An international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution entered into force Wednesday, paving the way for regulation of the manufacture, trading, use and disposal of the chemical.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury, taking its name from the city in Kumamoto Prefecture where industrial emissions over half a century ago caused mercury poisoning in thousands of people, recognizes the "substantial" lessons from the disaster and the need to prevent such an event in the future.
Describing mercury as "a chemical of global concern," the convention's aim is to cut emissions and release of mercury into the air, water and land, and to establish protocols for storage and disposal.