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Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

On May 23, 2001, the United States signed the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) at a diplomatic conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Under the Convention, countries commit to reduce and/or eliminate the production, use, and/or release of the 12 POPs of greatest concern to the global community and to establish a mechanism by which additional chemicals may be added to the Treaty in the future. The United States strongly supported efforts to complete this important agreement, which will have wide-ranging environmental and health benefits. This document provides information about the POPs agreement, and how the United States is participating.

What are Persistent Organic Pollutants?

POPs are a set of chemicals that are toxic, persist in the environment for long periods of time, and biomagnify as they move up through the food chain. POPs have been linked to adverse effects on human health and animals, such as cancer, damage to the nervous system, reproductive disorders, and disruption of the immune system. Because they circulate globally via the atmosphere, oceans, and other pathways, POPs released in one part of the world can travel to regions far from their source of origin.

What Pollutants are Targeted by the Treaty?

The agreement initially targets a group of POPs, informally called the "dirty dozen." (See table below.) The "dirty dozen" include:
  • Certain insecticides, such as DDT and chlordane, which were once commonly used to control pests in agriculture and in building materials, as well as to protect public health, are now considered POPs.

  • PCBs, which were used in hundreds of commercial applications, such as in electrical, heat transfer, and hydraulic equipment, and as plasticizers in paints, plastics, and rubber products.

  • Certain chemical byproducts, such as dioxins and furans, which are produced unintentionally from most forms of combustion, including municipal and medical waste incinerators, open burning of trash, and industrial processes.
The "Dirty Dozen"
1=Pesticide          2=Industrial Chemical         3=Byproduct
aldrin1
hexachlorobenzene1,2,3
chlordane1
mirex1
DDT1
toxaphene1
dieldrin1
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)2,3
endrin1
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (dioxins)3
heptachlor1
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans (furans)3


US Domestic Actions on POPs

 The United States has taken strong domestic action to reduce emissions of POPs. None of the pesticide POPs are registered for sale and distribution in the United States today. In 1978, the US Congress prohibited the manufacture of new PCBs and severely restricted the use of remaining stocks.

Since 1987, EPA has been taking actions to effectively reduce environmental releases of dioxins and furans to land, air, and water from sources in the United States. An inventory of U.S. sources suggests that, in 1987, all known source activity contributed 13,998 grams of dioxins and furans to the environment, using a methodology developed by the World Health Organization called toxic equivalents, or WHO-TEQ. Regulatory actions have resulted in a 77% decline in total dioxin and furans releases between 1987 and 1995. When all current regulatory actions are fully implemented and enforced by the year 2004, the EPA predicts a further decrease of 92% in environmental releases from 1987 levels.

Additionally, EPA has sought to better understand the risks associated with dioxin emissions through its comprehensive dioxin reassessment, which the Agency anticipates releasing in 2001.

US International Actions on POPs

The United States has taken a leading role to reduce and/or eliminate certain POPs and their releases on a global basis. The United States has provided technical and financial assistance for POPs-related activities to a variety of countries and regions, including Mexico, Central and South America, Russia, Asia and Africa.

Useful POPs Web Sites
EPA

UN Environment Program
http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/default.html Exit EPA disclaimer

US Department of State
www.state.gov/g/oes/env/fs/ Exit EPA disclaimer
  • In 1997, Canada and the United States signed an agreement, the Canada-US Strategy for the Virtual Elimination of Persistent Toxic Substances in the Great Lakes Basin. The Strategy sets long-term goals to promote emissions reductions of toxic substances. For more information on this strategy, visit www.epa.gov/glnpo/.

  • Under the auspices of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation, Mexico, Canada and the United States have developed a regional initiative on the sound management of chemicals, which was formally adopted in October 1995. Under this initiative, the Commission can develop Regional Action Plans, which identify activities that reduce or eliminate risks from chemicals of concern. The Commission has already established such plans for PCBs, DDT, and chlordane and is developing action plans for dioxins, furans and HCB. For more information, visit www.cec.org.
    Exit EPA disclaimer

  • In 1998, the United States participated in negotiations for a legally-binding regional protocol with other members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) on POPs under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). This agreement seeks to eliminate production and reduce emissions of POPs in the UN-ECE region. Elements from the LRTAP POPs protocol were used in negotiations for the global POPs Treaty. For more information, visit www.unece.org/env/lrtap. Exit EPA disclaimer
The Global Treaty on POPs

The Stockholm POPs Convention will require all Parties to stop production and new uses of intentionally produced POPs, with limited country-specific and general exceptions. All new manufacture of PCBs is banned, and Parties are to take steps to reduce use of existing PCBs. DDT use is restricted to vector control (e.g., to control malaria-bearing mosquitoes), and is slated for ultimate elimination as cost-effective alternatives become available. Parties will also be required to implement rigorous controls on sources of POP byproducts to reduce releases. The Treaty also includes requirements for safe handling and disposal of POPs in an environmentally sound manner.

The Treaty also includes provisions restricting trade of POPs for which uses or production continue to exist and bans all export of POPs, except for environmentally sound management once there are no longer any uses allowed. In addition, a strong financial and technical assistance provision in the agreement will provide support to developing countries and countries in economic transition to assist them in implementing the obligations under the Treaty. Finally, the Treaty includes a science-based procedure to allow for the addition of other chemicals to the agreement.

The Bush Administration strongly supports the POPs Treaty and will transmit it for advice and consent of the Senate for ratification. The Treaty must be ratified by at least 50 countries to enter into force.

The table below lists the U.S. regulatory status of intentionally produced substances included in the POPs agreement.

POP
U.S. Regulatory Status under FIFRA and TSCS*
aldrin
• no US registrations, most uses canceled in 1969, all uses by 1987
• no production, import or export
• all tolerances on food crops revoked in 1986
chlordane
• no US registrations, most uses canceled in 1978, all uses by 1988
• no production (stopped in 1997), import or export
DDT
• no US registrations, most uses canceled in 1972, all by 1989
• no US production, import, or exports
• all tolerances on food and feed crops revoked in 1986
dieldrin
• no US registrations, most uses canceled in 1969, all uses by 1987
• no production, import, or export
• all tolerances on food crops revoked in 1986
endrin
• no US registrations, most uses canceled in 1979, all uses by 1984
• no production, import, or export
heptachlor
• most uses canceled by 1978, registrant voluntarily canceled use tocontrol fire ants in underground cable boxes in early 2000
• no production (stopped in 1997), import, or export
• all tolerances on food crops revoked in 1989
hexachloro-benzene(HCB)
• no US registrations as pesticide, all uses canceled by 1985
• no production, import, or export of HCB as pesticide• production as a chemical intermediate as allowed under the convention (TSCA)
mirex
• no U.S. registrations, all uses canceled by 1977
• no production, import, or export
PCBs
• manufacture and new use prohibited in 1978 (TSCA)
toxaphene
• no U.S. registrations, most uses canceled in 1982, all uses by 1990
• no production, import, or export
• all tolerances on food crops revoked in 1993
  FIFRA:Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
  TSCA:Toxic Substances Control Act
  * relevant statute authority is FIFRA unless otherwise noted.

For More Information on Pesticides

Visit EPA's web site for information on our regulatory programs and international activities: www.epa.gov/pesticides or www.epa.gov/oia.

The Office of Pesticide Programs provides a variety of materials regarding the regulation of pesticides, which are available in paper copy. For a list of our available publications, or for other pesticide information, please call 703-305-5017.

Information (general and technical) on pesticides and their toxicity, in addition to health related information, is available from the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network at 1-800-858-7378 or through their web site: ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/. Exit EPA disclaimer

For more information about the POPs Convention and other international activities, contact EPA's Office of International Activities at 202-564-6600.

 

 

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