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UN: Mercury chemical threatening health and the environment
03.11.2014 09:28 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
The world cannot wait any longer to control mercury, UN Radio says referring to Baskut Tuncak, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxics, report.
Baskut Tuncak is urging governments to quickly ratify a treaty called the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
It is to be admitted, the Minamata Convention aims to protect human health and the environment from the effects of the toxic element.
Mercury is a major pollutant that can lead to physically debilitating diseases and death, especially for women and children.
In meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office reminded about a case in the 1950s in the town of Minamata in Japan, where a large part of the community was poisoned after the dumping of highly toxic, mercury-containing waste into a bay.
As to report, the Minamata Convention on Mercury must be ratified by 50 countries to be legally binding.
So far, one year after its creation only seven States have ratified it.
Reportedly, an intergovernmental meeting is taking place in Bangkok on Monday to try to limit the impacts of mercury by 2020.
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