March/April 1997
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March/April 1997 |
by John Buccini
In May 1995 the United Nations Environment Program began an assessment process of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) focusing on 12 substances of concern. Consensus has been built in various international forums around a report that was recently endorsed by the United Nations Environment Program Governing Council (UNEP GC) and that will be considered by the World Health Assembly in May 1997. The report concludes that enough is known to demonstrate the need for international action, including a globally binding agreement to reduce risks to human health and the environment arising from the use of the 12 POPs.
Background
POPs are organic compounds of natural or human origin that resist breaking down in the environment from exposure to chemical and biological processes and sunlight. They generally dissolve more easily in fat than water and thus accumulate in fatty tissues of living organisms. POPs are able to move long distances, being transported in the atmosphere and by fresh and marine waters, resulting in widespread distribution across the earth, including regions where they have never been used. Humans and other organisms are exposed to POPs around the world, often for extended periods of time.
International Initiatives
In recent years, concern over POPs has been growing in many countries, resulting in actions to protect human health and the environment being taken or proposed. At the regional level, these include the United Nations Economic Commission for Europes Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (see initiative described in "Briefs" on page 11), the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy and the Barcelona Resolution on the Environment and Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean Basin. More recent international initiatives include the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities and the assessment of POPs initiated by the UNEP GC.
Under the May 1995 decision of the UNEP GC, the process for assessing POPs would take the regional initiatives into account, as well as international programs and procedures on chemical management, and the circumstances of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The assessment would begin with a short list of 12 POPs in order to complete the following tasks:
Implementation
An ad hoc working group was formed at a meeting convened by UNEP in Washington, D.C. in October 1995. The meeting agreed on terms of reference, a work plan and the resources that would be needed to complete the tasks identified by the UNEP GC. The working group would include representatives that provide a global mix of countries producing, exporting, importing, using and receiving POPs. It also would include industry associations, public interest groups, other international organizations concerned with chemical issues and Canada as the chair.
At a meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) in Canberra, Australia in March 1996, governments decided that there was sufficient information to warrant immediate international action after considering a report that summarized the available scientific information and some information on the socioeconomic issues associated with POPs.
The assessment process continued with an experts meeting held in Manila in June 1996, co-hosted by the Republic of the Philippines and Canada t address the sources, benefits and risks associated with production and use of POPs, available alternatives and related socioeconomic issues. The working group then met in Manila and reviewed the results of the experts meeting, addressed the outstanding policy issues and developed a consensus report. This IFCS report, which contains information and recommendations on international action, was submitted to UNEP and the World Health Organization for consideration at their 1997 sessions.
Outcomes
While numerous conclusions and recommendations were included in the report of the working group, the primary conclusion was that available information is sufficient to demonstrate the need for international action, including a global legally binding agreement to reduce the risks to human health and the environment from the release of the 12 specified POPs.
The report recommended that UNEP GC and the World Health Organization initiate immediate international action to protect human health and the environment through measures to reduce or eliminate the emissions and discharges of the 12 specified POPs. Where appropriate, the production and then the remaining use of intentionally produced POPs should also be eliminated. Socioeconomic factors should be addressed in developing and implementing international action.
It also recommended that UNEP convene, together with other relevant international organizations, an intergovernmental negotiating committee with a mandate to prepare an international legally binding agreement for implementing international action, beginning with the 12 specified POPs and taking the working groups conclusions and recommendations into account. The working group recommended that an expert group be established at the first meeting of the intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop expeditiously science-based criteria and a procedure for identifying additional POPs as candidates for future international action.
Finally, several recommendations were made to improve development of and access to information on a wide range of topics related to the 12 specified POPs and to their alternatives. UNEP has established an information clearinghouse including an "open file" in the form of an electronic POPs database on the Internet in response to the needs for improved access to existing and future information on issues being addressed by the working group.
The IFCS working group report was endorsed by the UNEP GC at its January 27-February 7, 1997 meeting. The UNEP GC agreed to convene, by early 1998, an intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop a global legally binding agreement and requested UNEP to undertake immediate action on POPs in support of national and regional efforts to reduce risks to human health and the environment. It is expected that a similar positive response to the working group report will be forthcoming at the May 1997 meeting of the World Health Assembly.
POPs is short for persistent organic pllutants. The United Nations Environment Program began its assessment of POPs by focusing on 12 of these substances:
Fluids with many electric and hydraulic uses
PCBs*
Byproducts of manufacturing and burning processes
dioxins*
furans*
hexachlorobenzene*
Pesticides
aldrin
dieldrin*
DDT*
endrin
chlordane
mirex*
toxaphene*
heptachlor
hexachlorobenzene*
*These substances were also among the 11 critical pollutants recommended for priority action by the International Joint Commissions Great Lakes Water Quality Board in 1985.
For more information, contact John Buccini, Director of the Commercial Chemicals Evaluation Branch, Environmental Protection Service, Environment Canada, 351 St. Joseph Boulevard, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3. (819)997-1499; fax (819)953-4936; email John.Buccini@ec.gc.ca. The report of the ad hoc Working Group on POPs (IFCS/WG.POPs/Report.1) may be obtained by email from John Buccini.
sommaire
En mai 1995, le Programme des Nations Unies pour lenvironnement a entrepris un processus dévaluation des polluants organiques persistants (POP) portant sur 12 substances dintérêt prioritaire. On sest entendu sur diverses tribunes des Nations Unies en ce qui a trait à un rapport qui a été récemment endossé par le Conseil dadministration du Programme des Nations Unies pour lenvironnement (CA PNUE) et qui sera considéré en mai 1997 par lAssemblée mondiale de la Santé. Le rapport conclut que nous en savons assez pour démontrer la nécessité dune mesure internationale, notamment une convention à léchelle mondiale visant à réduire les risques que présente lutilisation de ces 12 POP pour la santé humaine et lenvironnement.
Revised: April 14, 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net