A child eating one egg from near an E-waste recycling site in Ghana is exposed to more dioxins than the tolerable limit for 5 years
Wednesday, 01 June 2022
A new review of data from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America has found that cancer-causing dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), unintentionally produced chemicals regulated in developed countries since the 1990s and internationally since 2004, continue to poison the food supply, at concentrations that pose serious health threats.
Quezon City, Philippines Organizations around the world have joined forces to call for a global ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) ahead of the World Environment Day. Also known as the “forever chemicals,” PFAS do not break down in the environment and build up in the bodies of humans and wildlife over time, resulting in adverse health effects.
From June 6-17, IPEN members will participate in the Meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. Check this page for updates throughout the meetings.
POPs waste is defined, according Article 6 of the Stockholm Convention, by setting Low POPs Content Levels (LPCLs). This establishes an important kind of “limit value” because POPs waste should be treated such that POPs are either destroyed or irreversibly transformed. They cannot be landfilled, reused, or recycled, because POPs content in that waste would also be recycled and thus would not stop this chemical pollution from entering the environment.
Parties to the Stockholm and Basel Conventions have an opportunity to prevent toxic recycling through the substantial strengthening of limit values for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in waste, known as Low POPs Content Levels. Establishing strong limit values for POPs in waste today will significantly promote the future of a toxic-free circular economy, because it will promote innovation in recycling, increase the pressure on industrial designers to remove POPs from products, and ensure that the circular economy is not poisoned in its infancy.
Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) in Consumer Products Made of Recycled Plastic from Eleven Arabic and African Countries
Both the environment in Africa and the Arabic region and the human health of Africans and people from Arabic countries suffer from toxic chemicals and imported wastes, including illegal wastes, more than in developed countries.
A new report finds that many toys and other products made from recycled plastic sold in Africa and Arabic countries contain dioxins at levels equivalentto hazardous waste
Tuesday, 24 May 2022
For immediate release
Contact: RNDr. Jindrich Petrlik, Program Director, Arnika - Toxics and Waste Programme, IPEN advisor on dioxins and waste +420.603582984 jindrich.petrlik@arnika.org
Environmental groups call for support for strict limits on toxic chemicals in waste as proposed by African countries
The European Council is ignoring the planetary limits for dioxins during the French Presidency
Monday, 23 May 2022
For immediate release:
Prague, Gothenburg In an alarming proposal for strengthening the most toxic chemicals limits in waste, the Council of the European Union under the French presidency is pushing for setting extremely high limits for cancer-causing dioxins allowed in waste, favoring industry over the health and environment costs that would follow this decision.