Publications

Downlaod infographic at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/multimedia/infographics/how_mercury_can_enter_our_bodies_standalone_infographic_en.pdf

For more information on mercury, read the Science for Environment Policy In-Depth Report, Tackling mercury pollution in the EU and worldwide at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/tackling_mercury_pollution_EU_and_worldwide_IR15_en.pdf

Science for Environment Policy, In-depth report 15, written and edited by the Science Communication Unit, University of the West of England (UWE), November 2017

This In-Depth Report from Science for Environment Policy summarises the latest scientific studies and research results on mercury pollution in the global environment. Of the many aspects of mercury pollution, five main topics are addressed: Mercury sources and impacts; Mercury cycling: movement and deposition; Monitoring and modelling approaches; Reduction, treatment and storage; and The Minamata Convention on Mercury and the EU mercury policy.

Authors: Vaclav Mach, Marek Sir, Akarapon Teebthaisong

Supporting data: Martin Bystriansky, Jindrich Petrlik, Autthaporn Ritthichat, Penchom Saetang, Jitka Strakova

By  Arnika – Toxics and Waste Programme and Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH) | 2017

This study is focused on the presentation and discussion of the data related to contamination of soils and sediments by heavy metals. Environmental samples were obtained during a sampling campaign conducted in Thailand in February 2016.

By Jana Tremlova | September 2017

Arnika Association, Czech Republic and Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH)

This study is to interpret a data set obtained from an environmental sampling in different parts of Thailand that was carried out in February/March 2016 and February 2017. Samples originated from various sites which some of them served as control areas without any known sources of pollution and some samples originated from highly industrialized areas. Collected samples of fish and sediments were analyzed for content of mercury and methylmercury, secondary also for the content of some selected risk elements and data were further discussed and compared to national and international legal standards.

September 2017 | Lee Bell (Lead author)

Contributing authors: David Evers, Sarah Johnson, Kevin Regan, Joe DiGangi, Jennifer Federico, Jan Samanek

Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), Maine, USA; IPEN, Göteborg, Sweden; Arnika Association, Prague, Czech Republic

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, especially to the developing brain, and can affect the developing fetus months after the mother’s exposure. The harmful effects that can be passed from the mother to the fetus when the mother’s mercury levels exceed 1 ppm include neurological impairment, IQ loss, and damage to the kidneys

Arnika, National Toxics Network and IPEN, Toxic Ash Poisons Our Food Chain, April 2017

This extensive new report was prepared to address a major source of POPs contamination of the environment that is often overlooked, underestimated or incorrectly classified in risk assessments, exposure scenarios and regulatory controls on waste. Ash and other residues from waste incineration contain dioxins, furans (PCDD/Fs) and a range of other highly toxic POPs at levels which are a threat to human health and the environment. Current management practices and regulatory threshold levels for POPs that contaminate incinerator residues are not preventing releases of POPs into agricultural settings, the food chain and the broader environment.

IPEN & Arnika, April 2017

Recycling plastics containing toxic flame retardant chemicals found in electronic waste results in contamination of new plastic children’s toys and related products. The substances include octabromodiphenyl ether (OctaBDE), deca-bromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE), and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). This study found all three toxic chemicals in recycled plastic children’s products. In a survey of products from 26 countries, 90% of the samples contained OctaBDE or DecaBDE. Nearly half of them (43%) contained HBCD. Recycling materials that contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic substances contaminates new products, continues human and environmental exposure, and undermines the credibility of recycling.

IPEN, October 2016

Lead is a toxic metal that causes adverse effects on both human health and the environment. While lead exposure is harmful to adults, lead exposure harms children at much lower levels, and the health effects are generally irreversible and can have a lifelong impact. The younger the child, the more harmful lead can be, and children with nutritional deficiencies absorb ingested lead at an increased rate. The human fetus is the most vulnerable, and a pregnant woman can transfer lead that has accumulated in her body to her developing child. Lead is also transferred through breast milk when lead is present in a nursing mother.

Author: Zaw Aung, October 2016

Transnational investments shifted increasingly from industrialized to industrializing countries when economic globalization accelerated in the late twentieth century. Industrialization has been the only viable choice for developing countries to catch up to the industrialized countries and serves as a dividing line between the terms "developed" and "developing" when demonstrating a nation’s economic status. As the world’s developing countries mostly exist in Asia and Africa, Japan demonstrated its extraordinary ability to gain the status of the first developed nation in Asia after World War II.

Arnika and Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), October 2016

Thailand and a National Path: Towards Sustainable Waste Management

The Thai government has announced that it will resolve municipal waste problems as part of its top national agenda by targeting the disposal of over 30 million tonnes of unmanaged waste, and setting up proper ways to dispose both hazardous and municipal solid wastes in 2021.