Persistent chemicals treaty

It is estimated that about 100,000 chemicals are commercial worldwide. Among these, nearly 3,000 to 4,000 are actively traded, used, and disposed in every country (UNEP, 1992 Calow, 1997), of which a few hundred are designated hazardous ones and regulated by laws domestically and internationally. Chemicals with specific properties of persistence and trans-boundary occurrence are especially treated by international conventions or treaties. 

Recently, these concerns have been extensively addressed by the international community. In 2000, a treaty on persistent organic pollutants signed by 122 countries will ban or phase-out 12 long-lived pesticides and other toxic chemicals. These include DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordane, hep-tachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene, dioxins, furans, and PCBs. However, a reprieve is given to the use of DDT to control malaria in Africa, Latin America, and Asia for the reasons presented above concerning their overwhelming efficacy in controlling this deadly disease. 

Prior to entry into the area, intelligence assets shall provide the NATO operational and local commanders with suspected areas that contain TICs. The intelligence community shall endeavor to obtain all pertinent information involving production and storage facilities of TICs. At a minimum the type of TICs and quantities at each location shall be provided to the Commander. Additionally, there is a need for Commanders to be informed on the specific risk (fire, explosion, toxicity, corrosive effects, and persistency of gas) as well as the efficiency of collective and individual protection systems. Intelligence assets should query the appropriate scientific, civilian industrial and chemical warfare treaty experts in order to gather all applicable information. When possible, local industrial site survey forms shall be obtained for all identified sites. 

Toxics ceasing completely the use (including production, release, transfer and application) of key persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through complete and effective international treaty phasing out a selected list of endocrine dismpting chemicals (EDCs) and establishing an international... 

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, an international treaty, defines a chemical as persistent if its half-life in water is greater than two months, or the half-life in soil or sediment is greater than six months additionally, a chemical is considered to have the potential for long-range transport in air if its half-life (in air) is greater than two days. A high... 

National environmental laws often reflect two global treaties, the Rotterdam Convention and the Stockholm Convention. Brief summaries follow. The Rotterdam Convention establishes a prior informed consent (PIC) procedure for importing shipments of chemicals listed in Annex 111 of the convention and provides for information exchange between participating countries. Adopted in September 1998, it entered into force February 2004 [1]. The 2001 Stockholm Convention requires parties to the treaty to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into the environment [2]. As described in this chapter, regulations on persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances address POPs. Industry value in 1970 dollars adjusted for inflation using the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator at http //www.bls.gov/data/inflation calcula-tor.htm, equivalent to 1.01 trillion in 2010. 

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants An internadonalenvi-ronmental treaty that aims to eliminate, reduce, or restrict the production and use of chemicals described as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These are chemical substances capable of persisting in the environment and may pose a risk to human health and to the environment. Formed by the United Nations Environment Programme, the environmental treaty was established with cooperation of many international members and signed in 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Convention includes requirements that developed countries provide resources to ensure that POP production and use are eliminated, whether intentional or unintentional, and that they are disposed in environmentally responsible ways. 

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