adminFungayi Munyoro and Wimbainashe Zhakata
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has embarked on a campaign to educate the public on the effects of mercury on the environment and human health. Speaking during a media briefing recently, EMA Manicaland provincial manager Mr Kingston Chitotombe said there was need to come up with legislation to control the use of mercury in the country and avoid turning the country into a dumping ground for the chemical.
The negative impacts of mercury gave rise to the promulgation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury of October 2013. The convention was designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
“Zimbabwe is one of the 147 countries which signed the convention and is working towards ratification. The document obliges member states to ensure there is informed consent from the receiving state in relation to the trade in mercury or mercury based products.
“Trade in mercury or mercury-based products will be restricted to allowed purposes under the instrument and also domestic law, and only in quantities needed for those purposes. The instrument will also put restrictive measures on the use of mercury especially in the mining sector,” he said.
Mr Chitotombe said there was need for the development of sustainable technologies to extract gold in preparation for the restrictions that would be imposed on trade in mercury.
“Once ratified, the main benefit of the document is that it will be a referral point or provide direction on how national legislation can be developed to tackle the ongoing problem of controlling the use and influx of mercury into the country and prevent the possibility of Zimbabwe being a dumping ground for such hazardous substances,” he said.
Mercury and mercury compounds have long been known to be toxic to humans, other organisms and the environment. Their adverse impacts were first discovered in Japan in 1956, where it was found to cause Minamata disease, a condition known to affect the central nervous system through consumption of fish that was contaminated with mercury. It can affect unborn babies, children and adults.
Mercury has the capacity to build up in the organisms and up along the food chain. Significant effects on reproduction are also attributed to mercury. It has also a number of effects on humans that include disruption of the nervous system, damage to brain functions, allergic reactions, resulting in skin rashes, tiredness and headaches, negative reproductive effects, such as sperm damage, birth defects and miscarriages amongst others.
Online Reporter