New mercury rules would ban button batteries
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Environment Minister Peter Kent said the move would eliminate 4.5 tonnes of mercury in products entering the marketplace each year.
“Mercury is a neurotoxin. Ingesting methylmercury can affect the neurodevelopment and learning ability of small children. Keeping products that contain mercury out of the marketplace helps to protect the health of Canadians,” said Aglukkaq.
The products include thermometers, button batteries and measuring instruments such as barometers.
The government, however, will still allow some mercury-containing products to continue to be manufactured and imported, including scientific instruments, dental fillings and compact fluorescent lamps.
Dental fillings, the government background paper explained, are a mixture of metals that do not appear to pose a risk to health and they are inexpensive compared to the alternatives.
The ministers say there will be limits on the amount of mercury allowed in different types of fluorescent lamps.
There will also be improved label information for consumers about the level of mercury in the products and how to safely dispose of them.
Related News
Iran turning thermal power plants to combined cycle to save energy
TEHRAN - Iran has turned six percent of its thermal power plans into combined cycle plants in order to reduce greenhouse gases and save energy, IRNA reported, quoting an energy official.
According to the MAPNA Group’s Managing Director Abbas Aliabadi, so far 27 thermal power plants have been converted to combined-cycle ones.
“The conversion of a thermal power plant to a combined cycle one takes about one to two years, however, it is possible for us to convert all the country’s thermal power plants into combined cycle plants over a five-year period.
Currently, a total of 478 thermal power plants are operating throughout…
