inclusion in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). They point out that the USDA cannot guarantee the safety of the mercury levels in canned light tuna because the FDA fails to adequately screen canned tuna and remove high-mercury canned tuna.