Integrating Mercury Research and Policy in a Changing World

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Project Summary/Abstract: The proposed workshop entitled “Integrating Mercury Research and Policy in a Changing World,” will be sponsored by the Dartmouth College Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program. It will address important issues surrounding the fate of mercury in the environment and is timed to bring these issues to the attention of policymakers who will be involved with the first Conference of Parties for the Minamata Treaty. The proposed invitational workshop will address the following core aims: 1. to draw upon the expertise of a network of scientists who study the fate of mercury in the environment and the resulting exposures and effects on humans and ecosystems; 2. to facilitate communication between policy stakeholders and scientists about the important questions relevant to public health policy and regulation of mercury in the environment in the U.S. and globally; 3. to provide a forum for scientists working on mercury including biologists, toxicologists, biogeochemists, wildlife and human health scientists, risk assessment scientists, epidemiologists, and physicians to communicate their results to other investigators and facilitate an interdisciplinary exchange of information that will accelerate relevant science; 4. to identify key questions and knowledge gaps about mercury fate and transport in the environment and exposure and effects on humans and wildlife, and, 5. to hear from policy stakeholders who are directly involved with setting mercury policy at the international and national levels and determine what key questions they need the science to answer to help them move mercury policy forward. In a collaborative setting, the workshop will convene policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers who study the fate of mercury in the environment and its impacts on humans and natural ecosystems to: 1) hear from stakeholders and policymakers about the latest developments and needs pertaining to mercury related policy issues; 2) work together to identify gaps in mercury science and related policy questions that should be addressed in synthesis papers; 3) present draft papers to the group and continue dialogue for shaping papers and questions; 4) provide opportunities for paper authors to break out in groups to work on paper drafts and content; 5) discuss stakeholder perspectives for each paper; and 6) discuss translation products, outreach and target audiences. The preliminary findings of the papers and workshop discussion will also provide the basis for the plenary talks at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant 2017 which will be held during the week following the workshop. The theme of the ICMGP 2017 is also “Integrating Research and Policy in a Changing World” and it will be a gathering of over 1,000 scientists and trainees from academic institutions around the world, national and international government representatives, and scientists and project managers working at mercury contaminated sites.