Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, Massachusetts, USA.
Environ Res. 2012 Nov;119:132-42. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2012.06.002. Epub 2012 Aug 15.
Mercury is a global pollutant and presents policy challenges at local, regional, and global scales. Mercury poses risks to the health of people, fish, and wildlife exposed to elevated levels of mercury, most commonly from the consumption of methylmercury in marine and estuarine fish. The patchwork of current mercury abatement efforts limits the effectiveness of national and multi-national policies. This paper provides an overview of the major policy challenges and opportunities related to mercury in coastal and marine environments, and highlights science and policy linkages of the past several decades. The U.S. policy examples explored here point to the need for a full life cycle approach to mercury policy with a focus on source reduction and increased attention to: (1) the transboundary movement of mercury in air, water, and biota; (2) the coordination of policy efforts across multiple environmental media; (3) the cross-cutting issues related to pollutant interactions, mitigation of legacy sources, and adaptation to elevated mercury via improved communication efforts; and (4) the integration of recent research on human and ecological health effects into benefits analyses for regulatory purposes. Stronger science and policy integration will benefit national and international efforts to prevent, control, and minimize exposure to methylmercury.
汞是一种全球性污染物，在地方、区域和全球各级都带来政策挑战。汞对接触到高水平汞的人类、鱼类和野生动物的健康构成风险，这些汞主要来自海洋和河口鱼类中甲基汞的摄入。目前减少汞排放的努力存在分散性，限制了国家和多国政策的有效性。本文概述了沿海和海洋环境中与汞有关的主要政策挑战和机遇，并强调了过去几十年的科学和政策联系。本文探讨的美国政策范例表明，需要对汞政策采取全生命周期方法，重点是减少源头，并更加关注：（1）汞在空气、水和生物群中的跨境迁移；（2）跨多个环境介质协调政策工作；（3）与污染物相互作用、减轻旧污染源以及通过改进沟通努力适应高浓度汞有关的交叉问题；以及（4）将最近关于人类和生态健康影响的研究纳入监管目的的效益分析。加强科学和政策的融合将有利于预防、控制和最大限度减少甲基汞暴露的国家和国际努力。
