In the run-up to the 7th Conference of the Parties (COP7), IPEN has released its "Quick Views of Stockholm Convention COP7." This document is a summary statement of IPEN views on issues that COP7 will be called upon to address, including POPs wastes, tecnical assistance and regional centres, rules of procedure, compliance, listing of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in Annex A, listing of hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) in Annex A and C, exemptions and acceptable purposes, evaluation of PFOS, and more.
On 29 April, an international conference on chemical safety in Kazakhstan will take place in Astana. Organized by IPEN Regional Hub Arnika (Czech Republic), in cooperation with IPEN Participating Organization EcoMuseum Karaganda (Kazakhstan), as well as the European Union and Institute of Chemical Technology Prague, the conference will highlight the results of a 2-year monitoring project that studied environmental pollution in selected hotspots caused by persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals, and its impact on health of local communities.
Anchorage, AK, USA; Toronto, ON, Canada; Texcoco, State of Mexico, Mexico:
Today, health, human rights, environmental justice, and conservation organizations across North America are calling on the governments of Mexico, Canada, and the United States to join them in opposition to the continued use of pentachlorophenol (PCP). Coalitions in each of the three countries are sending letters in advance of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in May 2015 demanding support for a global ban on PCP, as well as two additional substances (chlorinated naphthalenes & Hexachlorobutadiene) recommended for global elimination by a UN expert committee (aka POPs Review Committee).
Right next to Hortobagy National Park – the oldest and possibly most sensitive national park of Hungary - lies an abandoned toxic waste repository. Three to four thousand tonnes of dangerous chemicals (including trichloroethylene compounds and other chlorinated solvents, galvanic sludge and cyanide-based tempering salts) are flowing out freely from the mouldering barrels of the repository into the ground. The warehouse has no walls and its top is almost completely in ruins.
The Stockholm Convention established a science-based process for new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention. The Convention recognizes that a lack of full scientific certainty should not prevent a candidate substance from proceeding in the evaluation or listing and clearly mandates Parties to decide on listing “in a precautionary manner.” This new Guide (English /русский /español / français / العربية) highlights three new candidates for listing in the Convention in 2015 - pentachlorophenol, hexachlorobutadiene, and chlorinated naphthalenes - and provides the POPs Review Committee's recommendation for which annex the POPs should be listed under in the Convention, the chemicals' uses, alternatives, adverse effects, and more.
IPEN´s Dioxin Working Group, together with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), has sent an open letter to the European Union to oppose European Commission-funded construction of medical waste incinerators in the Pacific region. The letter is based on the analysis of the Pacific Hazardous Waste Management Project (Pac Waste) by IPENer Pawel Gluszynski in Poland.
Agrees that DecaBDE flame retardant is one of the world’s worst chemicals
(Rome) Press release in English and Français: A UN expert committee recommended the global elimination of pentachlorophenol – a pesticide used for wood treatment including utility poles. In its recommendation for the Stockholm Convention, the Committee cited pentachlorophenol’s persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport, and its toxic impacts. The Committee found wide availability of non-chemical alternatives that were much safer than pentachlorophenol. Governments around the world will decide on the recommendation in May 2015, but typically accept the recommendations of its expert committees.
