Ban on toxic chemicals reviewed
May 4, 2005
An international summit has opened in Uruguay to review an international treaty banning some of the most dangerous man-made chemicals.
Delegates from the UN, NGOs, and 130 countries are discussing how to implement the Stockholm Convention.
The measure, which came into force last year, aims to ban or strictly control the production, use and disposal of 12 "persistent organic pollutants".
These chemicals can cause cancer or damage the immune system.
'Dirty Dozen'
BBC South America correspondent Elliott Gotkine says that because it is the first time they are meeting, the delegates will be starting from scratch.
They have to agree on the institutions and the rules needed to implement the Stockholm Convention
Also on the agenda at the conference in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este is the creation of a committee that will ban new chemicals.
At present, the Stockholm Convention, which is legally binding, targets the 12 persistent organic pollutants - nicknamed "the dirty dozen".
They include:
- The insecticide DDT, which harms wildlife and thins the shells of birds' eggs
- PCBs, which are used in electronic transformers and are believed to be carcinogenic
- Dioxins, which are emitted when hazardous waste is burned and which are thought to damage the human immune system.
This means that signatories are not supposed to produce them, use them or sell them. They should also be destroying their stocks.
Some countries, though, have won certain exemptions.
More than 20 mainly African nations, for example, can continue using DDT because it is widely used in killing and repelling malarial mosquitoes.
Their exemption, though, will be reviewed every three years.
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