Peter Bowditch wrote:

- quote -

Not a problem -- most Swedish electricity comes from mercury-emitting
power plants.

So they can turn off the juice and go back to body heat.

Also, the alties will appreciate that germicidal lamps are now
illegal there.

--
| The brighter the stupid burns, the more |
| chance that someone will see the light. |
+- D. C. Sessions <dcs[at]lumbercartel.com> -+

"Jan Drew" <jdrew1374[at]sbcglobal.net> wrote:

- quote -

There go the fluorescent lights. Up goes the electricity consumption.

There goes non-hydroponic timber. Up goes the price of houses, paper
and other timber-based products.

Is there any limit to the stupidity of knee-jerking politicians?

<snip remaining knee-jerk>

--
Peter Bowditch aa #2243
The Millenium Project http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles
Australian Council Against Health Fraud http://www.acahf.org.au
Australian Skeptics http://www.skeptics.com.au
To email me use my first name only at ratbags.com

Sweden bans amalgam effective June 1 2009

Subject: Sweden bans amalgam effective June 1 2009 A press release from the
Swedish Ministry of Environment follows.

http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/11459/a/118550




Press release 15 January 2009 Ministry of the Environment



Government bans all use of mercury in Sweden The Government today decided to
introduce a blanket ban on mercury. The ban means that the use of dental
amalgam in fillings will cease and that it will no longer be permitted to
place products containing mercury on the Swedish market.

"Sweden is now leading the way in removing and protecting the environment
from mercury, which is non-degradable. The ban is a strong signal to other
countries and a Swedish contribution to EU and UN aims to reduce mercury use
and emissions," says Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren.

The Government's decision means that products containing mercury may not be
placed on the Swedish market. In practice this means that alternative
techniques will have to be used in dental care, chemical analysis and the
chloralkali industry. The Swedish Chemicals Agency will be authorised to
issue regulations on exceptions or grant exemptions in individual cases.

In connection with the Government's decision, waste containing mercury will
be disposed of in deep geological repositories in other EU countries. The
Swedish market for hazardous waste is small. Last spring, a government
inquiry established that there are existing repositories for waste
containing mercury in, for example, Germany that more than adequately meet
the safety requirements on which Swedish legislation is based. Creating a
new Swedish repository would be around 15 times more expensive than
depositing waste in existing facilities in the EU. The bodies consulted on
this matter shared the inquirys conclusions.

"By using common solutions and almost forty years of experience of storing
mercury in the EU, we are not lowering safety standards. The waste will be
transported to a deep geological repository with high safety standards. In
accordance with the polluter pays principle, the owners of the waste will be
responsible for ensuring that disposal in a repository is arranged and
paying for it," says Mr Carlgren.

The disposal possibilities in other EU countries provide better incentives
for the desired development of safe, large-scale technologies to stabilise
waste containing mercury.

Since the beginning of the 1990s there has been a ban in Sweden on the
manufacture and sale of certain products containing mercury, including
thermometers and other measuring devices and electronic components.

The new regulations enter into force on 1 June 2009.