Governments unite to step-up
reduction on global DDT reliance and add
nine new chemicals under international treaty
Geneva, 9 May
2009 nine persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) were listed today under the Stockholm
Convention. Over 160 Governments have just
concluded a one-week conference with practical
decisions that will strengthen a global
effort to eradicate some of the most toxic
chemicals known to humankind.
The Conference of the
Parties (COP) has marked a historic week
for the Stockholm Convention. For the first
time, the Convention was amended to include
nine new chemicals. Many of these are still
widely used today as pesticides, flame retardants
and in a number of other commercial uses.
"This meeting in
Geneva has culminated in a momentous day
for the Stockholm Convention. Its significance
cannot be under-estimated. We now have a
clear signal that Governments around the
world take seriously the risks posed by
such toxic chemicals. The tremendous impact
of these substances on human health and
the environment has been acknowledged today
by adding nine new chemicals to the Convention.
This shift reflects international concern
on the need to reduce and eventually eliminate
such substances throughout the global community,"
said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP
Executive, Achim Steiner.
In another move, a groundbreaking
decision on synergies was unanimously adopted,
marking the collaboration between the Stockholm
Convention and its sister treaties on hazardous
chemicals and wastes, the Rotterdam and
Basel Conventions. This momentum will gather
pace at the UNEP Governing Council Special
Session of the Global Ministers Environment
Forum slated for February 2010, when an
Extraordinary COP will follow immediately
afterwards. For the first time, the expanded
Working Group will be comprised of the three
chemicals and wastes treaties in sequential
COPs.
A landmark decision
was also reached on the endorsement of the
DDT global partnership. While DDT is targeted
for eventual elimination, the Convention
recognizes that some countries will continue
to use this pesticide to protect their citizens
from malaria and other diseases.
The PCB Elimination
Network was also endorsed. Countries have
now strengthened efforts to phase out polychlorinated
biphenyls or PCBs through a cooperative
framework to support countries in the environmentally
sound management and disposal of these harmful
substances. The Network will be tasked with
establishing key data and evaluating whether
the use of PCBs is indeed declining.
The Conference also
reviewed the process for evaluating the
Convention's effectiveness in reducing POPs
over time. A global monitoring programme
building on various national and regional
monitoring systems will produce a worldwide
picture of trends in the quantity and types
of POPs in the environment and in the human
body.
The message of the Conference
is clear: without 'Meeting the Challenges
of a POPs-free Future', the chemical footprint
represented by these toxic substances will
remain and the global effort to minimize
their impact on human health and the environment
will fail. In a big step forward, Governments
worldwide have united this week under the
Stockholm Convention to push chemicals issues
up to the top of the global agenda.
Note to Journalists:
The Stockholm Convention
targets certain hazardous pesticides and
industrial chemicals that can kill people,
damage the nervous and immune systems, cause
cancer and reproductive disorders and interfere
with normal infant and child development.
The nine new chemicals now listed under
the Stockholm Convention are:
Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane
to Annex A;
Beta hexachlorocyclohexane to Annex A;
Although the intentional
use of alpha- and beta-HCH as an insecticide
was phased out years ago, these chemicals
are still produced as an unintentional by-product
of lindane. Approximately 6-10 tons of other
isomers including alpha- and beta-HCH result
from each ton of lindane produced.
Hexabromodiphenyl
ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether to Annex
A;
Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl
ether to Annex A;
Bromodiphenyl ether
congeners are a group of brominated organic
substances that inhibit or suppress combustion
in organic material, which are used as additive
flame retardants. Brominated diphenyl ethers
are mainly manufactured as commercial mixtures
where several isomers, congeners and small
amounts of other substances occur.
Chlordecone to Annex
A;
Chlordecone is a synthetic
chlorinated organic compound, which was
mainly used as an agricultural pesticide.
It was first produced in 1951 and introduced
commercially in 1958. Current use or production
of the chemical is not reported.
Hexabromobiphenyl
to Annex A;
Hexabromobiphenyl (HBB)
is an industrial chemical that was used
as a flame retardant, mainly in the 1970s.
Based on existing data, HBB is no longer
produced and is not used in new or existing
products.
Lindane to Annex A;
Lindane was used as
a broad-spectrum insecticide for seed and
soil treatment, foliar applications, tree
and wood treatment and against ectoparasites
in both veterinary and human treatments.
Lindane production has decreased rapidly
in recent years and only a few countries
still produce it.
Pentachlorobenzene
to Annex A and C;
Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB)
was used in PCB products, dyestuff carriers,
as a fungicide, a flame retardant and a
chemical intermediate such as the production
of quintozene and it may still be used for
this purpose. PeCB is also produced unintentionally
during combustion in thermal and industrial
processes. It appears as an impurity in
products such as solvents or pesticides.
Perfluorooctane sulfonic
acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl
fluoride to Annex B;
PFOS is both intentionally
produced and an unintended degradation product
of related anthropogenic chemicals. The
current intentional use of PFOS is widespread
and found in products such as in electric
and electronic parts, fire fighting foam,
photo imaging, hydraulic fluids and textiles.
PFOS are still produced in several countries
today.
The 12 initial POPs
covered by the Convention include nine pesticides
(aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin,
heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex and
toxaphene); two industrial chemicals (PCBs
as well as hexachlorobenzene, also used
as a pesticide); and the unintentional by-products,
most importantly dioxins and furans.
Further information is available at http://www.pops.int
or by emailing ssc@pops.int
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
Fatoumata Keita Ouane, Senior Scientific
Officer
Marcella Carew, Public Awareness Officer
SC News Release 2009/04
