In response to the increasing intensity of research dedicated to mercury on a global scale, the need was recognized to provide a forum for presentation of results, discussions, and the exchange of innovative ideas and to communicate with policy makers, legislators, experts from industry and public representatives in order to promote the direct use of scientific and technical data in the field of environmental protection and control.
The international conference series on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) was therefore initiated in 1990. Growing interest in mercury issues is evidenced in the increasing number of participants worldwide: 200 in Gavle, Sweden in 1990; 300 in Monterey, California, USA in 1992; 400 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada in 1994; over 400 in Hamburg, Germany in 1996; over 450 in Rio de Janeiro in 1999 and over 600 in Minamata in 2001. The global nature of mercury issues is also shown by increasing international participation, from a few nations at Gavle, mostly from the Northern hemisphere, to more than 64 in Minamata in 2001, where almost half of the participants were from developing countries. One of the reasons is related to a revival of gold exploration in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, for which mercury is used to extract gold; this caused an increase in mercury research because of the need to set environmental quality criteria in these areas.
The programme of the 7th ICMGP which will be organized in Ljubljana, Slovenia, will cover all aspects of mercury studies. Due to a number of important events, such as the adoption of new legislation at European level, as well as the recent decision by governments at the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that national, regional and global actions, both immediate and long-term, to reduce or eliminate releases of mercury that impact human health and the environment should be initiated as soon as possible, the focus of the conference will also include issues such as risk assessment, socioeconomic aspects, prevention and control measures and management policies and legislation.
PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME - CONFERENCE THEMES
- Atmospheric cycling
- Biogeochemistry in the terrestrial and aquatic environment
- Analytical chemistry
- Human health
- Effects on ecosystems
- Risk assessment
- Remediation
- Clean technologies
- Socio-economic aspects
- Contaminated/polluted sites
- Prevention and control measures
- Management policies and legislation
