Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 06/18/2010 10:16 AM
The government has announced it plans to meet an international standard currently being developed that would outlaw the use and production of mercury, which is a highly toxic metal.
Head of the government’s team tasked with meeting the regulation, Rasio Ridho Sani, said Indonesians and the local environment were vulnerable to mercury poisoning.
“We plan to join the planned legally binding treaty on mercury issues,” Rasio told reporters Wednesday.
Indonesia imported 9 tons of mercury in 2009, primarily for use in dental clinics and small mining operations.
The first round talks for the anti-mercury convention was held in Stockholm last week, grouping
delegates from 121 countries and 61 NGOs.
During the meeting, Japan declared it would being implementing the regulation in 2013. Japan proposed the agreement be named the Minamata treaty, after the Japanese town in which more than 900 people died after consuming fish contaminated with methylmercury dumped into the bay in the 1950s. Acute mercury poisoning is referred to as Minamata disease.
“The talks on the mercury convention got huge responses as all countries look to prevent another incident like Minamata,” Rasio said.
He said Indonesia would look to implement the treaty within a select few industrial sectors at first, and would seek financial and technological support from rich nations to meet the demands of the agreement.
“We hope that implementation [of the treaty] will affect selected sectors, such as dental clinics, but the rich nations should still take the lead in combating mercury emissions,” he said.
Many Indonesian dentists still use mercury-based amalgam to fill cavities.
Data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) showed that 1,200-2,900 tons of mercury was emitted into the atmosphere world wide every year due to human actions.
It said huge amounts of mercury were released into rivers, lakes, seas and on land.
The UNEP said most people and animals absorbed small amounts of mercury into their bodies through breathing in mercury emitted by industrial processes and coal-fired power stations, and ingesting mercury in food.
“There is increasing concern about the consequences of low-level exposure,” it said.
Experts claim fossil-fuel burning is the main contributor of mercury pollution.
Rasio said negotiations during the convention discussed how to reduce supply and demand as well as technical and financial assistance to combat mercury emissions.
Indonesia is currently a party to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions on hazardous chemical substances.
