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Legislation

Japan

Since the Minimata disaster, Japan has improved upon its mercury regulation. During the 1970’s Japan made strides to reduce mercury demand and production. Chief among them was the reduction of inorganic mercury produced by mines. It was halted by 1974 and demand fell from 2500 tons per year in 1964, its peak, to 10 tons per year in recent years. Since these initial strides, Japan has introduced a list of regulations governing the mercury content of a variety of materials.

Japan Mercury Regulation

Category	Regulation	Result
Cosmetics	Pharmaceutical Affairs Act	Ban the use of mercury and its compounds
Agriculture	Agricultural Chemicals Control Act	Ban the use of mercury and its compounds as an active ingredient
Household Commodities	No mercury in: household adhesives, household paints, household wax, shoe polish, shoe cream, diapers, bibs, undergarments, gloves, and socks.	Act on Control of Household Products Containing Hazardous Substances
Pharmaceutical Products	No use of mercury compounds in oral preparations. No use of mercury compounds, other than mercurochrome, as an active ingredient. Mercury as a preservative only if no other option is available.	Pharmaceutical Affairs Act
Air	No more than 40 ng/m3	Air Pollution Control Law
Water	Environmental quality standard: No more than 0.0005 mg/L in waterway and ground water. Effluent standard: No more than 0.005 mg/L in effluence.	Basic Environment Law and Water Pollution Control Act
Soil	Environmental quality standard: No more than 0.0005 mg/L sample solution. Elution standard: No more than 0.0005 mg/L. Content standard: No more than 15 mg/kg	Basic Environment Law and Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act

Regulation of these potential sources of pollution reduces the amount of mercury that ends up in fish and, through biomagnification, into humans. In addition to legislation controlling the mercury levels in potential pollutants, Japan has directly influenced the environment by issuing regulations setting acceptable levels of environmental mercury pollution.

It is Japan’s goal to promote international mercury legislation in the hopes of preventing any country from experiencing what they did. Despite Japan’s extensive regulation and experience with mercury based disasters, there is still little information provided to the public. The Federal Fish Advisory’s recommendations in Japan are less strict than those in America.

United States of America

The United States is a leader in mercury regulation. A key piece of mercury legislation in the United States of America is the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS). This policy was finalized by the EPA on December 16, 2011. It is a federal policy and is the first of its kind in the United States. This policy directly influences mercury in fish. The facilities targeted by this new policy are the chief sources of mercury in the air. The airborne mercury is dissolved in the oceans and microorganisms then convert waterborne mercury into methylmercury and thus mercury finds its way into the food chain and into fish. MATS will prevent about 90% of the emissions from power plants from reaching the air, thus benefiting the health of the nation. In total the expected health benefits are from $37 billion to $90 billion by 2016. In comparison, the expected economic cost is $9.6 billion annually. Another integral piece of legislation controlling the emission of mercury to the air is the Clean Air Act. Under this act, mercury is classified as a hazardous air pollutant, allowing the EPA to regulate emissions by establishing performance standards.

International

Legislation on a global scale is needed for this issue because mercury pollution is so far reaching. Pollution from one country does not stay localized to that country. Despite the need, international regulation has been slow to take off. The first forms of international legislation appeared in the 1970’s, beginning as agreements about shared bodies of water. The next step was the Stockholm Declaration which urged countries to avoid polluting the oceans by dumping. The 1972 Oslo Convention and the 1974 Paris Convention were adopted by parts of Europe. Both lessened polluting the ocean with mercury, the former by banning the dumping of ships and aircraft into the ocean and the latter by obligating participants to reduce land based pollution on coast lines. The first real global legislation regarding mercury pollution was the Basel Convention of 1989. This convention attempts to reduce the movement of mercury across borders, primarily regulating the import and export of toxic chemicals, including mercury. In 1998 the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution was adopted by most of the EU, the USA and Canada. Its primary objective is to cut emissions of heavy metals. The convention is the largest international agreement on mercury yet to be established. In the beginning of the 21st century the focus of mercury regulation has been on voluntary programs. The next phase in legislation is a global effort, and this appears to be what the Minimata Convention hopes to accomplish. The Minimata Convention, named after the city in Japan that suffered horribly from mercury pollution, has taken four years of negotiation but was finally adopted by delegates from over 140 countries. The convention will come into power after 50 countries have signed it. The Minimata Convention will require all participants to eliminate, where possible, the release of mercury from small scale gold mining. It will also require a stark reduction in emission from coal burning.

Origins of mercury pollution

There are 3 types of mercury emission: anthropogenic, re-emission, and natural, including volcanoes and geothermal vents. Anthropogenic sources are responsible for 30% of all emissions, while natural sources are only responsible for 10% and re-emission accounts for the other 60%. While re-emission accounts for the largest proportion of emissions it is likely that the mercury emitted from these sources originally came from anthropogenic sources.

Anthropogenic sources include: coal burning, cement production, oil refining, artisan and small scale gold mining, wastes from consumer products, dental amalgam, the chlor-alkali industry, production of vinyl chloride, and the mining, smelting, and production of iron and other metals. The total amount of mercury released by mankind in 2010 was estimated to be 1960 metric tons. The largest chunk of this comes from coal burning and gold mining, taking responsibility for 24% and 37% of total anthropogenic output respectively.

Remission, being the largest emitter, occurs in a variety of ways. It is possible for mercury that has been deposited in soil to be re-emitted into the mercury cycle via floods. A second example of re-emission is a forest fire; mercury that has been absorbed into plant life is released into the atmosphere once more. While it is difficult to estimate the exact extent of mercury re-emission, it is an important field of study. Knowing how easily and often previously emitted mercury can be released helps us learn how long it will take to for a reduction in anthropogenic sources to be reflected in the environment. Mercury that has been released can find its way into the oceans. A recent model in 2008 estimated that the total amount of deposition into the oceans that year to be 3700 metric tons. It is estimated that rivers carry as much as 2420 metric tons. Much of the mercury deposited in the oceans in re-emitted, however; as much as 300 metric tons is converted into methyl mercury. While only 13% of this finds its way into the food chain, that is still 40 metric tons a year.