Geneva, 8 May 2015: The EU has pushed dangerous cleanup standards for three toxic flame retardant chemicals widely used in building insulation, upholstery and electronics (HBCD, PentaBDE, and OctaBDE) at a UN meeting of chemicals treaties in Geneva, Switzerland. All three toxic chemicals are listed in the Stockholm Convention for global elimination. They are ubiquitous in the environment globally and can disrupt human hormone systems, creating potential adverse effects on the development of the nervous system and children’s IQ.
IPEN organized a successful side event during the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions' Conference of the Parties: "Waste & Synergies between Basel and Stockholm Conventions: Understanding the Links and Implications" Alan Watson (Public Interest Consultants and IPEN), Jindrich Petrlik (Arnika Toxics and Waste Programme and IPEN's Dioxin, PCBs and Waste Working Group), and Jim Puckett (Basel Action Network) made presentations.
A new survey found toxic flame retardant chemicals from electronic waste are recycled into plastic children’s toys for sale in the European Union. Measurements of 21 toys purchased in six EU countries found that 43% of them contained significant levels of OctaBDE and/or DecaBDE. OctaBDE is listed in the Stockholm Convention for global elimination.
In the run-up to the 7th Conference of the Parties (COP7), IPEN has released its "Quick Views of Stockholm Convention COP7." This document is a summary statement of IPEN views on issues that COP7 will be called upon to address, including POPs wastes, tecnical assistance and regional centres, rules of procedure, compliance, listing of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in Annex A, listing of hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) in Annex A and C, exemptions and acceptable purposes, evaluation of PFOS, and more.
More than 100 tonnes of highly toxic waste will have to remain at Botany after the French government vetoed plans by chemical giant Orica to ship it from Sydney to France for incineration.