The Madison Declaration on Mercury Pollution & Some Personal Thoughts

It really doesn't get any bigger than this. We have been talking about mercury emissions and their effects on our environment and the people and animals that live therein for a long time. I have been focused on legislation and other efforts by those concerned with this issue and I have learned a heck of a lot in the process.

But the Madison Declaration is big. It's big because of the International consensus it represents, it's big because the findings are rooted in good sound science, it's big because it moves the debate beyond pregnant women and developing children, it's big because it is a global warning and, personally, it's big because it was back in July/August last year when I first started reading about the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant that got me thinking about this Blog. I started this blogging effort in November but I will always remember when I read about the world gathering in Madison, WI to debate this issue that I knew it was worthy of a Blog.

Now seven months later their findings come out and support much of what I have been blogging about since November. The complete findings have been released in the latest edition of Ambio, although summaries of the findings have been floating around the internet for a day or two. To view the recent issue of Ambio you need to register and subscribe, but abstracts of all the articles in this Mercury dedicated issue can be read here.

An excerpt from EurekAlert follows, the full release is recommended here.

Developed at the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant last August in Madison, Wis., the declaration is a synopsis of the latest scientific knowledge about the danger posed by mercury pollution. It presents 33 principal findings from five synthesis papers prepared by the world's leading mercury scientists and published in the same issue of Ambio. The declaration and supporting papers summarize what is currently known about the sources and movement of mercury in the atmosphere, the socioeconomic and health effects of mercury pollution on human populations, and its effects on the world's fisheries and wildlife.

Five other major findings in the declaration were:

1. On average, three times more mercury is falling from the sky today than before the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago as a result of the increasing use of mercury and industrial emissions.
2. The uncontrolled use of mercury in small-scale gold mining is contaminating thousands of sites around the world, posing long-term health risks to an estimated 50 million inhabitants of mining regions. These activities alone contribute more than 10 percent of the mercury in Earth's atmosphere attributable to human activities today.
3. Little is known about the behavior of mercury in marine ecosystems and methylmercury in marine fish, the ingestion of which is the primary way most people at all levels of society worldwide are exposed to this highly toxic form of mercury.
4. Methylmercury exposure now constitutes a public health problem in most regions of the world.
5. Methylmercury levels in fish-eating birds and mammals in some parts of the world are reaching toxic levels, which may lead to population declines in these species and possibly in fish populations as well.

Another excerpt from Isthmus - The Daily Page follows, full article here.

Isthmus examined this issue in a local context in advance of the conference, looking particularly at the risks mercury in Madison's lakes poses to persons fishing for food. Seven months later, the declaration summarizes the papers delivered to the conference by many of the world's leading experts on human health risks associated with mercury contamination in fish, and endorsed by all members of the panels that vetted the pronouncement.

Among the document's central conclusions:

• Dietary exposure to fish contaminated with mercury poses health risks pervasive enough to support global public advisories regarding which fish to eat and how much fish to consume -- with special urgency to communicate the advisory to women of child-bearing age and their children, due to fetuses' and children's heightened developmental vulnerability to mercury's potent neurotoxic effects.
• Dietary exposure to the potent fish-borne neurotoxin methylmercury has become a public-health threat to most regions of the world.
• Methylmercury toxicity in fish-eating birds and mammals in some regions of the world may be approaching levels that could result in population declines for some species.
• Due to industrial emissions and other increased uses of the element, the average amount of mercury falling from the skies onto land and water is three times what it was before the Industrial Revolution.
• Unregulated mercury use in thousands of small gold-mining operations around the globe accounts for more than 10% of human contributions toward atmospheric mercury loads, exposing an estimated 50 million people to long-term health consequences.
• More study is needed regarding the behaviors of mercury in marine environments and marine fish.

The importance of this cannot be overstated, the world needs to act now. I am certain the momentum that has been building nationally and Internationally will facilitate major strides in this effort in the coming months and years. I only regret not attending the Madison Mercury Conference last year, I can only hope it is as close to me the next time it convenes.