Now here is a great idea…….. finally.
The United States has shifted its stance to call for a legally-binding global treaty to phase out deadly mercury use that threatens the health of people worldwide, officials said on Tuesday.
Hopes had been high ahead of the conference that the new administration of U.S President Barack Obama would support the European Union’s calls for an international treaty to ban mercury. Some other states favor a voluntary approach.
The new policy was unveiled by the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for environment and sustainable development, Daniel Reifsnyder, late on Monday at the start of a major U.N. gathering of environment ministers in Kenya.
About 6,000 tonnes of mercury — a heavy metal known for more than a century to damage the human nervous system — enter the environment every year. Mercury’s other effects include liver damage, memory loss or disturbances to vision.
It is about time that the US join into the fray to control the use of the killer mercury. I need to point out one thing and ask a question. What about the new light bulbs that everyone is so gaga over? You do know that they contain mercury right? I wrote about this in a earlier post on Info Ink.
Eventually all light bulbs will be these newer ones and eventually all that mercury will make it into the water table and into the food supply…how will the treaty handle that? Someone, anyone answer that question.