The International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, first held in Sweden in 1990, has become a premier international forum for the presentation and discussion of advances in scientific understanding of environmental mercury pollution.In view of recent scientific advances and the ongoing consideration of policy options for addressing the mercury problem, the Eighth International Conference in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) on August 6 - 11, 2006, presented a timely opportunity to address key questions concerning mercury in the environment. The technical program for the conference contained a diverse and multidisciplinary assemblage of more than 1,000 abstracts submitted by authors from 58 countries, contributing to the global scientific effort on mercury pollution.

Forty experts, assembled into four panels, began this effort at an international workshop in July 2005, a full year before the conference.The panels addressed a series of key, policy-relevant questions concerning atmospheric sources of mercury, methylmercury exposure and its effects on humans and wildlife, socioeconomic consequences of mercury pollution, and recovery of mercury-contaminated fisheries.The panels presented their findings in four plenary sessions at the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant and in five synthesis papers to be published in Ambio in early 2007.Drafts of these synthesis papers were available for viewing by all 1116 registered conferees.

Collectively, the five synthesis papers provided the foundation for the Conference Declaration, a summary document that was endorsed unanimously by members of the four expert panels.The Conference Declaration was provided to all conferees assembled in Madison, where each conferee was given the opportunity to complete an on-line questionnaire assessing the strength of scientific support for each principal conclusion listed in the Declaration.The vast majority of conferees who participated in this assessment process expressed strong overall agreement with the conclusions listed in the Conference Declaration.

James P. Hurley & David P. Krabbenhoft, Co-Chairs

James G. Wiener, Technical Chair

Christopher L. Babiarz, Secretariat