By Pamela K. Miller, M.En., IPEN Co-Chair, and Rashmi Joglekar, Ph.D.
This article originally appeared in The Hill on 09/17/21
When President Biden took office, he pledged to protect people and the environment from toxic chemicals now poisoning communities across the United States. If he is serious about that promise, then his administration must align its foreign policies with its domestic commitments when it participates in the next meeting of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, an international treaty that prohibits dangerous pollutants that persist in the environment.
As countries are prepping for a consequential meeting early next year, the United States is behaving as the obstructionist in the room. With Biden’s nominee for the head of EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA) on the cusp of Senate approval, the EPA is well-positioned to act now and reverse this dangerous pattern of obstructionism.
More than 180 nations — but not the United States — are parties to the Stockholm Convention. Instead, the United States is an “observer.” While the United States is not a party and is not bound to the convention’s restrictions, our government has a long history of obstructing the convention’s efforts to ban some of the most dangerous toxic chemicals.
Earlier last month, a cargo ship carrying chemicals caught fire off the coast of Sri Lanka - leaving in its wake an environmental disaster that the island will likely have to live with for decades.
Colombo, Sri Lanka For days it stood burning off the Sri Lanka coast, plumes of thick dark smoke that could be seen from miles away. But the X-Press Pearl has now fallen silent, lying half sunken off the coast of Sri Lanka, its hull resting on the shallow ocean bed.
But though the flames have now been doused - the problems have only just begun.
Kathmandu, Nepal The World Wildlife Fund-WWF Nepal has awarded the ‘WWF Nepal Conservation Award 2020 to the Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) for the latter’s efforts at biodiversity and environment conservation. The award was presented at a virtual award ceremony on Wednesday afternoon for CEPHED’s initiatives for eliminating POPs and Mercury from the country’s health sector.
Ungefär var tionde kvinna i världen kämpar nu med infertilitet i minst 12 månader samtidigt som mängden och kvaliteten på spermier drastiskt minskat de senaste årtiondena.
Non-combustion technologies for the destruction of persistent organic pollutant (POP) waste have been around since the 1990’s. They provide a non-polluting and effective alternative to incineration of POPs waste, an old technology which continues to release and emit unintentional POPs (UPOPs). Incineration has become a trap with a never-ending cycle of attempted POPs waste destruction followed by more unintentional POPs creation in the form of dioxins and furans from the combustion process. Non-combustion processes can destroy the same waste and allow us to break free of the POPs cycle once and for all.
Panel recommends many household chemicals and pesticides be exempt from scrutiny and agricultural chemicals’ approvals be fast-tracked
Saturday, 03 April 2021
(The Guardian, AUSTRALIA)
Environment and health groups have fiercely criticised proposals to relax the regulation of chemicals and pesticides in Australia, saying they are “totally at odds” with public health and safety expectations.
IPEN congratulates longtime colleague Vi Waghiyi, Environmental Health and Justice Director at IPEN Participating Organization Alaska Community Action on Toxics, for her inclusion in the United States' Council on Environmental Quality's Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Vi has vital perspectives and years of important experience to lend to the Advisory Council and IPEN looks forward to improved action related to current and historic environmental injustices in the US.