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BEGINNING OF THE END OF TOXIC POLLUTION: WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS CHEMICALS TO BE BANNED Greenpeace Press Release JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 10 December 2000 -- Greenpeace welcomed the final draft of an historic global treaty to phaseout some of the most dangerous chemicals on earth, agreed today by world governments gathered in South Africa.(1) "This agreement sends a clear message to industries that they must reform and stop using our earth as a testing ground fortheir dangerous pollutants. Crucially, the tap that pours new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into our environment will now be turned off," said Kevin Stairs,Greenpeace political advisor. "Now we can also eliminate those that are contaminating us today and put an end to this toxic legacy, the result of 50years of unregulated environmental abuse," he added. The treaty aims to put an end to the manufacture and use of new industrial POPs chemicals as well as eliminating existingPOPs. The "Dirty Dozen" POPs targeted by the treaty (2) include POPs pesticides and PCBs, used as insulation in electrical transformers, as well as unwantedindustrial by-products, such as dioxins that can cause cancers in humans. (3) These chemicals are some of the most dangerous on earth and are contaminating the environment and affecting humanhealth worldwide. Exposure to POPs has been linked to a wide range of effects on the health and development of both wildlife and humans including cancers,endometriosis, learning disorders and the disruption of the hormone system. Of particular concern are the toxic effects of persistent organic pollutants on youngchildren and the developing foetus. The world has also agreed that, in order to work towards dioxin elimination, there is a need to replace materials, productsand production processes which release dioxins with non dioxin polluting substitutes. Dioxins are primarily released during the incineration of wastes and byindustries that use chlorine during their manufacturing processes, such as when making PVC plastic. The treaty will be based on a precautionary approach, which urges action to be taken to protect against potential harm tohuman health and the environment. It also recognises that lack of scientific certainty should not prevent action. A global commitment was made to help developing countries fund the elimination of POPs, a prerequisite for manycountries if the world's POPs problem is to be solved. "It is encouraging that these chemicals, which are wreaking havoc around the world are to go. This is a significant steptowards a toxic free future, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make it effective. The foundations have been laid, but the real work starts now," said Stairs. Notes to Editors (1) The treaty will be adopted in Stockholm in May 2001 (2) The UNEP "Dirty Dozen" are dioxins, furans,PCBs, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, heptachlor, DDT, dieldrin, chlordane, toxaphene, aldrin and endrin. (3) The US EPA estimates that, over a lifetime of 70years, the risk of contracting cancer from exposure to dioxin is as high as one in a thousand. Stills and footage of interviews with people affected by pollution in several countries across the globe, including sources ofindustrial pollution, are available on request. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
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