Eighty-eight-year-old Chen Deliang took a job at the Wanshan mercury mine when he was 17. For two decades he worked in the smelter, in Tongren, Guizhou province, and after that as an electrician underground. He suffered from mercury poisoning in the smelter \u2013 his teeth began falling out in his mid-thirties \u2013 and then developed silicosis while in the mine itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He can\u2019t recall which year he moved from the refinery to the mine proper: \u201cMy memory\u2019s bad. All the smelter workers are the same.\u201d His work-related diseases entitle him to a small income by way of compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mine went bankrupt in 2001 when the mercury ran out. Since then, remedial work has been undertaken and the area is now marketing itself as a tourist attraction, \u201cCinnabar Ancient Village<\/a>\u201d, selling handicrafts made from cinnabar \u2013 mercury sulphide ore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though mercury is toxic it is used widely in various industries. China is the world\u2019s largest producer, consumer and emitter of the heavy metal, accounting for about half<\/a> of global use. But neither mercury nor its compounds are a priority for regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published a plan<\/a> for the relevant industries to implement the Minamata Convention<\/a>, which aims to manage mercury pollution through measures including a ban on new mercury mines, with 2020 being a key year in which multiple targets are expected to be hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China had already signed up to the Basel Convention and the Rotterdam Convention, both of which also govern mercury use. But if is to implement the Minamata Convention, which in 2013 it was one of the first nations to sign, in Kumamoto, Japan, it needs to speed up several aspects of its work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercury had been mined at Wanshan<\/a> for over 3,000 years. It was once China\u2019s largest producer of the metal, with the largest reserves in Asia. Between the foundation of the People\u2019s Republic of China in 1949 and closure in 2001 it produced around 20,000 tonnes of mercury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last September, a mercury-pollution research group formed by various Chinese environmental NGOs visited Wanshan. Tian Jing, a member of the team and a founder of environmental group Nature Fields, recalls the smell clearly. \u201cAs soon as you walk into what was the most productive workshop you notice how bad the air is. There\u2019s a pungent odour. And it\u2019s such a complex mix \u2013 we took a sample but weren\u2019t sure how to test it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group was worried by what it saw: locals using alkaline water seeping from mine tailings for their everyday needs, piles of refining slag lying uncovered by the road, unidentified waste stored in workshops. The process of treating pollution at Wanshan has been slow and locals have almost become numb to the problem. Tian Jing told China Dialogue that animals are raised and crops planted on the old mine site. Families even bring their children there to pick wild fruit, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research group published a report<\/a> on their findings, saying that the Wanshan mine, closed for 17 years, remained an \u201cenvironmental debt\u201d and needed to be better managed. Handling of such sites was a key point of discussion at the 3rd<\/sup> Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention, held in late 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2032<\/p> The year by which China aims to halt all domestic mercury mining activity<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n According to the MEE\u2019s implementation plan<\/a>, China is to have a regularly updated list of mercury pollution sites by 2020, as well as economic policies designed to promote remediation. By 2032, all mercury mining is supposed to be halted. So in the years to come, China will have more and more closed mercury mines to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Chinese mercury policy expert who requested anonymity told China Dialogue that sites such as these are currently sealed off, isolated and greened, so pollutants do not flow into rivers and cause more problems downstream. Tian Jing learned from the Wanshan government that a lack of funds has slowed progress and the plan for local fields is to change planting practices and drain paddy fields for use as dry fields. But no measures are being taken to clean up polluted fields and rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Progress has been quicker on the Minamata Convention\u2019s requirement to ban the manufacture and import of seven products<\/a> that contain mercury. Mercury-containing switches and relays, and pesticides, biotic pesticides and topical antiseptics have been eliminated. China has a five-year exemption period for cosmetics products, but may already be close to compliance: in September and October last year the organisation Toxics-Free China tested<\/a> samples of cosmetics bought from three large online retailers \u2013 JD.com, Taobao and Pinduoduo \u2013 and found that none contained excess levels of mercury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercury-containing batteries, fluorescent lights, thermometers, blood pressure gauges and dental amalgam are still being produced and used, though the anonymous expert said that levels are dropping year by year: \u201cFor example, some fluorescent lights are mercury-free now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mao Da, academic director for Toxics-Free China, told China Dialogue that mercury-containing medical equipment is the hardest to eliminate. In 2006, China\u2019s environmental authorities started running trials of \u201cmercury-free healthcare<\/a>\u201d in cooperation with the US Environmental Protection Agency, at Beijing\u2019s Tiantan and Jishuitan hospitals. The trials aimed to replace all medical equipment containing mercury. Jishuitan Hospital replaced almost all of its thermometers and blood pressure gauges with mercury-free equivalents. In 2011, the Qinhuangdao Maternity Hospital<\/a> in Hebei province replaced mercury-containing equipment and retrained staff, as part of an NGO initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet Mao Da also revealed that China\u2019s healthcare sector hasn\u2019t made any significant progress on eliminating mercury. \u201cMercury-free healthcare is a systemic change, and hugely expensive. Besides replacing, storing and disposing of existing equipment, the replacements need to be more precise, and retraining to use it is another factor.\u201d China has already applied for a 5-year exemption<\/a>, to allow mercury thermometers and blood pressure gauges to be manufactured up to 2025, citing high costs and imprecise replacement instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only product without a timetable for replacement is dental amalgam. According to the report from the NGO research group, only 5 out of 18 hospital dental departments or clinics across 7 provinces were still using mercury amalgam in late 2019. Interviews carried out by the group found the majority of dentists would prefer to use alternatives; mercury amalgam has no price advantage, is toxic if inhaled, and is less attractive than alternatives such as synthetic resins. But some patients prefer mercury amalgam as they don\u2019t understand the different options, or don\u2019t want the risk of a filling falling out and needing replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zheng Shuguo, a professor at Peking University Hospital of Stomatology, said at a workshop<\/a> on the use of mercury amalgam in China, co-organised by NGO Toxics-Free China, that greater awareness among the public and professionals and the development of new dental materials would make eliminating mercury amalgam straightforward. The research group\u2019s report suggests a target date of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When discussing products that contain mercury, the anonymous expert said that China has made good progress on researching ultra-low mercury catalysts. Such catalysts may be used in the production of PVC, a plastic widely used for flexible tubing, insulators and inflatable products. The sector accounts for 50% of China\u2019s mercury consumption. Statistics<\/a> show that at the end of 2018, China\u2019s annual PVC production capacity stood at 240 million tonnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Problems arise when the PVC is manufactured using the calcium carbide process, which requires mercuric chloride as a catalyst. There are pollution issues with the production of mercuric chloride, its use in PVC manufacturing, and its recycling. Although China has done a lot of work on low-mercury catalysts, the industry is still struggling to reduce mercury while retaining efficiency. Mao Da told China Dialogue that the industry remains reliant on mercuric chloride.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMercury soil pollution and its deep roots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Eliminating mercury<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mercury-free healthcare is a systemic change, and hugely expensive<\/blockquote><\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
PVC problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n