UNEP Plans to Rid the World of 9 Dangerous Chemicals

Ministers and officials from 150 governments are meeting this week to advance global efforts to rid the world of some of the most hazardous chemicals produced by humankind.

Until now, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) has targeted the so-called “dirty dozen”: 12 hazardous pesticides and industrial chemicals that are linked with human health impacts ranging from damage to the nervous and immune systems, cancer and reproductive disorders and the disruption of infant and child development.

“The risks posed by such chemicals are profound and these toxic substances leave chemical footprints around the globe. Farmers, pregnant women, young people, the unborn and certain remote communities such as those in the Arctic are particularly vulnerable,” said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive, Achim Steiner.

“This week in Geneva governments can make an important contribution to the poverty-related UN Millennium Development Goals as well as catalyzing a transition to a healthier, more sustainable Green Economy. I would urge them to take that opportunity and begin lifting another health threat from literally millions of peoples’ lives,” he added.

There are four distinct challenges:

- Challenge #1: moving away from the production and use of POPs towards safer alternatives and to reach the goal of eliminating the release of unintentionally produced POPs.

- Challenge #2: identifying new POPs that put human health and environment at risk.

- Challenge #3: ensuring that technical and financial resources are made available for all countries to meet their obligations under the Convention.

- Challenge #4: continuing to ensure the Convention meets its goal of protecting human health and the environment from POPs.

While the POPs risk level varies, all of these chemicals share four properties: they are highly toxic; they are stable and persistent, often lasting for decades before degrading into less dangerous forms; they evaporate and travel long distances through air and water; and they accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife.

Worldwide, every person carries traces of POPs in his or her body.

POPs circulate globally through a process known as the “grasshopper effect”. POPs released in one part of the world can, through a repeated process of evaporation and deposit, be transported through the atmosphere to regions far away from the original source.

The nine new chemicals proposed for listing under the Stockholm Convention are:

- Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane

- Beta hexachlorocyclohexane

- Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl

- Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl

- 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.

- Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride

Often times, we don’t realize it, but our food is covered in poisons. The reasons for this are as varied as the types of food we eat. Being the conspicuous consumers, we will almost always pass up the bruised piece of fruit in the local grocery store for the one that looks like its just been picked off the vine. But looks can be deceiving. There is a reason that the apple in your hand, that was picked two weeks ago and trucked, shipped, or flown thousands of miles looks so fresh. It’s been chemically or genetically altered.

Buying organic (a growing process that cuts out the use of chemicals and poisons) and buying locally grown fruits and vegetables greatly reduces the risks of ingesting these harmful chemicals. It also helps spur the local economy while keeping your dollars in your home country.

Eat healthy, and keep up the good fight.,

Source: UNEP

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