What's New
U.S. Congress Clashes over Global POPS Treaty
Nearly five years after signing the Stockholm POPs Convention, the United States is once again considering implementing legislation. The Center for International Environmental Law has prepared an analysis of the rival bills and will testify on behalf of ten health and environmental organizations at a legislative hearing on March 2, 2006.
More Evidence of POPs in People
A new government study reveals an array of dangerous chemicals, including many POPs, in the bodies of ordinary Americans. The latest results from the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show downward trends for lead and tobacco smoke, but widespread continuing exposure to a host of metals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals. In an important related report, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) documents an alarming 287 dangerous chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of ten newborn babies.
Five Chemicals Up For POPs Review
At the first Conference of the Parties (COP1) in May 2005, countries proposed chemicals for possible listing under the Stockholm Convention. This represents an important step toward ensuring a dynamic treaty that is capable of protecting people and the environment from the dangers of persistent pollutants beyond the initial “dirty dozen” POPs.
States and the Stockholm Convention
State and local actions to remove persistent, bioaccumulative toxics are in sync with the international toxics movement, even as the U.S. government sits out the global POPs treaty kick-off in Uruguay. The new CIEL report by Karen Perry Stillerman, U.S. States and the Global POPs Treaty: Parallel Progress in the Fight Against Toxic Pollution, offers an American perspective on the Stockholm Convention. It highlights a range of approaches underway in Maine, California, and Washington to demonstrate leadership on environmental health.
COP1: The World Hops on POPs!
More than 600 delegates and 130 countries gathered in Punta del Este, Uruguay for the historic first official meeting of parties to the Stockholm POPs Convention. The occasion represents an important milestone this ambitious agreement. Key items on the agenda included developing rules of procedure and establishing the POPs Review Committee, the international scientific body that will consider adding pollutants to the treaty.
The Chicken or the Egg?
A new survey of chemical contaminants reveals alarming levels of pollutants in the eggs of free-ranging chickens. The results obtained near polluting sources in 17 countries on five continents underscore the pervasive exposure to some of the most dangerous industrial and agricultural toxics. The International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) study underscores the need for drastic reductions deliberate and unintended release of persistent organic pollutants.
