Treaty Banning 12 Most Toxic Chemicals Takes Effect

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 17, 2004 (ENS) - An international treaty banning 12 of the world's most deadly chemicals enters into force today - the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

Under the agreement, more chemicals can be added to the prohibited list but for now the 12 initial POPs are - aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene, dioxins and furans.

“Of all the pollutants released into the environment every year by human activity, POPs are the most dangerous. For decades these highly toxic chemicals have killed and injured people and wildlife by inducing cancer and damaging the nervous, reproductive and immune systems. They have also caused uncounted birth defects,” said UNEP Executive Klaus Toepfer on February 17, the day the 50th nation ratified the treaty, triggering the 90 day countdown to entry into force.

Today, Toepfer is planning how to bring about the eradication of these toxics, and that takes money. "Over the next several years national investments plus donor pledges of hundreds of millions will channel more than $500 million into an overdue and urgently needed initiative to ensure that future generations do not have to live as we do with measurable quantities of these toxic chemicals stored in their bodies," he said.

Much of this funding will be managed by the Global Environment Facility, which serves as the financial mechanism for the Convention on an interim basis.

The United States and the European Union have signed, but have not ratified, the POPS treaty.

Governments will seek a rapid start to action against POPs when they meet for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention in Punta del Este, Uruguay in the first week of May 2005.

They will fast-track efforts to reduce or eliminate the carcinogenic chemicals known as dioxins and furans, which are produced unintentionally as by-products of combustion. Many of the required improvements in technologies and processes may prove expensive and technically challenging, particularly for developing countries, officials acknowledge.

Farmers in Chatham-Kent, Canada were encouraged to bring in banned, de-registered, inactive or otherwise unwanted agricultural pesticides for proper disposal through Operation Farm Sweep. Canada is a Party to the POPS treaty. (Photo courtesy Operation Farm Sweep)

Parties to the Convention will support efforts by each national government to develop an implementation plan. Already, over 120 developing countries have started to elaborate such plans with funds from the Global Environment Facility.

The Conference of the Parties will also focus on channelling new funds into POPs projects.

Governments will measure and evaluate changes in the levels of POPs in the natural environment and in humans and animals in order to confirm whether the Convention is indeed reducing releases of POPs to the environment.

A POPs review committee will be established for evaluating additional chemicals and pesticides to be added to the initial list of 12 POPs.

Parties will finalize guidelines for promoting "best environmental practices" and "best available techniques" that can reduce and eliminate releases of dioxins and furans.

In the case of PCBs, although they are no longer produced, hundreds of thousands of tons are still in use in electrical transformers and other equipment. Governments have until 2025 to phase out these uses, which gives them time to arrange for PCB-free replacements. Not later than 2028, governments must dispose of these PCBs in an environmentally sound manner.

In addition to banning uses, the treaty focuses on cleaning up the growing accumulation of unwanted and obsolete stockpiles of pesticides and toxic chemicals. Dump sites and toxic drums from the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s are now decaying and leaching chemicals into the soil and poisoning water resources, wildlife, and people.

A list of the Parties to the POPS treaty are online at: http://www.pops.int/documents/signature/signstatus.htm