Nations agree on legally binding mercury rules

More than 140 countries have agreed on a set of legally binding measures to curb mercury pollution, at UN talks.

Delegates in Geneva approved measures to control the use of the highly toxic metal in order to reduce the amount of mercury released into the environment.

Mercury can produce a range of adverse human health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system.

The UN recently published data that showed mercury emissions were rising in a number of developing nations.

The convention will regulate a range of areas, including:

the supply of and trade in mercury;

the use of mercury in products and industrial processes;

the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining;

the measures to be taken to reduce emissions from power plants and metals production facilities.

Ahead of the five-day meeting, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) published a report warning that developing nations were facing growing health and environmental risks from increased exposure to mercury.

It said a growth in small-scale mining and coal burning were the main reasons for the rise in emissions.

As a result of rapid industrialisation, South-East Asia was the largest regional emitter and accounted for almost half of the element's annual global emissions.