US joins EU in banning mercury exports

The United States is to ban exports of elemental mercury in a bill sponsored by presidential nominee Barack Obama.

All exports of the harmful chemical will be outlawed from the beginning of 2013, while new rules governing the storage of mercury in the US will be introduced from 2010.

The US is one of the world's biggest exporters of mercury, which used to be widely used in mining and industrial processes. Technical advances mean that safer alternative processes are now widely used in many economies, but factories and mines in many developing countries continue to demand the substance.

Environmentalists claim that the element often ends up contaminating waterways where it affects fish and enters the food chain. This can ultimately lead to illness, particularly among elderly and newborn children.

After the Bill was passed by Congress in late September, Barack Obama said: "It will protect millions of the world's vulnerable citizens, particularly pregnant women and children, from the deadly threat of mercury poisoning."

The EU took similar action last month with an export ban that will become effective from 2011.

Together the moves are expected to drive up the price of the metal, as the two regions are responsible for between 40 and 50 per cent of annual global trade. It is hoped that companies still using the substance will come under financial pressure to develop safer alternatives.

"Combined with a similar ban adopted just last month by the European Union, this new US law will significantly reduce the amount of mercury use and pollution in the developing world," predicted Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, project co-ordinator of the European Environmental Bureau’s Zero Mercury Campaign.

Environmental groups worldwide welcomed the move, predicting that it could pave the way for a global framework for curbing use of the substance.

"We are optimistic that the global community is well on its way towards establishing a treaty to control mercury trade and pollution, and effectively safeguard the fish we eat from this poison," said Richard Gutierrez, of Philippine NGO Ban Toxics.