Mercury is one of the earth's most toxic elements, and one that seeps into the environment through a number of industrial processes.<br /><br />The single biggest source of mercury emissions, coal-fired power stations, account for 26 per cent of the metal leaked into the environment. But village miners also use tonnes of it when extracting gold.<br /><br />World bodies are now attempting to work out a plan to reduce mercury poisoning.<br /><br />The United Nations environment programme held a conference in Nairobi, attended by representatives from 120 countries, in the hopes of drafting a global treaty to limit the use of the toxic metal.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Peter Greste reports from the Kenyan capital.
