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LETTER OF INVITATION
In response to the increasing intensity of research dedicated to mercury on a
global scale, the need was recognized to provide a forum for presentation of
results, discussions, and the exchange of innovative ideas and to communicate
with policy makers, legislators, experts from industry and public representatives
in order to promote the direct use of scientific and technical data in the field of
environmental protection and control. The international conference series on
Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) was therefore initiated in 1990. Growing
interest in mercury issues is evidenced in the increasing number of participants
worldwide: 200 in Gavle, Sweden in 1990; 300 in Monterey, California, USA in
1992; 400 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada in 1994; over 400 in Hamburg,
Germany in 1996; over 450 in Rio de Janeiro in 1999 and over 600 in Minamata
in 2001. The global nature of mercury issues is also shown by increasing international
participation, from a few nations at Gavle, mostly from the Northern
hemisphere, to more than 64 in Minamata in 2001, where almost half of the
participants were from developing countries. One of the reasons is related to a
revival of gold exploration in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa,
and Asia, for which mercury is used to extract gold; this caused an increase in
mercury research because of the need to set environmental quality criteria in
these areas.
The programme of the 7th ICMGP which will be organized in Ljubljana, Slovenia,
will cover all aspects of mercury studies. Due to a number of important events,
such as the adoption of new legislation at European level, as well as the recent
decision by governments at the Governing Council of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) that national, regional and global actions, both
immediate and long-term, to reduce or eliminate releases of mercury that impact
human health and the environment should be initiated as soon as possible, the
focus of the conference will also include issues such as risk assessment, socioeconomic
aspects, prevention and control measures and management policies
and legislation.
Mercury research in Slovenia, initiated by the Joæef Stefan Institute, started in
the early 60’s as a result of environmental and health concerns related to the
operation of the second largest Hg mine in the world at Idrija, which was working
continually for 500 years until about 20 years ago. Initially, the main concern
was to understand and improve the health status of the miners, and development
of safety practices. It was soon recognized that mercury impacts on the
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environment should also be considered with great care. In the following years
work has expanded to other areas of research, which is well documented and
acknowledged in the scientific literature.
Although Slovenia is a small country with just under 2 million inhabitants, it plays
an important role as a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe. The year
2004 will be a year of celebration as it is planned that Slovenia will finally join
the European Union. For this reason we are particularly pleased to host the 7th
International Conference on “Mercury as a Global Pollutant”. The conference will
take place in Ljubljana, “.. a city that seems to have been built at the junction of
different worlds, from which it adopted some of their positive features, such as
the charm of the Mediterranean and reliability of continental Europe, the enigmatic
spirit of the East and the stated openness to the West, while still bearing a
strong mark of originality”. These characteristics are a perfect match of the conference
to come!
You are cordially invited to Ljubljana,
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Dr. Milena Horvat
Chair
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