GENEVA (AN) — Governments agreed to eliminate a widely used pesticide and two industrials chemicals after two weeks of negotiations under three global treaties in Geneva.
Methoxychlor, a pesticide, and two industrial chemicals, Dechlorane Plus and UV-328, are persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, to be eliminated under the legally binding Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, officials said on Monday.
Methoxychlor replaced DDT as a repellent against pests on crops, livestock and pets but is highly toxic to invertebrates and fish. Dechlorane Plus, a flame retardant, and UV-328, a UV absorbent, are heavily used as plastic additives.
The decision came at a meeting of more than 2,000 delegates from 180 countries that began on May 1 in Geneva, which is home to the three treaties' secretariat. Governments' monitoring results show that regulations targeting POPs have succeeded in reducing their levels in humans and the environment, officials said.
For the initial 12 POPs, the officials said, concentrations measured in air and in human populations have declined and continue to decline or remain at low levels.
Environmentalists have worked for years to eliminate pollutants including PCBs, dioxins and furans and pesticides like DDT that are commonly referred to as the "dirty dozen" but are no longer used in industrial countries like the United States.
With several legal deadlines looming this decade, Rolph Payet, the executive secretary of the three conventions, said nations will have to speed up their efforts to eliminate PCBs in equipment and to better manage liquids containing PCBs.
Delegates also decided to make terbufos, a pesticide widely used on corn, subject to prior informed consent with imports and exports, and to adopt technical guidelines on managing plastic, POPs and electronic wastes.
