Managing mercury and other heavy metals

Managing mercury and other heavy metals
Mercury use in switches is declining
Releases of mercury, lead and
cadmium constitute threats to
human health and the environment. The cross-border nature of
the pollution calls for international
coorperation.
Mercury in fish
In virtually all regions of the world, including such remote areas as the
Arctic, mercury concentrations too
high for frequent human consumption have been found in fish and other
aquatic foods.
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Regional agreements
In recent years, several regional agreements on reducing the releases of
heavy metals have been reached.
The first steps towards coordinated,
global action on the three heavy metals have now been taken.
Assessing heavy metals
COWI is a major supplier of assessments and other inputs for international policy initiatives. Recently, COWI’s
assessments have served as the basis for UNEP Governing Council’s decisions for action on heavy metals.
A look at policies
& the mercury life-cycle
COWI has extensive experience assessing the flows of mercury and other heavy metals in society and the environment, based on life-cycle principles.
COWI also contribute to the development of policies, abatement options and impact assessments on health and environment for the management of these substances.
Sustainable solutions
COWI provide services that are socially, environmentally, economically
and legally sustainable.
COWI has more than 500 employees that provide consulting services
on technical and environmental issues on both strategic and operational levels.
Multidisciplinary approaches
COWI’s experts take a multidisciplinary approach, when addressing the
management of heavy metals in society, enabling much needed integrated
solutions. Their expertise is drawn
from a variety of fields such as natural science, social science, engineering, health and economics.
Taking care of people and planet
COWI has been working closely with
the Danish Ministry of Environment
for decades in addressing heavy metals management in society.
Today, COWI plays a key role in
providing both national and international environmental authorities and
stakeholders with quality analysis for
prioritization of measures for reducing human exposure and releases of
heavy metals to the environment.
Our competences include:
• Integrated assessments of key issues related to heavy metals
• Substance flow analyses (SFA) with
integrated consumption inven-tory
and assessment of releases and
exposures
• Substitution analyses including assessment of the technical, environmental and economical feasibility of substitution
• Emission inventories
• Consumption inventories
• Hazardous waste planning and management
• Development of reduction strategies and implementation of abatement measures
Inspection of mercury recycling facility
Mercury extraction in retort
Mercury is traded globally in characteristic “flasks”
• Policy analysis and assistance in
development of policies at national
and international level
• Development of plans, guidance,
awareness raising and capacity
building for mercury management
and implementation of interna-tional agreements
• Risk communication
• Environment and health assessments
• Remediation of contaminated sites
(planning, supervision or implementation)
• Chemicals management in industries, for example tools and methodologies for REACH implementation at down-stream users
Preparation of the HELCOM guidance document on cadmium and development of indicators for hazardous
substances in the marine environment (HELCOM/Danish EPA)
others) in electrical and electronic
equipment in Belgium and planning of
RoHS inspection campaign (Federal
Public Service of Health, Food Chain
Safety and Environment)
Assessment of mercury releases from
eight Arctic States, including detailed
inventory of mercury use and releases
in Russia, and policy assessments
(ACAP/ DANCEE)
Detailed substance flow analyses
(SFA’s) of mercury, cadmium, lead,
copper, nickel and other metals in
Denmark (Danish EPA)
Selected references
COWI has undertaken numerous assignments related to the management of heavy metals for Danish, regional and international clients:
Preparation of global reviews of
scientific information on lead and
cadmium (UNEP Chemicals)
Preparation of UNEP’s toolkit for inventories of mercury use and mercury
releases (UNEP Chemicals)
Preparation of the global mercury assessment with other partners (UNEP
Chemicals)
Review of instruments for regulation
of atmospheric mercury emissions in
OECD countries (OECD)
Feasibility study for demonstration
project on mercury waste collection
and treatment in NW Russia (ACAP/
Danish EPA)
Technical, environmental and economic assessment of the advantages
and drawbacks of restricting the marketing and use of lead (European
Commission, DG Enterprise)
Assessment of battery use in cordless power tools in the Nordic countries (Nordic Council of Ministers).
Contact
COWI A/S
Mr. Jakob Maag
Environment Specialist, Analysis
Planning of international mercury
conference 2006 (European Commission, DG Environment)
Clean-up design of mercury contaminated carbide factory in Kazakhstan
(World Bank)
Assessment of alternatives to mercury-containing measuring equipment (Danish EPA).
and Communication
Environment and Chemicals
Phone: +45 7642 6418
E-mail: jam@cowi.com
Havneparken 1
DK-7100 Vejle, Denmark
COWI A/S
Ms. Helle Husum
Senior Legal Advisor
Public Administration and Law
Technical and socioeconomic evaluation of the Danish statutory order on
lead (Danish EPA).
Phone: +45 4597 2325
E-mail: hhu@cowi.dk
Parallelvej 2
DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby,
Assessment of RoHS substances
(lead, cadmium and mercury, among
Denmark