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2005 POPs Conference of the Parties 1st Session (COP1)
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Address to The Plenary Session at The First Conference of the Parties
for The Stockholm Convention On Persistant Organic Pollutants. ( also as .doc or .pdf) - 05/06/05: Toxic Lice Treatment Under Scrutiny , ( also as .doc or .pdf )
- 05/07/05: Despite Int'l Agreement, DDT Will Not Disappear Overnight , ( also as .doc or .pdf )
- 05/09/05: UN May Add New Chemicals to 'Dirty Dozen' Ban ...
- 04/29/05: U.N. to review "dirty dozen" chemicals , (both U.N. articles also as .doc or .pdf )
04/13/02: Senator Jim Jeffords introduces POPs Implementation Act of 2002
04/12/02: White House Move on Toxic-Chemicals Pact Assailed
04/12/02: Senator Bashes White House Proposal on Pollutants
ADDRESS TO THE PLENARY SESSION AT
THE FIRST CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES FOR T
HE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION ON PERSISTANT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS.
Shawna Larson
International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Environmental Network
and Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Thank you Mr. Chairman and congratulations on your recent appointment. My name is Shawna Larson and I am and Ahtna Athabaskan from Chickaloon Village which is located in southern Alaska in the United States. My Tribe is a member of the Arctic Athabaskan Council and has a permanent participant seat on the Arctic Council.
I extend my sincere gratification to the government of Uruguay for being such a gracious host and to the Swiss government as well for providing financial support to this meeting.
I would like to congratulate the drafting group that worked on the issue of DDT for navigating through a difficult subject. I would also like to acknowledge the recent decline in DDT levels in the arctic. I recognize and congratulate the countries that are making the effort to phase out and ban the use of DDT and I also recognize the excising health problems, which currently prohibit countries from immediate elimination. As you know, indigenous peoples of the north remain culturally an economically dependent on our traditional foods and the environment for survival. But we as indigenous peoples are continuing to be impacted by the decisions made on DDT. In the spirit of the Stockholm Convention, I would encourage all parties to keep in mind the current impacts of DDT to indigenous peoples and urge the support of funding mechanisms for quickly finding safe alternatives.
Secondly, I would like to address the Dioxin Toolkit. Although I realize that there are many difficulties in developing a workable toolkit, I have noted some concerns about the current state. This is relevant to indigenous peoples because the final decisions made on the strategy to reduce dioxin emissions, including the toolkit, ultimately impacts our culture and future generations. Inclusion of a source identification strategy could ensure further protection of human health and the environment. As my distant relative from the west, Sheila Watt-Cloutier mentioned today indigenous peoples serve as an indicator for toxic exposures to the world and therefore the most effective toolkit possible should be made available.
On the draft for the Best Available Techniques and Best Environmental Practices I would like to acknowledge all the work that has gone into the development. I would ask that countries work to make certain that the guidelines are set to help ensure the safety of our traditional foods.
Lastly I would like to thank those countries who have started proposing the next generation of POPs which includes chemicals such as Lindane and PBDE´s that are currently impacting indigenous peoples. I would like to encourage the support of the inclusion of traditional knowledge in the assessments done on emerging chemicals. Our traditional knowledge can add valuable information to the conventional science based process and have significant impacts on social and economic considerations.
I will close by thanking all the parties and those who intend to join this very important convention which directly determines the fate of my Ahtna Athabaskan Peoples, our children, our culture and our survival are depending on it.
Thank you
Toxic Lice Treatment Under Scrutiny
Raúl Pierri
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=28591
PUNTA DEL ESTE, Uruguay, May 6 (IPS) - A group of experts will study the effects on human health of four toxic chemicals, including the widely used lice treatment lindane, to consider their potential inclusion on a list of products banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
The creation of this study panel was among the final decisions adopted at the 1st Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention, which ended Friday in the Uruguayan resort town of Punta del Este.
At the urging of environmental organisations, a number of governments and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the government delegates attending the conference resolved to set up a research committee responsible for analysing products that could be added to the list of 12 toxic pollutants, known as the - dirty dozen", already prohibited by the Convention.
Norway proposed the inclusion of pentabromodiphenyl ether (penta-BDE), a flame retardant, the European Union wants to add the pesticide chlordecone and hexabromobiphenyl (Hexa-BB), another flame retardant, while Mexico has suggested including a group of pesticides known as hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH), which include lindane, commonly used to treat head lice and scabies.
The announcement was made at the end of the Conference by UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer, who was accompanied by Uruguayan Environment Minister Mariano Arana and the acting executive secretary of the Stockholm Convention, Canadian John Buccini.
The process of analysing the four substances proposed for inclusion on the POPs blacklist will take at least three years, according to Buccini. The research group will be based in Geneva, where the Stockholm Convention international headquarters is located.
Although lindane is most frequently used on children infected with head lice, its use is already prohibited in at least 52 countries and severely restricted in another 33, activists from the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) told IPS.
Like the 12 POPs already banned by the Convention, this pesticide accumulates in very cold climates, like the Arctic, where low temperatures prevent it from evaporating. It has spread to the fauna in the regions of the far North and particularly affects the indigenous peoples who depend on the fatty tissues and meat of animals like whales and seals for their survival.
The activists reported that lindane can damage the nervous and immune systems, and that scientific research has linked its use to brain tumours in children.
Meanwhile, the delegates agreed to uphold the exemptions for countries that need to use the insecticide DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) to fight malaria, although they called for a search for effective, affordable alternatives, in order to gradually phase out the use of this chemical.
DDT, which is included in the "dirty dozen", is still widely used as an effective and low-cost weapon against the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, which kills more than one million people around the world every year, primarily in Africa. A total of around 300 million people contract the disease annually.
"The convention required this meeting to determine whether DDT continues to be essential to health protection and the decision was yes," said Buccini, who pointed out that the list of exemptions is reviewed every three years.
In addition, the conference called for the World Health Organisation (WHO) to cooperate in each review, and in the search for alternatives to DDT.
Toepfer noted that although there is agreement that DDT cannot be eliminated yet, a major effort is underway worldwide to come up with alternatives for combating malaria.
The Stockholm Convention, which was signed in 2001, is aimed at eliminating or reducing levels of 12 specific POPs: nine pesticides (aldrine, chlordane, DDT, dieldrine, endrine, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex and toxaphen), two unintentional byproducts of chemical production and the burning of chlorinated substances (dioxins and furans), and a group of industrial pollutants known collectively as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The majority of these chemicals are organochlorines or byproducts of their production or use.
These chemicals, which are highly toxic to animals and humans, are stable and persistent, lasting for years or decades before degrading into less dangerous forms; travel widely through the air and water; and accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms - which means they can be passed along the food chain.
Exposure to these 12 toxins has been shown to weaken the immune system and increase the risk of cancer, hormonal imbalances, neurological disorders, infertility and diabetes.
The Convention, adopted in May 2001 in Stockholm under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has been signed so far by 151 countries and ratified by 97. It entered into force in May 2004.
The conference in Punta del Este drew 636 delegates from 133 countries, one-third of whom were representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who attended as observers.
Toepfer highlighted the efforts of activists, stating that IPEN and other NGOs have played a key role by focusing the attention of governments and the public on the need to eliminate these chemicals.
Governments must make their own contribution by rapidly reducing the risks posed to the environment by toxic chemicals with a long life span, he added.
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez, who attended Friday's closing session, underlined the importance of tackling the world's environmental challenges, "as social problems that must be resolved at a political level."
The Convention should be conceived of as part of "a sustainable development project in which the economy is at the service of people, and people are effectively recognised as part of society and their natural environment," he added.
The 2nd Conference of the Parties will be held next year in Geneva.
Despite Int'l Agreement, DDT Will Not Disappear Overnight
Raul Pierri mailto:ipslatam@ipsnews.net
Inter Press Service (IPS)
http://www.oneworld.net/external/?url=http://www.ipsnews.net
07 May 2005
http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/110927/1/
PUNTA DEL ESTE, Uruguay, May 6 (IPS) - The signatories of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) pledged Thursday to search for alternatives in order to eventually eliminate the use of the insecticide DDT in the fight against malaria.
Although DDT is one of the 12 POPs that the international community has agreed on liminating as soon as possible, it is still widely used as an effective and low-cost weapon against the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, which kills over a million people around the world every year, primarily in Africa. Around 300 million people contract the disease annually.
The delegates to the 1st Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention, taking place Monday to Friday in the Uruguayan resort town of Punta del Este, agreed to ask the World Health Organisation (WHO) to draft a report on alternative methods for fighting malaria and their potential effectiveness.
They also called on the international financial institutions to support efforts to develop other strategies for combating this disease which do not necessarily involve the use of chemical products.
WHO Assistant Director-General Kerstin Leitner stressed the need to monitor the use of DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) while seeking out economically sustainable alternatives at the same time, and said that her organisation was prepared to lead the search for new options.
The Stockholm Convention, which was signed in 2001 and entered into effect in May 2004, is aimed at eliminating or reducing levels of 12 specific POPs.
This so-called "dirty dozen" comprises nine chemicals used as pesticides (aldrine, chlordane, DDT, dieldrine, endrine, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex and toxaphen), two unintentional byproducts of chemical production and the burning of chlorinated substances (dioxins and furans), and a group of industrial pollutants known collectively as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
These and other POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed through the air and water, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms -- and can thus be passed along the food chain -- and are highly toxic to animals and humans.
Exposure to these 12 toxins has been shown to increase the risk of cancer, hormonal imbalances, neurological disorders, infertility, diabetes and a weakened immune system.
The delegates meeting in Punta del Este resolved that the countries that have been granted an exemption allowing them to keep using DDT can continue to do so in the short term, but they stressed that it is essential to begin a "transition" towards eliminating its use completely.
Some observers attribute the devastating effects of malaria to the restrictions imposed by governments and environmentalists on the use of DDT. The controversial insecticide was patented in 1937 by Swiss chemist Paul Müller, who was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Mexican Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection Francisco Giner de los Ríos underlined the importance of regional cooperation in developing alternative strategies for fighting malaria.
"In Mexico we have succeeded in adopting an integrated approach to preventing and combating malaria, without having to use DDT, and we have also cooperated with countries in Central America to help them do the same. We hope that this example will be followed by others," he told the conference Thursday.
Mexico was a major producer of DDT from the 1950s until the year 2000, when it completely eliminated its use. It currently implements an integrated malaria control programme that includes community participation in cleaning out gutters and other sources of water where mosquitoes can breed, as well as volunteer work to raise awareness of the disease and distribute preventive medications.
This is precisely the strategy proposed by environmentalists.
"We believe that DDT can be eliminated and malaria can be brought under control at the same time. The disease can be fought without the need for this particular pesticide," Mexican environmentalist Fernando Bejarano González of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) commented to IPS.
"What is needed is an integral approach involving community participation. It is not simply a matter of replacing one chemical with another, but rather of developing a comprehensive strategy," said the activist, who is participating in the conference as an observer.
India, currently the world's largest producer of DDT, has begun to implement original, alternative methods to fight malaria, such as the use of fish that eat the larvae of the mosquitoes that spread the disease, he noted.
But Bejarano González stressed that the banning of DDT should be accompanied by large-scale public information campaigns, especially aimed at farmers.
Otherwise, "there is the risk that they will go back to using the pesticide illegally, because it is cheap, effective and can be easily smuggled in thanks to the lack of customs controls, which has been made worse by free trade agreements," he warned.
For his part, Paul Saoke of the Kenya Association of Physicians and Medical Workers for Social Responsibility told IPS that governments should seek ways of fighting this disease without the use of chemical products.
However, he added, when it is absolutely necessary, it is better to use pyrethroid pesticides, which are considered "non-persistent" chemicals (meaning that they break down easily) to fumigate homes.
The conference in Punta del Este is being attended by some 800 representatives from over 70 countries, including 50 government ministers and deputy ministers. On the last day of the meeting, a speech is scheduled to be given by Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez, an oncologist. In the negotiations on DDT, Togo, Botswana and Yemen asked for further exemptions, to allow them to use the pesticide against new outbreaks of malaria, while Venezuela reported that it still has small reserves of the chemical for experimental purposes.
UN May Add New Chemicals to 'Dirty Dozen' Ban - toxins in Lindane, Chlordecone UN May Add New Chemicals to 'Dirty Dozen' Ban
URUGUAY: May 9, 2005
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/30716/story.htm
PUNTA DEL ESTE, Uruguay - Countries at a UN meeting in Uruguay agreed on Friday to consider adding four new chemicals to the "dirty dozen" list of banned pesticides and industrial chemicals, a UN official said.
The week-long meeting that concluded on Friday also sought to reduce the legal exemptions included in the 2004 UN ban on the world's most hazardous substances blamed for deaths, cancer or birth defects in humans and animals.
But exemptions for some toxins such as DDT were maintained to allow their use to fend off deadly insects despite their harmful effects.
"We are very satisfied. The results here are not academic achievements but they are achievements for all people in the world," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, which organized the conference.
About 800 officials from around the world gathered in the Uruguayan beach resort of Punta del Este to bolster the Stockholm Convention to eliminate so-called persistent organic pollutants, or POPs.
The convention has been ratified by 98 of the 151 countries that signed it. The United States and Russia are among those nations yet to ratify the accord.
"Four chemicals have already been mentioned for further research and integration, for example lindane, a pesticide widely used around the world. These are very important chemicals," said Toepfer.
POPs build up in fatty tissues and traces can be found in every person in the world.
The candidates for being phased out include two flame retardants called pentabrominated diphenyl ether (penta-BDE) and hexabromobiphenyl (Hexa-BB).
The other two culprits are the insecticide lindane and the pesticide chlordecone.
The working group to study these four will meet in October or November. It could take up to three years before they are formally included in the ban.
Environmentalist group WWF had proposed 20 chemicals be added to the ban.
EXEMPTIONS UPHELD
The conference upheld exemptions for some toxins -- most importantly the anti-malarial DDT and termite killer mirex -- in some countries because the death and damage caused by their disuse was considered to be worse than the harm they cause. The list of exemptions is reviewed every three years.
"The convention required this meeting to determine whether DDT continues to be essential to health protection and the decision was yes," said John Buccini, acting executive secretary of the Stockholm Convention.
While DDT is banned for use on crops, about 20 countries spray some 7,500 tonnes of the chemical every year in their homes to kill mosquitoes. Malaria kills 1 million people a year.
The UN estimates termites cause $30 billion a year in damage by chomping through wooden buildings, bridges and crops.
Environmentalists were pleased with the possible widening of the ban but said the commitment from some governments was still too weak.
They say countries need to find ways of financing poor countries who adopt more costly alternatives to the hazardous chemicals.
"I'm not happy at all. What was lacking at this meeting was a greater commitment from governments and multilateral organizations to increase financing, especially to developing nations," said Clifton Curtis, director of WWF's Global Toxics Program.
Story by Patricia Avila
U.N. to review "dirty dozen" chemicals
Last Updated: 2005-04-29 13:56:19 -0400 (Reuters Health)
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2005/04/29/eline/links/20050429elin018..html
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (Reuters) - A U.N. meeting in Uruguay next week will review a convention banning a "dirty dozen" industrial chemicals.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are among the most dangerous of all man-made products or wastes, causing deaths, diseases and birth defects among humans and animals. The
Stockholm Convention, which entered into force in May 2004, aims to ban or strictly control production, import, export, disposal and use of POPs. U.N. experts will meet in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from May 2 to 6 for a first review.
The 12 POPs are:
ALDRIN - A pesticide used to kill termites, grasshoppers and other insect pests. It can also kill birds, fish and humans. In one incident, aldrin-treated rice is thought to have killed hundreds of shorebirds along Texas's Gulf Coast.
CHLORDANE - Used to control termites and as a broad insecticide on a range of crops. Tests show it can kill birds and fish, may affect the human immune system and could be a carcinogen.
DDT - Perhaps the best known of the group, DDT was widely used during World War II to protect soldiers and civilians from malaria, typhus and other diseases spread by insects. About 20 nations have an opt-out to continue to use it to combat malaria. Long-term exposure has been associated with chronic ailments in humans. It also thins the shells of birds' eggs.
DIELDRIN - Used mainly to control termites and textile pests, it is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic creatures, especially frogs. In a U.S. survey, dieldrin was the second most common pesticide found in pasteurised milk.
DIOXINS - These chemicals are produced due to incomplete combustion, as well as from the manufacture of pesticides and other chlorinated substances. They are emitted mostly from the burning of hospital waste, municipal waste and hazardous waste and have been linked to a number of adverse effects in humans, including immune and enzyme disorders.
ENDRIN - An insecticide sprayed on the leaves of crops such as cotton and grains, it is also used to control mice and other rodents. It can persist in the soil for up to 12 years and find its way to water, where it is highly toxic to fish.
FURANS - Compounds created unintentionally from many of the same processes that produce dioxins, furans have been found in emissions from waste incinerators and automobiles. They are similar to dioxins and produce many of the same toxic effects.
HEPTACHLOR - Mostly used to kill soil insects and termites, it is believed to be responsible for the decline of many wild bird populations, including Canada geese and American kestrels in the Columbia River basin of the United States. High doses are also fatal to mink, rats and rabbits. It is classified as a possible human carcinogen.
HEXACHLOROBENZENE (HCB) - Introduced in 1945 to treat weeds, it kills fungi that affect food crops. When people in eastern Turkey ate HCB-treated seed grain between 1954 and 1959, they developed a variety of symptoms including colic. Several thousand developed a metabolic disorder called porphyria turcica and 14 percent died. HCB is found in food of all types.
MIREX - An insecticide mainly used to combat fire ants that has also been used as a fire retardant in plastics, rubber and electrical goods. Direct exposure does not seem to cause injury to humans but it has been classified as a possible human carcinogen.
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBs) - These compounds are used in industry as heat exchange fluids, in electric transformers and as additives in paint and plastics. They are toxic to fish and have been linked to reproductive failure and immune system suppression in a number of wild animals including seals and mink. Large numbers of people have been exposed to PCBs through food contamination. Consumption of PCB-contaminated rice oil in Japan in 1968 and Taiwan in 1979 caused pigmentation of nails and fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Children born up to seven years after the Taiwan incident in infected mothers showed developmental delays and behavioural problems.
TOXAPHENE - An insecticide used on cotton, cereal grains, fruits, nuts and vegetables. It is highly toxic to fish and listed as a possible cause for cancer among humans.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited