"A group of prominent doctors and public health experts warns in articles to be published Monday in the journal Pediatrics that banning thimerosal, a mercury compound used as a preservative in vaccines, would devastate public health efforts in developing countries," the New York Times reports. "Representatives from governments around the world will meet in Geneva next month in a session convened by the United Nations Environmental Program to prepare a global treaty to reduce health hazards by banning certain products and processes that release mercury into the environment ... [b]ut a proposal that the ban include thimerosal ... has drawn strong criticism from pediatricians," the newspaper writes (Tavernise, 12/17).