BBC News
March 13, 2006
Tough measures to reduce the use of mercury in Europe are to be debated in the European parliament.
A resolution from Cypriot MEP Marios Matsakis calls for a ban on EU mercury exports by 2010 and steps to extract and collect mercury from all waste.
Mercury collects and concentrates in the aquatic food chain
The resolution describes mercury as a "global threat", particularly harmful to babies as they develop in the womb.
Experts say many fishing communities in the Mediterranean and Arctic have already absorbed unsafe levels.
Mr Matsakis wants the EU to take more radical steps than those envisaged in a strategy on mercury issued by the European Commission last year.
Largest exporter
His resolution provides the parliament with an opportunity to debate the strategy, although the vote, later this week, will not be binding.
The parliament will, at a later date, hold a binding vote on a specific proposal issued by the Commission last month to ban the use of mercury in new thermometers, barometers and blood pressure gauges.
The current parliamentary resolution calls for:
*A ban on exports from the EU "as soon as possible and by 2010 at the latest" and a system to track imports and exports by 2008
*Compulsory separate collection and treatment schemes for all mercury-containing products
*Legislation to cut down emissions of mercury from crematoria and coal-fired power stations
*Local air quality limits and national emissions limits
*An investigation into the health impact of ethyl mercury in vaccines "with a view to restriction of such use and a total ban"
*Measures to ensure safe storage of mercury no longer needed by the chemicals industry, with minimum standards and penalties for infringement
*Encouragement to the other main mining countries, Algeria and Kyrgyzstan, to phase out exports
*Promotion of gold mining techniques that do not use mercury.
Europe is currently the largest exporter of metallic mercury, selling about 1,000 tonnes per year, compared with an overall global supply of 3,600 tonnes per year.
Seafood
About 12,000 tonnes of mercury is estimated to be disposed of by the chemicals industry in the next 15 years, as production techniques in which it has traditionally been used become obsolete.
The main source of mercury release into the environment is coal-burning, while the largest source of mercury exposure for most people in developed countries is inhalation of mercury vapour from dental fillings.
Barometers have been made in Britain for over 400 years and banning them outright would be disproportionate
Conservative MEP Martin Callanan
Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK have already taken steps to control emissions from crematoria as dental amalgam is vapourised. For example, the UK is demanding the fitting of filters to halve emissions by 2012.
However, people are most likely to absorb the most lethal form of mercury, methylmercury, from eating fish and seafood.
In 2003, the UK Food Standards Agency advised pregnant mothers to limit consumption of tuna to two cans a week and research is now under way to test claims that children who eat too much tuna develop learning difficulties.
British Conservative MEP Martin Callanan says the EU's ongoing mercury crackdown will needlessly hit the barometer-making industry.
"Barometers have been made in Britain for over 400 years and banning them outright would be disproportionate to the level of risk from their mercury", he said.
Grazie per la segnalazione. Lo abbiamo pubblicato qui sul sito. Se hai altre segnalazioni non esitare a segnalarcele!
Toni
Grazie, Toni, per info.
C'e un interessante sito su fallimenti di industria farmaceutica http://www.healthsentinel.com
recente novita' su Strattera:
http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?id=1339&title=Eli+Lilly%27s+Strattera+-+130+reports+of+suicidality+in+one+month&event=news_print_list_item
Eli Lilly's Strattera - 130 reports of suicidality in one month
Janne Larsson, "Eli Lilly's Strattera - 130 reports of suicidality in one month", 24-7 Press Release, February 16, 2006,
Link: http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=11216
Strattera is a failed antidepressant, which Eli Lilly didn't succeed to get approved. It was recycled and used as an "ADHD medication", and marketed as the first "non stimulant medication for ADHD". As many parents, despite all published lies about the "benefits" of stimulants like Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall, don't want to give dangerous narcotic drugs to their kids, Lilly saw the chance to get a good market share for Strattera.
But miracle drugs can fast turn into disasters - as proven through the whole psychiatric history.
In April 2005 the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) issued warnings that Strattera could give " hostility and emotional lability" in children and in September 2005 a Black Box Warning for suicide risk was issued for Strattera.
When the truth about the actual risks was revealed, spontaneous reports also started to come in: In one month (23 September 2005 - 25 October 2005) 130 cases of suicidal and self-injurious behaviour were reported! This should be compared to the 301 cases reported in the period November 2002 - September 2005 - in 3 years. This means that 30 percent of all reports of suicidality were received in one month!
This information is revealed in a not released discussion paper from 9 December 2005, written by the British MHRA and sent to the Swedish MPA. The information is gotten as a result of FOIA-requests, and released by court order.
The main part of the information is classified - as suicide risk and other serious harmful effects of psychiatric drugs still are seen as "trade secrets" by the medical authorities. But the 130 new cases are now publicly known and can never be hidden again!
In addition to the suicides and suicide attempts reported, the paper from the MHRA also tells about 766 spontaneous reports of cardiac disorders and 172 reports of liver injury.
All information about the harmful effects of this psychiatric drug should now be made public by the medical authorities and an impartial evaluation of the data should be done. Psychiatrist should no longer be allowed to prescribe poisonous drugs to normal children; children who do not have any objective abnormality but whose behaviour are deemed inappropriate.
Janne Larsson
writer from Sweden - investigating psychiatry