The Next Generation of POPS: PBDEs and Lindane

Ann Blake, Ph.D.

April 2005

IPEN has collected chicken eggs from hot spots around the world and analyzed them for the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH, lindane). The eggs were obtained from locations near hazardous waste and municipal solid waste incinerators, waste dumps and locations near petroleum and other industrial chemical plants. The results and potential health and environmental impacts of these chemicals are presented below. These data in combination with existing data on PBDEs and lindane support IPEN’s contention that these chemicals have the same chemical characteristics as the dirty dozen initially listed in the Stockholm Convention, and should be added as targets for global elimination.