"In October 2013 a new international convention to control mercury emissions will be open for signing in Japan. Named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the agreement is a response to the realization that mercury pollution is a global problem that no one country can solve alone. The convention was four years in the making, with more than 130 nations agreeing by consensus to a final text in January 2013. It includes both compulsory and voluntary measures to control mercury emissions from various sources, to phase the element out of certain products and industrial processes, to restrict its trade, and to eliminate mining of it."

Rebecca Kessler reports for Environmental Health Perspectives October 1, 2013. [2]