Work by IPEN members EARTH (Ecology Alert and Recovery Thailand) and Arnika was featured in a news report by PBS Thailand, focusing on their findings of high levels of POPs in duck eggs in Chachoengsao, eastern Thailand, a site close to an e-waste disposal factory.
IPEN has engaged in the science-to-policy (Science-Policy) discussions under the BRS and Minamata Conventions, SAICM, and the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) for many years. In March 2022, UNEA adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a new Science-Policy Panel to support action on chemicals, waste, and pollution.
The first Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) meeting to develop the Science-Policy panel took place in Nairobi in October 2022.
The resumed session (OEWG 1.2) takes place in Bangkok from 30 January to 3 February 2023. Follow IPEN on social media for updates during the week of the event.
BANGKOK/PRAGUE – Recently published analysis confirmed that communities in the Chachoengsao province face severe food chain contamination with some of the world's most toxic chemicals caused by improper electronic waste processing. Samples of analyzed soil, sediments, and duck eggs, common food rich in nutrients, contained record levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) [1].
8 December 2022, JAKARTA - Indonesian NGO Nexus3 and Czech environmental NGO Arnika are calling for a global treaty on plastics pollution, an international legally binding instrument to address the use and release of hazardous chemicals in Indonesia and around the world. Their joint call follows a new study revealing the presence of toxic substances in ash, soil, and egg samples from Karawang village in West Java. The NGOs decided to focus on the village of Karawang because plastic waste and old tyres are burned as fuel in lime production, which harms the environment and human health.
The 10th Annual International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) is October 23-29, 2022.
About 50 participating organizations of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) from over 40 countries are taking part in the ILPPW. See their activities here.
Research on PFAS and brominated dioxins shows ongoing health threats from toxic chemicals
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
New Orleans - At the Dioxin 2022 Conference beginning here on October 9, Dr. Jindrich Petrlik will present a recent study that demonstrates the failure of using high temperature approaches to eliminate wastes that contain the “forever chemicals” PFAS, and Valeriya Grechko will present another recent paper that found high levels of brominated dioxins in recycled plastic products purchased in eleven African, Arabic, and Latin American countries.
(Rome, Italy) A U.N. expert scientific review committee has evaluated two toxic, chemical additives found in many common plastics and has concluded the evidence of the substances harm to health and the environment qualify them for global elimination, recommending that the chemicals be listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
The Eighteenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee is scheduled to address the following issues; see the document below for IPEN's positions.
See the IPEN video showing how exports of plastics and plastic waste, mostly from wealthy countries, bring toxic chemicals to Africa, exposing children and families to harmful chemicals and poisoning the circular economy.
A study published this month in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research co-authored by IPEN co-chair Pamela Miller with a group of scientists, colleagues from Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), and Indigenous community leaders found that highly toxic chemicals have accumulated in the bodies of seals, whales, and reindeer of the northern Bering Sea, contaminating vital food sources of Arctic Indigenous people.
The researchers coordinated with Indigenous hunters to collect tissue samples from traditionally harvested animals and found that toxic flame retardants (PBDEs) that were phased out in the U.S. in 2004 were frequently detected in all samples. The “forever chemicals” PFAS, substances linked to cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, and other health conditions, were also found in some samples. The study concluded that “…PBDEs are present in tissues of traditional food animals… and consumption of these animals likely contributes to exposure among Arctic Indigenous Peoples.”
