Opening statement on behalf of IPEN – Minamata Convention on Mercury COP4, 21-25 March 2022

Presented by Yuyun Ismawati

Dear Honorable Presidents and Distinguished Delegates. I represent the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics-free future for all. On behalf of IPEN, we thank the Indonesian government for organizing this productive meeting and hope that it brings urgency to the global public health crisis caused by mercury contamination and leads us swiftly toward a future where present and future generations are no longer harmed by mercury.

Our research over the past several years has demonstrated the harm caused by mercury contamination in communities throughout the world. In 2017, IPEN researchers coordinated hair sampling with 1044 women of child-bearing age across 25 countries on 6 continents. Analysis found that 42% of women had average mercury levels over the US EPA health advisory level of 1 ppm, above which brain damage, IQ loss, and kidney and cardiovascular damage may occur. Our 2018 study found elevated levels of toxic mercury in women of child-bearing age in countries across the Pacific, Caribbean, and Indian Ocean in 21 small island states and countries. More than half of all women who were sampled measured above the US EPA level of concern, and three out of four women measured had mercury levels that have been associated with the onset of mercury-related impacts to fetal development.

Our recent study published in June 2021 found that a high percentage of women in three Latin American countries, who rely on fish for protein and who live in proximity to gold mining activity, have elevated mercury levels in their bodies. Indigenous Bolivian women living in two communities over 300 kilometers apart on the Beni River exhibited extremely high body burdens of mercury. Hair samples of women from the Eyiyo Quibo and Portachuelo communities were among the highest levels seen since IPEN began its mercury biomonitoring program in 2011. These women subsist almost exclusively on fish from the Beni River as their main protein source. They are not involved in mining and gain no benefit from the gold trade. This is an urgent health and human rights issue.

These studies present unambiguous and dire evidence that mercury pollution poses an immediate threat to a significant portion of the world’s population. They highlight serious weaknesses in the Convention that must be urgently amended to prevent further harm from major sources of mercury exposure. We urge bold action to curtail primary sources of mercury pollution—coal-fired power plants and mercury gold mining.

Weaknesses in the Minamata Convention on Mercury continue to facilitate the global trade in mercury and its diversion to ASGM despite national prohibitions on the practice. It is estimated that between 14-19 million people are engaged in artisanal and small-scale gold mining worldwide. Most of that mining takes place in remote areas and most miners are impoverished subsistence workers. As many other uses of mercury in products and processes are being phased out, most global trade in elemental mercury is being directed toward ASGM and continues to contaminate lands and waterways around the world. Amendments to the Convention which dramatically reduce global supply are necessary to restrict legal and illegal shipments of mercury destined for ASGM. The Convention must stop the 'allowable use' of mercury in ASGM. No amount of gold or coal is worth the poisoning of our waters and the damage it will cause to women and their children.

Thank you for your attention.

Alianza mundial por una odontología libre de mercurio - 24 March 2022

Gracias, señora presidenta

Hablo en nombre de la Alianza mundial por una odontología libre de mercurio

Siendo el mercurio tóxico para la salud humana, y que constituye una amenaza especialmente para el desarrollo del bebé en el útero y en los primeros años de vida, como así también es un metal pesado y una toxina persistente bioacumulativa de interés mundial. Y, haciendo memoria que, durante las negociaciones del Convenio de Minamata, la región de América Latina y el Caribe (GRULAC) jugó un papel fundamental, propuso un artículo específicamente sobre salud, el cual fue incluido: el artículo 16 “Aspectos relacionados con la salud”, y ahora incluir el tema de las mujeres.

Este enfoque en la protección de las mujeres se destaca en el mismo Preámbulo del Convenio de Minamata sobre el Mercurio, que exige un enfoque en “los problemas de salud, especialmente en los países en desarrollo, que resultan de la exposición al mercurio de las poblaciones vulnerables, especialmente mujeres, niños y, a través de ellos, generaciones futuras."

La mayor fuente de exposición al mercurio para la mayoría de las mujeres, los fetos y los niños pequeños es la contaminación de los mariscos por mercurio, principalmente de fuentes industriales, o la exposición al mercurio a través de las restauraciones de la superficie dental compuestas de amalgama dental contribuyen significativamente a los niveles prolongados de mercurio en el cuerpo. Además de la amalgama dental en la boca, muchas mujeres también están expuestas al mercurio de la amalgama dental que está contaminando nuestro entorno natural.

Una preocupación relacionada para las mujeres: empleo en clínicas dentales: Debido a que el mercurio es el vapor de los metales pesados, las horas de respiración de aire saturado con mercurio hacen que las clínicas dentales que todavía usan amalgama sean un ambiente inseguro. Por lo general, en todo el mundo, los asistentes dentales son predominantemente mujeres, una preocupación problemática para las mujeres embarazadas y, en términos más generales, en edad fértil.

La ciencia emergente respalda cada vez más el enfoque para terminar con el uso de amalgamas en niños y mujeres en edad fértil, así como terminar con todo uso para proteger a las mujeres en el lugar de trabajo dental.

También los futuros dentistas deben estar capacitados para colocar solo empastes sin mercurio, y no empastes a base de mercurio. De hecho, muchas escuelas de odontología en la región de América Latina y el caribe han dejado de hacerlo, y las otras regiones deberían seguir su ejemplo.

Para proteger a los niños y las niñas, y futuras generaciones, mantener altos estándares en la odontología, proteger a los futuros odontólogos, trabajadores y trabajadoras en las clínicas dentales, restaurar ríos, lagos y mares libres de mercurio, las escuelas de odontología deben eliminar en un corto tiempo, la enseñanza del uso de amalgamas dentales.

Desde la Alianza Mundial por una odontología libre de mercurio hacemos un llamado a través la decisión sobre el tema de las mujeres, a tomar y proteger la salud de toda la población y más específicamente la de las poblaciones más vulnerables como lo son las mujeres embarazadas, nodrizas y niños y niñas.

Muchas gracias

IPEN intervention on Releases - 22 March 2022

Thank you, Madame President.

I represent the International Pollutants Elimination Network, which is an organisation of over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics-free future for all.

We welcome the intersessional work that has taken place on developing guidance for the development of inventories of releases of mercury to land and water that are not addressed in other articles of the mercury treaty. Large volumes of mercury enter the soil and waterways of many countries through industrial effluents, waste stockpiles, ASGM tailings and open waste dumps and open burning of wastes among other sources. Open burning oif wastes in particular exposes tens of thousands of people in the developing world to mercury, POPs and endocrine disrupting chemicals and must be addressed.

The identification and inventory of these sources of releases is critical to prevent human exposure and environmental contamination by mercury. For this reason we would urge parties to seek rapid agreement on the adoption of the guidance on inventory development for releases at this COP given the time restriction to start this process under the text of the treaty.

It is also important that the intersessional work of the expert group be extended to include a mandate to develop Best Available Techniques and Best Environmental Practice to control these releases once they are identified. This should include limit values and retrofitting of filters where industries have been identified as significant sources of release. Developing BAT BEP around the issue of open burning will be one of the greatest challenges as this is an environmentally unsound practice for which no BAT BEP exists and will require a focus on better waste management practices. IPEN urges all parties to support the adoption of the releases inventory guidance eat this COP to allow work to begin on this important issue at the national level.

Thank you, Madame President.

IPEN intervention on ASGM Guidance - 22 March 2022

Thank you, Madam President,

I speak on behalf of the International Pollutants Elimination Network.

Article 7 requires parties with significant ASGM activities using mercury to develop and implement a national action plan on ASGM to reduce and, where feasible, eliminate mercury from use in ASGM. Deci­sion MC-1/13 of the COP agreed to the use of the guidance to prepare NAPs and subsequently a need to improve sections on a public health strategy and preventing exposure of vulnerable populations to mer­cury used in ASGM.

Health guidance should include capacity building for health workers and health surveillance to identify early symptoms of mercury intoxication, non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, cancer, and reproductive health issues, as well as communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, and the po­tential health outcomes such as birth defects. The primary health clinics also must have adequate lists of drugs to treat non-communicable diseases related to mercury exposures, such as blood pressure prescription medi­cation and drugs to treat children with epilepsy. When possible, health units in ASGM hotspots should have a mobile unit for providing service in remote areas.

Awareness raising on the health risks of mercury should start with the health workers and then be expanded to the communities. In ASGM hotspots, the primary health clinics also should train their nurses and doctors to include questions about where the patients live, occupations, and potential contacts with mercury as the standard questions. The cause of death from ASGM-related events should be identified, acknowledged, and recorded. WHO experts must provide guidance related to poten­tial mercury-related diseases identified in the Interna­tional Code of Diseases – Tenth Revision (ICD-10).

The WHO agreed to improve some of these elements and the updated guidance contains some of this mate­rial in sections 5.8 and 5.9. The need for guidance on ASGM tailings was also identified and updated information on this element has been provided by the Global Mercury Partnership’s ASGM partnership area. The new health guidance text proposed by WHO refers to external WHO guidance publications that contain some of this information, however, there is still room for further improvement as described earlier.

The new proposed guidance on ASGM tailings man­agement is acceptable but assumes that ASGM min­ers will have access to resources, such as impermeable pond liners, or concrete tailings constructions, that in reality, they will not choose to spend their limited resources on.

IPEN supports adoption of the ASGM tailings man­agement text in the ASGM guidance but suggest that it will be reviewed in 2 years to allow for evolving management techniques to be included.

I thank you, Madame President,

IPEN intervention on national reporting - 22 March 2022

Madame president, distinguished delegates, as this is the first opportunity that IPEN has had to take the floor we would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to our Indonesian hosts and the convention secretariat for the organisation of this meeting. The International Pollutants Elimination Network is an organisation of over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics-free future for all.

The experience of the short format reporting phase which ended in December 2019 demonstrated that while high reporting rates were achieved the quality of the data received was so poor that it was very problematic. This has largely been attributed to ambiguity in the reporting questions. The responses from parties did not permit the secretariat:

• To deduce the total amount of mercury mined per year during the reporting period.
• To provide an estimate of the total stocks of mercury held by parties and the sources of mercury supply located in their territories and may limit the ability of the secretariat over time to aggregate information on stocks and sources in a meaningful way
• To obtain an overview of the amount of mercury being traded between parties and non-parties, nor the purposes for which the mercury was traded or to ascertain whether the provisions of article 3 are being met. The destination, quantity and use of traded mercury is unclear.
• To distinguish between the amount of elemental mercury or cinnabar ore being produced in primary mines
• To determine with any accuracy whether all parties who claimed they had final mercury waste disposal facilities actual did so.

For this reason, further resources, capacity building and guidance should be forthcoming to ensure that the COP is permitted a full and frank disclosure of the state of mercury mining, trade and use.

IPEN intervention Dental Amalgam - 21 March 2022

Thank you, Madam President,

I represent the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics-free future for all.

The issue of the allowable use of dental amalgam with a long phase down period has been of concern to IPEN since the signing of the mercury treaty in 2013. We regard the current arrangements with Annex A Part II to be one of the weaker elements of the treaty that allows the ongoing use of dental amalgam creating unnecessary mercury exposure to some of the most vulnerable in our communities including women of child-bearing age, pregnant women and young children.

It has been made clear in peer reviewed publications, industry research and the work of fellow NGOs such as the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry that affordable, effective alternatives to mercury amalgam in dentistry is both readily available and have been implemented in many countries in the world.

We point to our hosts, Indonesia, who have made exemplary efforts to remove mercury amalgam from the dental sector and to implement mercury free dentistry throughout the country. This is an example for many other countries to follow and goes beyond the relatively weak phase down provisions under Annex A part II of the mercury treaty.

IPEN would encourage parties to act to strengthen the treaty by supporting the Africa region’s proposal to accelerate the phase down and achieve the phase out of dental amalgam use by 2029.

We would like to recommend parties to consider the mechanism to withdraw, store and management of unused amalgam and other medical devices containing mercury in a safe way to prevent the recirculation of mercury to the market. Special hazardous waste management system should be established to protect the environment and food chains from mercury waste pollution.

I thank you, Madame President.

Intervention on Proposed Amendments to Annexes A&B - 21 March 2022

Thank you, Madam President.

I represent the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) of over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics- free future for all.

IPEN welcomes the proposals by several parties to make amendments to Annexes A and B of the Minamata Convention. We are pleased to see proposals that are intended to strengthen the effectiveness of the convention by seeking phase out of further mercury added products due to the identification of mercury free alternatives. In particular, IPEN supports the addition of satellite propellant, certain lamps, batteries, switches, photographic film/paper, wheel-balancing weights, and polyurethane containing mercury to Annex A with a phase out date of 2025.

The proposal made by the EU to amend Annex B to prohibit mercury use in polyurethane production by 2023 is also welcome and should be supported.

Most importantly IPEN supports the roadmap proposed by the African Region to accelerate the phase down of dental amalgam, beginning with a communication from the COP in 2023 to end use of dental amalgam for children and women of childbearing age, cease the manufacture and import of amalgam by parties by 2027 and finally phase out all domestic use of amalgam by 2029. This is a reasonable and considered proposal balancing the interests and diversity among parties to bring the use of mercury in dental care to an end.

We would like to highlight our hosts, Indonesia, who have made exemplary efforts to remove mercury amalgam from the dental sector since 2015 and already implemented mercury-free dentistry throughout the country. The initiative in Indonesia also included changes in Dentistry Curriculum. The protection of dental workers and the most vulnerable populations will be advanced by phasing out dental amalgam as earliest as possible.

Finally, IPEN remains concerned that the process of fire gilding has not been proposed as an addition to Annex B by any parties. The use of mercury to create gold plating of metal objects leads to high levels of mercury exposure to workers and the surround environment. IPEN participating organisation CEPHED has generated detailed studies and sampling related to this mercury-based manufacturing process in Nepal and IPEN submitted this information to the Annex review group. There is some evidence to suggest fire gilding process is also used in Iran and Sri Lanka. IPEN would encourage parties to nominate this process for addition to Annex B with a rapid phase out date as mercury free alternative processes for gold plating are widely available.

Thank you, Madame President.

IPEN intervention on reporting (Article 21) - From COP 4.1 virtual session

Madame President, distinguished delegates, as this is the first opportunity that IPEN has had to take the floor we would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to our Indonesian hosts and the convention secretariat for the organisation of this meeting. The International Pollutants Elimination Network is an organisation of over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics-free future for all.

The experience of the short format reporting phase which ended in December 2019 demonstrated that while high reporting rates were achieved the quality of the data received was so poor that it was very problematic. This has largely been attributed to ambiguity in the reporting questions. The responses from parties did not permit the secretariat to:

• deduce the total amount of mercury mined per year during the reporting period.
• provide an estimate of the total stocks of mercury held by parties and the sources of mercury supply located in their territories and may limit the ability of the secretariat over time to aggregate information on stocks and sources in a meaningful way
• obtain an overview of the amount of mercury being traded between parties and non-parties, nor the purposes for which the mercury was traded or to ascertain whether the provisions of article 3 are being met. The destination, quantity and use of traded mercury is unclear.
• distinguish between the amount of elemental mercury or cinnabar ore being produced in primary mines
• determine with any accuracy whether all parties who claimed they had final mercury waste disposal facilities actual did so.

For this reason, further resources, capacity building and guidance should be forthcoming to ensure that the COP is permitted a full and frank disclosure of the state of mercury mining, trade and use.

Statement of the Co-Chairs of IPEN - From COP 4.1 virtual session

Dr. Tadesse Amera and Pamela Miller

Dear Honorable Presidents and Distinguished Delegates. We serve as Co-Chairs of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) of over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries around the world working together for a toxics-free future for all. We recognize that this meeting addresses essential items required for the continuation of the Convention, including budgeting and finances, effectiveness evaluation, and national reporting. On behalf of IPEN, we wish to convey our sincerest wishes for the health and well-being of everyone in attendance and for a productive meeting that brings urgency to the global public health crisis caused by mercury contamination and leads us swiftly toward a future where present and future generations are no longer harmed by mercury.

Our research over the past several years has demonstrated the harm caused by mercury contamination in communities throughout the world. In 2017, IPEN researchers coordinated hair sampling with 1044 women of child-bearing age across 25 countries on 6 continents. Analysis found that 42% of women had average mercury levels over the US EPA health advisory level of 1ppm, above which brain damage, IQ loss, and kidney and cardiovascular damage may occur. Our 2018 study found elevated levels of toxic mercury in women of child-bearing age in countries across the Pacific, Caribbean, and Indian Ocean in 21 small island states and countries. More than half of all women who were sampled measured above the US EPA level of concern, and three out of four women measured had mercury levels that have been associated with the onset of mercury-related impacts to fetal development.

Our recent study published in June 2021 found that a high percentage of women in three Latin American countries who rely on fish for protein and who live in proximity to gold mining activity have elevated mercury levels in their bodies. Indigenous Bolivian women living in two communities over 300 kilometers apart on the Beni River exhibited extremely high body burdens of mercury. Hair samples of women from the Eyiyo Quibo and Portachuelo communities were among the highest levels seen since IPEN began its mercury biomonitoring program in 2011. These women subsist almost exclusively on fish from the Beni River as their main protein source. They are not involved in mining and gain no benefit from the gold trade. This is an urgent health and human rights issue.

These studies present unambiguous and dire evidence that mercury pollution poses an immediate threat to a significant portion of the world’s population. They highlight serious weaknesses in the Convention that must be urgently amended to prevent further harm from major sources of mercury exposure. We urge bold action to curtail primary sources of mercury pollution—coal-fired power plants and mercury gold mining.

Weaknesses in the Minamata Convention on Mercury continue to facilitate the global trade in mercury and its diversion to ASGM despite national prohibitions on the practice. It is estimated that between 14-19 million people are engaged in artisanal and small-scale gold mining worldwide. Most of that mining takes place in remote areas and most miners are impoverished subsistence workers. As many other uses of mercury in products and processes are being phased out, most global trade in elemental mercury is being directed toward ASGM and continues to contaminate lands and waterways around the world. Amendments to the Convention which dramatically reduce global supply are necessary to restrict legal and illegal shipments of mercury destined for ASGM. The Convention must stop the 'allowable use' of mercury in ASGM. No amount of gold or coal is worth the poisoning of our waters and the damage it will cause to women and their children.