Informal waste pickers play a fundamental parts in the waste management of many countries across the globe, including SIDS.

However, with hazardous materials such as mercury, led, plastics or e-waste ending up in landfills, dumps may pose a serious health threat to those working on it or living nearby.

The video and article below tell the story of the Dandora rubbish dump in Nairobi, an informal workplace to about 10,000 women, children and a few men who scavenge through the piles of rubbish daily - putting their health at risk.

What stories from your countries? How could recycling be improved?

Marine environment at risk as chemicals pollution grows

“Thousands of new chemicals are coming onto the market every year, in addition to the 350,000 or so identified chemicals and mixtures of chemicals already in existence, most of which we know very little about in terms of their toxicity and harmfulness to the environment or human health.

Many of these chemicals - used in products from household cleaning products to sunscreen - are leaching into the environment and into the sea, and damaging marine life and ecosystems" says Charles Goddard, editorial director at Economist Impact.

An interesting article discussing all things mercury... #MakeMercuryHistory https://genevasolutions.news/global-health/weaning-the-world-off-mercur…

For the last day of #MinamataCOP4 and to end off this series, we’re going to focus on an important topic: waste management.

Mercury is a hazardous waste. When products containing mercury are thrown away, the mercury doesn’t disappear, it finds its way into the environment – like the air we breathe or the water we drink. That’s a problem, both for the environment and human health. Mercury waste must be managed in an environmentally sound manner in line with the #BaselConvention and the #MinamataConvention.

Much of the conversation this week was around setting thresholds. Is there a ‘red light’ concentration level at which mercury is unquestionably a hazard to the environment and health? How do you set that threshold and for what types of waste - mining tailings? Broken mercury-containing products? How do you manage that threshold, particularly when mercury is used in informal settings, like #ASGM, or relies on consumer awareness of waste management, like throwing away #CFLs? How effective would this threshold even be if countries don’t have the capacity to manage waste like this at a national level? It’s a complex issue and the debate around this continues.

In the final hours of COP4, things started to heat up. Certain countries blocked a key deliverable on the effectiveness evaluation, particularly amendments to mercury-added products and waste thresholds. This is largely a matter of science. Science is supposed to be neutral, unbiased evidence that unites countries to mobilise on global challenges. But geopolitics often gets in the way, much like it has in the climate negotiations too, and it can bring progress to a halt.

This is the reality of our times – we are disunified. Whether it’s war in Ukraine, debate over climate science, or tension in the mercury negotiations, disunity is the problem we need to overcome. None of the problems of the world can be solved until we recognise our common humanity, our fundamental oneness, and unfortunately, we still have a long way to go. Plenary closed at 5:20am, Saturday.

For more on today’s coverage: https://enb.iisd.org/Minamata-Convention-Mercury-COP4-2/25Mar22

#MakeMercuryHistory #unityindiversity #unity #onassignment #stories #livingfiercely

All people are exposed to mercury, but those most at risk are women, particularly women of child-bearing age. The #MinamataConvention specifically mentions the need to establish strategies to prevent exposure to women, and that was one of the topics of discussion at #MinamataCOP4 today.

Women can be exposed to mercury in different ways – ASGM, seafood consumption, dental amalgam, skin whiteners, and emissions from coal-fired plants and industries (check my previous posts for info). Women are mainly at risk because they carry the future generations – mercury in maternal blood is directly transferred to the developing foetus through the placenta and can cause a range of health and development issue. Levels of mercury in blood, hair and breast milk are gradually decreasing, but are still too high for human health.

A lot can be done to overcome this. We need to address the socio-development issues that lead to women working in ASGM, introducing new technologies to make practices safer, and provide alternative income-generating opportunities. We need to stop skin whitening practices - and the social constructs that lead people to want whiter skin. We need to reduce the amount of dental amalgam, prohibit mercury use in products and processes, improve health services for women, particularly during pregnancy, and develop better national policies to protect women.

Mostly, we need to promote gender equality in everything we do.

Gender equality is embedded in the Convention and efforts are being made to build capacity and provide technical assistance to women through a variety of projects. This includes gathering scientific, technical and policy information about the impact of mercury on women and children, promote knowledge and awareness, helping countries to integrate gender planning into their work at a country level, and develop a roadmap to mainstream gender.

A lot has been done, but there is still so much more to do to ensure that women are treated equally in society.

For information about today, check out: https://enb.iisd.org/Minamata-Convention-Mercury-COP4-2/24Mar22

#MakeMercuryHistory #mercury #genderequality #onassignment #stories #livingfiercely