Sweden takes a leadership role in the outright banning of all mercury containing products. In my opinion this will be the wave of the future regarding mercury use. Other countries in the EU will follow first, several states in the US will attempt to follow suit and a US national ban will take quite some time. There are alternatives for almost every commercial use of mercury and although there will always be mercury in our environment it will not be spread through commercial use.
An excerpt from an article in EHS Today sheds some light on this decision.
The Swedish government recently introduced a blanket ban on mercury that will eliminate the use of dental amalgam fillings and prohibit products containing mercury in the Swedish market.
“Sweden is now leading the way in removing and protecting the environment from mercury, which is non-degradable. The ban is a strong signal to other countries and a Swedish contribution to EU and UN aims to reduce mercury use and emissions,” said Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren.
The government's decision means that products containing mercury may not be placed on the Swedish market. In practice, this means that alternative techniques will have to be used in dental care, chemical analysis and the chloralkali industry. The Swedish Chemicals Agency will be authorized to issue regulations on exceptions or grant exemptions in individual cases.
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The new regulations go into effect June 1, 2009.
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