The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) intensified environmental inspection actions in the first two months of 2026 to verify the regularity of production processes that use metallic mercury in industries in Brazil.
Objective of the Inspection
The operation, called “Almadén”, focuses primarily on the manufacture of chlor-alkali using metallic mercury, a sector that in the past used this metal in its production processes.
This fiscal monitoring is part of Brazil’s commitment to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, an international agreement aimed at controlling and eliminating the use of mercury due to its risks to human health and the environment. The treaty was enacted in Brazil by Decree No. 9,470/2018.
Why does this matter?
Mercury is a toxic and persistent substance that can:
• disperse in the environment;
• contaminate soil, water, and sediments;
• It can be transformed into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that bioaccumulates in aquatic organisms and the food chain.
This contamination represents significant risks to public health and the balance of ecosystems, especially for populations that consume fish and products from affected aquatic environments.
Deadlines and Compliance
According to the Convention and its internal regulations, the deadline for companies in the chlor-alkali sector to eliminate the use of metallic mercury in their production processes ended in December 2025.
Inspections are verifying whether industries have complied with this deadline and whether they have adopted alternative, mercury-free technologies, as required by the international commitment and Brazilian environmental legislation.
This newsletter is exclusively institutional and informative in nature and presents general aspects of the normative and administrative evolution related to the topic.
Evelini Oliveira de Figueiredo Fonseca | evelini.fonseca@nascimentomourao.adv.br
Coordinator and Partner of the Environmental, Regulatory and Biodiversity Law area.
