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A Toxics-Free Future

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Highlights Front Roll

Semia Gharbi Wins Goldman Environmental Prize!

Semia Gharbi Wins Goldman Environmental Prize!

BRS COP 2025

BRS COP 2025

Plastics Treaty INC-5

Plastics Treaty INC-5 to SPP

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Threats to Human Health

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Threats to Human Health

Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception

Chemical Recycling StopPoisonPlastic.org Link

See StopPoisonPlastic.org - our website on toxic plastics

StopPoisonPlastic.org Link

New Report: The Arctic’s Plastic Crisis

Arctics Report to SPP

Global Talks on Harmful Chemicals Begin This Week

Monday, 06 June 2022

Geneva, Switzerland IPEN members from around the world are gathering in Geneva, Switzerland from June 6 to 17 at the meetings of the global Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions. IPEN is an official observer group at the meetings, with a role of educating delegates and contributing to the Convention talks to promote the need for stronger protections for our health and the environment. The talks will cover a wide range of issues, from toxic chemicals in plastics to the need for stronger protections from hazardous wastes.

Read more from the BRS COP 2022

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How the United Nations could avoid silencing voices during Plastic Treaty negotiations

Without consideration of the public and experts from the most affected and vulnerable regions, a global Plastics Treaty cannot meaningfully resolve the crisis.
Tuesday, 31 May 2022

by Jane Patton and Tadesse Amera

This op-ed appeared 30 May 2022 in Environmental Health News

In March 2022, 175 countries came together in an agreement to begin negotiations on a global treaty to address the plastic crisis.

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Toward a Plastics Treaty

Plastic Treaty INC-1

 

See all of our work on toxic plastics at StopPoisonPlastic.org. 

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has called for this meeting of an ad hoc open-ended working group to prepare for the work of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on a Plastics Treaty. UNEA resolution 5/14 specifies that the INC is to develop an international legally binding agreement based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, and, among other provisions, calls for an agreement

“To promote sustainable production and consumption of plastics, including, among others, product design, and environmentally sound waste management, including through resource efficiency and circular economy approaches.”

IPEN believes that an understanding of the following three principles will be foundational for a Plastics Treaty that addresses the human health and climate threats from plastics throughout their lifecycle, and for promoting alternatives that truly meet the needs of a circular economy.

Watch Plastics Video

UNEA5

How the Plastic Pollution Resolution relates to chemicals and health

Wednesday, 13 April 2022 - 4:38pm

In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) approved a broad mandate to start talks on an international treaty to address the growing threats from plastic pollution. The scope of the Plastics Treaty is intended to include all impacts from plastics throughout their lifecycle, including effects from the toxic chemicals in plastics on human health and the environment. The future treaty will be a key legally binding agreement moving the world towards a toxic free future.

In IPEN’s analysis, based on the mandate, the final agreement must address the health impacts of plastics and their chemicals in four ways:

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Document: 
Mercury

Mercury Use Restricted for Dental Amalgam and CFL at COP4

More funding is needed for contaminated sites from gold mining
Monday, 28 March 2022

Nusa Dua, Indonesia After difficult and tense negotiations, the Fourth Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Minamata Convention on Mercury agreed that parties shall not allow or shall recommend against the use of mercury based dental amalgam in deciduous teeth, children under 15 and pregnant and breast-feeding women.

This ground-breaking decision, proposed by the African region, is an acknowledgement by global governments that mercury based dental amalgam can impact human health despite decades of industry claims that it is safe.

IPEN representative Gilbert Kuepouo said, “This breakthrough decision, is the beginning of the end of dental amalgam use around the world. There is finally official acknowledgement that mercury fillings can have adverse health effects on women and children. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin, and it cannot be justified any longer to place it in the mouth of women and children. While we don’t have a global phase out date yet, this decision means that a full phase out is just a matter of time.”

In other decisions there was agreement that the last category of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) would be phased out by 2025 as LED alternatives are now widely available.

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Plastics Treaty

Panelists Agree Chemicals Important to Future Plastic Treaty

Tuesday, 15 March 2022

Nairobi, Kenya While some attempt to cast the global plastics crisis as a problem with disposal and litter, a distinguished panel at UNEA 5.2 confirmed that the future plastics treaty must address the problem of toxic chemical additives in plastics. The resolution to initiate the international process for a global, binding plastic treaty does not itself contain specific language about chemicals. However, two speakers underscored that the resolution's scope is broad enough to allow chemicals to be negotiated in the final treaty text. IPEN was lauded for its work to reveal the presence of such chemicals — recognized toxics such as BPA, PFAS, brominated flame retardants, dioxins, and other chemicals — in recycled pellets and products, as well its work to expose problems with bans on the export of plastic waste as fuel.

Watch the panel

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Plastics Treaty

UN Environment Assembly Moves to End Plastic Pollution

Approves New International Scientific Panel on Chemicals
Thursday, 03 March 2022
Press Releases: 

For Immediate Release
2 March 2022
Attn: Environment and Global Health News
Contacts: Björn Beeler, bjornbeeler@ipen.org

United Nations Environment Assembly Enters new Era to End Plastic Pollution, and approves a new international scientific panel on chemicals

Nairobi, Kenya After 10 days of intense negotiations, governments adopted three resolutions relevant to chemicals and plastics under the resumed fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2). These decisions include:

  • A resolution to start talks later this year to agree on a legally binding instrument to tackle plastic pollution focusing on prevention and promoting sustainable production and consumption of plastics. The resolution covers all types of potential pollution and the whole lifecycle of plastics;
  • A resolution agreeing to start discussions to create a scientific panel on chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention;
  • A resolution that renews the Special Program that provides financial support to developing countries to develop programs contributing to the sound management of chemicals and waste. Additionally, the resolution calls for a new report on the state of the science on endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Plastics: Governments approved a broad mandate to start talks on a plastics treaty. IPEN believes that the treaty should help prevent health threats from the widely used hazardous chemicals embedded in plastics, such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These chemicals include phthalates, bisphenols, brominated flame retardants, and PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”. All of these are chemicals known to cause severe harm to health. When recycled, these chemicals can potentially expose vulnerable populations to health threats.

IPEN says the treaty needs to have legally binding provisions to help reduce the use of plastics products. Based on current forecasts of huge growth in plastic and chemical production and use, slowing down this growth is crucial to defend the health of the planet and of people.

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