Minamata Initial Assessments (MIAs) provide analyses of the national context with respect to sources of inputs, emissions and discharges of mercury and its compounds. In addition to exploring the countries' legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks, the MIAs provide a national mercury inventory using the UNEP Toolkit for the Identification and Quantification of Emissions and Releases of Mercury and its Compounds. MIAs are funded by the Global Environment Facility as an enabling activity of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. About 130 countries have completed or are in the process of developing an MIA.
To date, more than 70 national mercury inventories have been developed and reviewed by experts within the framework of the MIAs. These inventories generated insights into inputs, emissions and releases of mercury and its compounds to the environment for the following source categories (each of which is further broken down into subcategories):
- Fuels/energy sources
- Primary metal production
- Other minerals and materials
- Industrial processes
- Consumer products
- Other product/process use
- Production of recycled metals
- Waste incineration/burning
- Waste deposition/landfill/wastewater
- Crematoria and cemeteries
Having national mercury flow data for the above categories is, in itself, a major achievement that has enabled countries to identify their priorities and propose appropriate implementation strategies. However, what are the regional and global trends emerging from the MIA mercury inventories?
MIA Inventory Dashboard
The MIA Mercury Inventory Dashboard allows us to explore the data in search of trends and patterns. It compiles the inventory results (through UNEP Toolkit Levels 1 and 2) produced to provide a tool for generating insights. Browse through the sections below to see the key messages from the data interpretation.
Main regions and categories
As shown in the map below, the main regions concerned by mercury inputs, emissions and discharges are:
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- South Asia
- South East Asia and the Pacific
Overall, the source categories contributing most to inputs, emissions and discharges of mercury and its compounds are:
- Gold extraction / processing other than amalgamation
- Gold (silver) extraction with amalgamation processes (Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining – ASGM)
- Use and disposal of mercury-containing products
- Waste deposition/landfill/wastewater and waste incineration/burning
Emissions and releases of mercury and its compounds
These are the releases of mercury and its compounds to aquatic, atmospheric and terrestrial media. The figure below shows that emissions and releases are organised as follows, from most to least important source of emissions/releases per compartment:
- Main emissions to air: primary metal production; waste incineration/burning; use and disposal of mercury containing products.
- Main releases to land: primary metal production; waste deposition/wastewater; use and disposal of mercury containing products.
- Main releases to water: primary metal production; waste deposition/wastewater; use and disposal of mercury containing products.
- Main releases to general waste: use and disposal of mercury containing products; other products and/or processes use.
- Main releases to by-products and impurities: Primary metal production; use and disposal of mercury containing products.
- Main releases to sector specific waste treatment/disposal: use and disposal of mercury containing products; other products and/or processes use.
Industrial metals production emits and releases the most mercury, in large part because of the large amounts of waste rock and tailings generated in mining, which contain small concentrations of mercury. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining, where mercury is added for amalgamation, is also a major contributor to mercury inputs globally.
In general, identifying the pathways of contamination and the media affected by each category will facilitate the development of appropriate strategies to reduce and or eliminate the use of mercury to prevent pollution.
More to come
The MIA Mercury Inventory Dashboard is an interactive tool to explore and visualize currently available data, in order to target priorities for action by stakeholders, including through the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership.
The Dashboard is also a living tool, and more inventories will be added as they become available, so do not hesitate to navigate through its various pages to keep up to date with latest trends on mercury inputs, emissions and releases.
