TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a revision to a government ordinance to prohibit the manufacture as well as the import and export of all fluorescent lamps for general lighting by the end of 2027.

The move came after the members of an international convention against mercury pollution agreed last year to ban the production and trade of all fluorescent lamps, citing associated health risks.

The prohibition will be implemented in stages from January 2026 according to the type of fluorescent lamp, covering button batteries that contain mercury, government officials said.

Exposure to high levels of mercury can cause long-term and sometimes permanent health effects. In Japan, major domestic manufacturers including Panasonic Corp. have announced they will end production of fluorescent lamps by the end of September 2027.

In the 1950s, many residents of the coastal city of Minamata in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto suffered a neurological disorder caused by mercury poisoning after eating fish contaminated by discharges from a nearby chemical plant.