Publications

Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH), European Union, IPEN, June 2015

Leaded paints for home use continue to be widely produced, sold and used in developing countries despite the fact that most highly industrial countries banned leaded house paints more than 40 years ago.

In 2007 and 2008, NGOs in the IPEN network collected and analyzed decorative (home use) paints on the market in 11 developing countries, and in countries with economies in transition. The results were startling. In every one of these countries, many of the paints had dangerously high lead content. In response, IPEN launched a worldwide lead paint elimination campaign. Since then, IPEN-affiliated NGOs and others have sampled and analyzed paints on the market in approxima

Presentation by Dr. Ruediger KUEHR, United Nations University

At the Conference of Parties - 2015 Geneva, 11 May 2015

Dawei Development Association (DDA), September 2014

This report examines the Dawei Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) project in Southern Myanmar, which, if realized, would be one of the largest petrochemical industrial estates in South East Asia. It presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative study, aimed at understanding the process by which the DSEZ project has unfolded, and the extent to which the rights of the local people are being protected and respected by the relevant States and corporations in the implementation of the project.

By Nicha Rakpanichmanee, Dawan Chantarahasdee and Kanis Pongnavin - Researchers at Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), February 2013

Thailand in a time of rapid industrialization has witnessed increased risk from chemical accidents and industrial pollution. The objective of this study is to review the existing approach of risk communication and chemical accident management in Thailand. We analyze risk communication in practice according to the principle that risk communication is not a product of scientific calculation, but a process of negotiation and deliberative agreement in society.

IPEN Mercury-Free Campaign Report

Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH), Arnika Association and the IPEN Heavy Metals Working Group, January 2013

This report focuses on a coal-fired power plant and pulp and paper mill in Tha Tum, Thailand, which are part of the Prachinburi Province’s largest industrial complex located 120 km to the East-North-East from Bangkok, and 5.5 km south from the Prachinburi River. 

Authors: Takashi Yorifuji, Toshihide Tsuda and Masazumi Harada, 2013

From European Environmental Agency Report No 1/2013 Volume II, Chapter 5, Lessons from health hazards Minamata disease: a challenge for democracy and justice.  

In this chapter, the history of Minamata disease is presented chronologically, broadly separating the discussion into three parts: the period before 1968; specific issues associated with congenital Minamata disease; and the period after 1968. The chapter concludes with the lessons that can be drawn from the history of Minamata disease. 

By Jan  Nezhyba, Program Toxic Substances and Waste, Arnika, 2013

This presentation describes the whole complete sampling process and how to handle the sampling plan.

Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), December 2012

This report, produced by Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), examines seafood mercury concentrations from existing reputable sources and presents collated data on different types of seafood with the goal of explaining the significance of these findings as they relate to ecological and human health. The report provides insight into the species of marine organisms with greatest concentrations of mercury. These data are then related to global seafood capture data to provide insight into the potential risks associated with consumption of marine species with high mercury concentrations.

Zero Mercury Working Group, prepared by Edward Groth, December 2012

It has been well known since about 1960 that methylmercury damages the developing brain. As research has progressed and methods have improved over the years, new evidence has consistently shown that harmful effects occur at lower levels of exposure than was previously recognized. National and international government agencies have defined “tolerable exposure” limits, which are levels of intake of methylmercury believed, based on evidence available when they were set, to describe “safe” exposure, i.e., a level of intake sufficiently far below any exposure known to be harmful that it is reasonably certain to pose only a negligible risk, even to sensitive individuals and populations.

Zero Mercury Working group, December 2012

Mercury is a well-known and dangerous toxic pollutant that contaminates fish around the world.  There has been a 3-fold increase in mercury since preindustrial times and a recent study indicates that mercury accumulation in the oceans correlates with the rising tide of mercury pollution. Mercury has no respect for national or regional boundaries.  It can travel long distances through the atmosphere and deposit far from its original source, where bacteria absorb it and convert it to a very toxic form, methylmercury, which works its way up the food chain into humans.