{"id":4176,"date":"2013-07-31T13:36:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T18:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=4176"},"modified":"2013-07-31T13:36:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T18:36:51","slug":"protecting-the-planet-a-report-from-the-international-conference-on-mercury-in-edinburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2013\/07\/31\/protecting-the-planet-a-report-from-the-international-conference-on-mercury-in-edinburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting the Planet: A Report from the International Conference on Mercury in Edinburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

(EDF\u2019s Mandy Warner<\/a>\u00a0co-wrote this post)<\/em><\/p>\n

This week, experts in science, policy, and industry are meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant<\/strong> (ICMGP).<\/p>\n

We are honored to join them to discuss international mercury science and policy, and to share EDF\u2019s work on mercury.<\/p>\n

The ICMGP has been held periodically for more than 18 years. It has become the pre-eminent international forum for formal presentation and discussion of scientific advances concerning mercury, and gathers between 700 and 1200 experts for the five-day conference and exhibition.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s conference will be of particular importance, because this year will launch the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Legally Binding Treaty on Mercury<\/a> — which can provide much-needed global action on mercury.<\/p>\n

This year, UNEP has also released its new report, Global Mercury Assessment 2013 – Sources, Emissions, Releases and Environmental Transport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So this year\u2019s meeting is perfectly timed to celebrate the release of the report AND the launch of the international treaty — and most important, to discuss how to put the treaty into practice. It will be a great opportunity for policymakers and scientists to collaborate on solutions that address worldwide mercury emissions.<\/p>\n

It is well-known that mercury is an extremely toxic metal.<\/p>\n

Mercury primarily exists in three chemical forms in nature: elemental mercury, oxidized mercury and methylmercury.<\/p>\n

Methylmercury is the most neurotoxic substance<\/a> that builds up collects in our aquatic foodchains.<\/p>\n

About 400,000 children are born in the U.S. each year with so much mercury in their blood that healthy brain development is threatened.<\/p>\n

As they grow, these children\u2019s capacity to see, hear, move, feel, learn and respond is compromised.<\/p>\n

While some forms of mercury are deposited near the emissions source, other forms — such as gaseous mercury — are stable in the atmosphere for approximately a year. Gaseous mercury can be deposited far from its source, even thousands of miles away \u2013 which is why it has global impacts.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is leading the way to reduce mercury emissions from a variety of sources, including coal-fired power plants — the largest remaining source of mercury in America.<\/p>\n

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards<\/a> for power plants are in place thanks in part to strong support from EDF members, and from our partners in the environmental, health, faith, environmental justice, and business communities.<\/p>\n

Power companies are working now to meet emission standards by spring 2015, by installing American-made technology.<\/p>\n

EDF has helped advance mercury policy at the state and national level in the U.S. over the past several decades.<\/p>\n

During the development of the recently finalized Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, we provided technical comments and testimony; worked with EPA, states, companies; collaborated with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to defend protective standards; and worked through the courts to advance strong mercury standards.<\/p>\n

Our partner organizations like Moms Clean Air Force<\/a> have helped engage diverse voices from across America, and bring new constituencies to the forefront of the national policy discussion on air pollution and toxics.<\/p>\n

We now have the privilege of highlighting the U.S. experience reducing mercury and advancing technology solutions in the power sector to this important international scientific and policy forum.<\/p>\n

We hope to forge new partnerships to advance an international solution to mercury pollution that can protect the health not only of Americans, but people across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(EDF\u2019s Mandy Warner\u00a0co-wrote this post) This week, experts in science, policy, and industry are meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP). We are honored to join them to discuss international mercury science and policy, and to share EDF\u2019s work on mercury. The ICMGP has been held periodically …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7045,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,109,44,42],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-international","category-policy","category-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProtecting the Planet: A Report from the International Conference on Mercury in Edinburgh - Climate 411<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2013\/07\/31\/protecting-the-planet-a-report-from-the-international-conference-on-mercury-in-edinburgh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protecting the Planet: A Report from the International Conference on Mercury in Edinburgh - Climate 411\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(EDF\u2019s Mandy Warner\u00a0co-wrote this post) This week, experts in science, policy, and industry are meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP). 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