Global mercury pollution experts to meet here July 14-18

More than three dozen experts from 11 nations will be meeting at the UW–Madison Fluno Center for Executive Education this week to discuss the status of mercury as a global pollutant.

Seven experts have agreed to be available for media interviews from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 14, in Room 203 of the Fluno Center, 601 University Ave. Their areas of expertise are detailed later in this release.

This international group of mercury experts is convening in Madison for a workshop to assess and compile the best currently available knowledge on the ecological, health, social, economic, and cultural impacts of mercury pollution worldwide. The purpose of the workshop is to summarize both the scientific evidence and uncertainties surrounding mercury pollution with the goal of developing recommendations for policy and future research.

Although mercury is a naturally occurring element, coal-based energy production, small-scale gold mining and the manufacture of certain products-including dental fillings, vaccines, medical equipment, cosmetics, batteries and weapons production-have significantly increased the amount of mercury in the global environment, particularly in the atmosphere, lakes and streams. The primary way people in the United States are exposed to mercury is through the consumption of contaminated fish. An ongoing Wisconsin Division of Public Health study has found that a significant percentage of Wisconsin residents have levels of mercury in their systems in excess of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

The July 2005 workshop is in preparation for the 8th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant to be held August 6-11, 2006, at Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center. This will be the first conference in the series to integrate mercury science and policy issues, and it is expected to draw more than 800 scientists, academics and policy makers as well as representatives of industries and nongovernmental organizations involved in mercury issues. At the conclusion of the 2006 conference, a conference declaration on mercury pollution will be released-a statement of consensus likely to become an important source of information for policy makers throughout the world as they address the widespread problem of mercury in the environment.

Sponsors of the conference so far include the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Electric Power Research Institute. For more information on the 8th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, please visit www.mercury2006.org.

Experts participating in Thursday’s media interview session include:

Drew Bodaly, research scientist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Expertise: mercury bioaccumulation in freshwater fish and food chains.

Brian Branfireun, professor, Department of Geography, University of Toronto-Mississauga.Expertise: watershed mercury cycling.

Daniel Engstrom, director, St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Science Museum of Minnesota. Expertise: historical changes/recent trends in atmospheric mercury deposition; magnitude of human impacts on mercury pollution.

Lars Hylander, researcher, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden. Expertise: environmental and economic aspects of mercury use.

Marc Lucotte, Institut des Sciences de l’Environnement, Universitie du Quebec, Montreal, Canada. Expertise: biogeochemistry of mercury in ecosystems and socio-economics of mercury pollution.

Kathryn R. Mahaffey, director, Division of Exposure Assessment, Coordination and Policy-Office of Science Coordination and Policy; Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Expertise: human health effects of mercury exposure.

Marcello Veiga, chief technical advisor, UN Global Mercury Project. Expertise: environmental and social issues related to mercury pollution from small-scale gold mining.