Oceana’s proposals to put a stop to the seafood contamination

Mercury pollution poses a very serious threat to our environment and to public health. The purpose of Oceana’s international Seafood Contamination Campaign in Europe is to raise public awareness of the health effects of mercury-contaminated seafood and reduce a major source of the mercury pollution that eventually contaminates fish—the few remaining chlorine factories using outdated, mercury-cell technology. A principal cause of mercury-poisoned fish is the remaining chlor-alkali plants that use mercury-cell technology in making chlorine.

Mercury pollution is a severe problem in Europe: there are 45 mercury cell chlorine plants currently operating in European Union (EU) territory. Although there has been a move within the EU to ban this type of production by 2007, there is stiff opposition to such a ban and opponents are pushing to extend the deadline to 2010 or even later.

Oceana works towards the closure or conversion of all mercury based chlor-alkali plants in the EU.

In Spain there is an agreement between the national and regional governments and the chlor industry to extend the use of mercury cell plants until 2020.

Oceana is taking legal steps against the regional government of Galicia regarding this agreement.