PUBLIC HEALTH : EXPERTS CALL FOR A TOTAL BAN ON MERCURY.

EU health and environment experts are demanding that all use of mercury, particularly in medical devices, be banned. A report (1), presented on 10 January at the European Parliament, again highlighted the toxic nature of mercury, to which one cause of human exposure is the eating of contaminated predatory fish. In water, mercury transforms into methylmercury, which is even more toxic and found largely in the underwater food chain. As with others before it, the report shows that the effects can be fatal, and have devastating consequences for the health ofafoetuses and new-born children, even in cases where mothers are exposed...