Is the situation improving?
Mercury uses and emissions have been reduced significantly in North America over the past thirty years. What was once a major source of mercury pollution in Canada — chlorine plants — has been nearly eliminated. Major mercury use reductions have been made in batteries, paints, residential light switches and fluorescent lamps. Thermostats, fever thermometers and switches remain the major deliberate uses where simple and cost-effective alternatives exist.
There is nothing in Canada to prevent a company from putting mercury in a product and selling it to the public, though new uses of mercury are uncommon. Recently, proposed new uses of mercury were met with such skepticism by government officials that manufacturers have voluntarily withdrawn them.
Unfortunately, despite a number of successful examples where mercury use has been reduced, mercury levels in the environment are still increasing. This is due to the fact that mercury cycling in the environment is only partly removed (mainly through sedimentation processes) at an extremely slow pace, so the mercury that continues to be emitted from coal-fired plants, incineration, steel-making and product disposal around the world, is added to the mercury pool that has been deposited since the beginning of the industrial era.
Mercury levels in the fish, marine mammals and native residents of Canada’s Arctic continue to rise, posing a threat to their health. Mercury levels are rising in eastern Canada and mercury levels in loons and other fish-eating species are reaching critical levels in some areas. Mercury fish advisories continue to expand across North America. Mercury emissions from the coal-plants, North America’s largest source, are projected to rise in Canada and the United States, especially following the recent adoption of the US Energy strategy put forward in 2001, until such time that regulations come into effect.
Economic development together with population growth are adding to the mercury emissions from coal plants, mining operations and product use in many countries, contributing to the increasing global mercury levels.
This situation requires governments and individuals to take actions wherever they can to prevent the use and release of mercury to the environment. COMERN intends to bring strong scientific evidences and pieces of alternatives to help them in that direction.