UN plan to curb mercury poisoning
UN environment programme hopes to draft treaty to limit use of toxic metal.
Published On 4 Nov 2011
Mercury is one of the earth’s most toxic elements, and one that seeps into the environment through a number of industrial processes.
The single biggest source of mercury emissions, coal-fired power stations, account for 26 per cent of the metal leaked into the environment. But village miners also use tonnes of it when extracting gold.
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World bodies are now attempting to work out a plan to reduce mercury poisoning.
The United Nations environment programme held a conference in Nairobi, attended by delegates from 120 countries, in the hope of drafting a global treaty that would limit use of the toxic metal.
Al Jazeera’s Peter Greste reports from the Kenyan capital.
Source: Al Jazeera