Canada starts fund to combat Arctic pollutants

August 15, 2000
Web posted at: 1:10 PM EDT (1710 GMT)

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada said on Monday it had established a $20 million (U.S. $13.5 million) fund to help developing countries reduce the production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which are rapidly building up in the Canadian Arctic.

Some experts link POPs -- which travel huge distances through both water and air -- to cancer, birth defects and various genetic abnormalities. The pollutants range from common pesticides such as DDT to industrial byproducts such as PCBs and dioxins.

Canadian Environment Minister David Anderson said the new fund -- to be administered by the World Bank -- would provide financial support to a variety of projects.

"We know that steps taken to reduce or eliminate POPs can lead to measurable environmental improvements," he said in Iqaluit, capital of the giant Arctic territory of Nunavut.

"This fund, together with international agreement on the reduction of POPs will contribute to the protection of the health of Canadians and of the global population as well."

The United Nations is presiding over a protracted series of talks to reduce the production of POPs in developing states but arguments over who will pay mean no deal has yet been reached.

High levels of POPs have been found in mothers' breast milk in the Arctic, as well as in the seal and whale meat that Inuit in more remote areas depend on for much of their food.

A particular concern is the evidence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), used as heat-exchange fluids as well as additives in paint and plastics.

Inuit women have PCB levels in their breast milk five times higher than those in southern Canada, while the concentration of PCBs in the blood of adult Inuit is seven times higher than in North American adults on average.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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