Talks on banning toxic chemical output begin in South Africa

A Greenpeace activist holds a poster showing children walking near a polluted ditch, during a demonstration in Johannesburg, South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Delegates from more than 120 countries began a week of talks in South Africa on Monday to devise a global treaty that conservationists hope will ban production of some of the world's most dangerous chemicals.

The talks, under the auspices of the U.N. Environment Program, are the fifth round of global discussions on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and are expected to produce a treaty to be signed at a diplomatic conference scheduled for Stockholm next May.

POPs, which include DDT and PCBs, have been linked to an array of adverse effects, including death, disease and birth defects among humans and animals.

They are used in a wide range of industrial and farming activities, from paint additives to pesticides that kill crop-eating insects.

Highly stable compounds, they can last for years or decades before breaking down and circle the globe in air and water through a process scientists dub the "grasshopper effect."

Because of this, conservationists say POPs have had a devastating impact on human and wildlife populations worldwide, even in pristine Arctic and Antarctic habitats that are thousands of kilometers from the original source.

MESSAGE BOARD Environmental issues

"There is not a single person in this room who does not lack POPs chemicals in their body," John Buccini, a Canadian civil servant who is chairing the talks, told a news briefing.

Rejoice Mabudafhasi, South African deputy minister of environmental affairs and tourism, told the delegates in her opening remarks that the conference was about building a better world for mankind.

"The next week presents us daunting challenges that might require consistent reminder that at the end of the day we are talking about building a better world for us all."

Mabudafhasi said Pretoria supported the restriction of DDT for public health purposes but also called for accelerated research on cures for malaria, Africa's biggest killer disease.

South Africa wants to retain the use of DDTs for malaria control, a position widely expected to be endorsed.

As she spoke, about 30 activists from environmental pressure group Greenpeace held a demonstration outside the conference center, dressed in yellow chemical protection suits.

"This week governments are deciding on the fundamental human right of people to live in a world free of toxic chemical pollution. If governments don't take this historic opportunity to eliminate all sources of these dangerous poisons it will be a gross dereliction of duty," Greenpeace said in a statement.

Sources close to the talks said there appeared to be a growing consensus on the need to eliminate the 12 main POPs singled out for urgent attention, dubbed the "Dirty Dozen."

But the United States, Australia and some other countries are opposed to an EU initiative to include a precautionary measure making it easier to add additional substances to the treaty.

The EU wants to add a clause stipulating that "a lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge about the potential adverse affects on human health and the environment" shall not prevent a chemical from being brought under the treaty.

Conservationists say this measure is necessary because the long-term effects of many chemicals cannot be established over a short period of time.

The EU says it will not lead to a deluge of substances being added to the list because a chemical must be persistent, travel long distances and be biocumulative -- meaning it builds up in human or animal bodies -- before it will be included under the treaty.

The United States says it believes the rough draft of the treaty is already flexible on this score.

"We believe it should be possible to add new chemicals and that it shouldn't require perfect evidence to do so. But we believe there should be a solid scientific basis," Brooks Yaeger, head of the U.S. delegation at the talks, told Reuters.

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

Group calls for worldwide DDT ban
January 29, 1999
Nations negotiate treaty on 'dirty dozen' chemicals
January 25, 1999
U.N. sharpens focus on toxic chemicals
March 31, 1998

U.N. Environment Program
  • Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
How Persistent Organic Pollutants Threaten the Natural Environment and the Future of Indigenous Peoples

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