This article talks about the health issues with mercury and how the UN and Canada are trying to ban mercury in household items. Back in ancient Egypt doctors believed that mercury helped cure syphilis, but nowadays we know that this isn't true. Canada stopped producing mercury in 1975 and now, in 2011, Ottawa has proposed that Canada should ban the import and sale of most mercury products, starting in 2012. The proposal would outlaw mercury in thermometers, thermostats, and batteries. This wouldn't be a big deal because their are other alternative materials for all of these products. This proposal would also limit the amount of mercury in products that require the metal. The last thing that the article talks about is how there are three different form of mercury and how they are all toxic to humans. Some side effects of prolonged exposure to mercury are loss of coordination, memory loss, weakness, illness, and in some cases death.I believe that mercury should be banned. According to the article, there are alternative materials we could use to replace mercury in household objects. Why take unnecessary risks by using mercury, which is poisonous, when you could just use something else that isn't poisonous. When you look at some of the side effects of prolonged exposure to mercury which include: memory loss, illness, and even death, using mercury when you don't really have to just seems stupid. This is why I believe that the Canadian government should do what ever it takes to ban mercury all together.
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