UN Expert Committee recommends global action on outdated DDT-Contaminated Pesticide
(Rome, Italy) A UN technical committee has determined that Dicofol, an outdated DDT-contaminated pesticide should be eliminated globally under the Stockholm Convention, an international treaty that bans the world’s most hazardous chemical pollutants.
The week-long meeting of the Stockholm Convention’s expert committee was held from 17-20th October 2017 and attended by many industry associations and companies involved in the production and use of fluorinated chemicals.
In Rome, the expert committee tackled a recommendation for adding PFOA to the treaty, including possible exemptions for continued uses. PFOA is known as the ‘Teflon chemical’ or C8 and has widely polluted drinking water throughout the world. The Committee began evaluation of the industry’s fluorinated substitute, PFHxS, which has been widely used as an alternative for PFOS.
(Gothenburg, Sweden) Decorative paint containing levels of lead dangerous to children is widely available in more than 50 low- and middle-income countries, according to a new report released today by IPEN, an international organization promoting safe and sustainable chemical use. Lead in Solvent-Based Paints for Home Use -Global Reportis the world’s most comprehensive review of lead in paint sold around the world and brings together data from all paint studies conducted since 2009 in 55 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The report also includes never before released data from new studies conducted in 2017 in 19 countries.
“It is really quite shocking that manufacturers continue to produce lead paints for use in homes, schools and day care centers knowing that exposing children to lead can lead to permanent brain damage, especially since safer paint ingredients have been available and in use for decades,” said Dr. Sara Brosché, Campaign Manager, IPEN Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaign. “While some major producers have begun removing lead from their products, an alarming amount of lead paint containing lead levels dangerous to children continues to be sold in all regions of the world,” Brosché added.
