Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Todorova Serves as Science Observer in UN Mercury Negotiations

Friday, January 9, 2015, By Matt Wheeler
Share
College of Engineering and Computer Science

In November, Assistant Professor Svetoslava Todorova of the College of Engineering and Computer Science participated in the sixth session of the United Nations mandated Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee (INC) on Mercury in Thailand. The INC on Mercury has been instrumental in the development of a global mercury treaty known as the Minamata Convention that addresses mercury contamination in the environment. Todorova has served as a science observer for the INC since 2011, participating in four sessions. In this role, she contributes her technical expertise.

Svetoslava Todorova

Svetoslava Todorova

“In the past few decades, scientists have detected elevated concentrations of mercury in many wildlife species in areas that are far from direct anthropogenic sources. This discovery spurred the creation of the Minamata Convention, which will be the first global agreement that regulates a single chemical. This is a great achievement and a significant milestone in international treaties,” says Todorova, “My scholarly work has been focused on the transport and bioaccumulation of mercury in aquatic ecosystems, so I had a great interest in this from the beginning. I am proud that I have contributed to the development of the final text.”

Mercury contamination is a serious environmental and health problem. A neurotoxin, mercury causes long-term cognitive and developmental defects in humans. It accumulates in lakes and oceans, where it can persist in ecosystems for decades. When we eat fish that live in these contaminated ecosystems, we become exposed.

In 2011, while a Ph.D. student at SU under the supervision of Professor Charles Driscoll, Todorova met representatives from the UN Environmental Programs (UNEP) Chemicals Branch—the group that administers the INC sessions—at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, along with the the chair of the INC. After a few conversations, they invited her to participate at the INC sessions as a science observer — a highly regarded service.

The INC on Mercury finalized the Minamata Convention in January of 2013. The treaty is currently open for signatures from countries around the world. Once 50 countries ratify it, it will officially be adopted. At this stage, the goal of the INC working meetings is to clarify the text, decide on type of monitoring activities and help the countries develop their national implementation plans, all with the goal to help facilitate rapid implementation of the convention. SU is in the process of becoming a partner of the Global Mercury Partnership, a scientific advisory body on mercury to the UNEP.

Todorova’s work will continue in 2015. Now that the treaty has been drafted, it is her hope that more countries will ratify and implement it—protecting the environment and living things from the dangers of mercury contamination today and in the future.

 

  • Author

Matt Wheeler

  • Recent
  • Newhouse Creative Advertising Students Win Big at Sports and Entertainment Clios
    Friday, May 30, 2025, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University Libraries’ Information Literacy Scholars Produce Information Literacy Collab Journal
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Syracuse Spirit on Display: Limited-Edition Poster Supports Future Generations
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By News Staff
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University, Lockerbie Academy Reimagine Partnership, Strengthen Bond
    Friday, May 23, 2025, By News Staff

More In STEM

University’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab and Ireland’s BiOrbic Sign MOU to Advance Markets for the Biobased Economy

This month at the All Island Bioeconomy Summit held in Co. Meath, Ireland, it was announced that BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy, comprising 12 leading Irish research universities in Ireland, signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dynamic Sustainability…

Professor Bing Dong Named as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has named Bing Dong as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This endowed professorship is made possible by a 1998 gift from the late Fritz Traugott H’98 and his wife, Frances….

Physics Professor Honored for Efforts to Improve Learning, Retention

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately. The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative…

ECS Team Takes First Place in American Society of Civil Engineers Competition

Civil and environmental engineering student teams participated in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Sustainable Solutions and Steel Bridge competitions during the 2025 Upstate New York-Canada Student Symposium, winning first place in the Sustainable Solutions competition. The symposium was…

Chloe Britton Naime Committed to Advocating for Improved Outcomes for Neurodivergent Individuals

Chloe Britton Naime ’25 is about to complete a challenging and rare dual major program in both mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and neuroscience from the College of Arts and Sciences. Even more impressive? Britton…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.