Control on mercury if there’s no Brexit deal

This notice outlines the arrangements that would come into force to regulate mercury and mercury compounds and mixtures, if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no deal.

Anthropogenic releases and emissions of mercury and mercury compounds are recognised internationally as global pollutants, causing harm to the environment and human health. Although all humans are exposed to mercury to some degree, some groups are at a higher risk, in particular foetuses, breast-fed babies and infants exposed through seafood consumption, either directly or through their mother, and people who are chronically exposed to high levels of mercury, for instance due to subsistence fishing or work. As a result, mercury is listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as among the ‘ten chemicals of major public health concern’.