Taking important practical steps to protect human health and the environment, the Stockholm Convention’s Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee held its 11th meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, 19-23 October 2015.

Persistent Organic Pollutants are amongst the most toxic substances found on earth and pose serious threats to human health and the environment, and can be found in human breast milk, air, water and animals, including those living in polar regions. Specific effects of POPs can include cancer, allergies and hypersensitivity, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, reproductive disorders, and disruption of the immune system. Some POPs are also considered to be endocrine disrupters, which, by altering the hormonal system, can damage the reproductive and immune systems of exposed individuals as well as their offspring; they can also have developmental and carcinogenic effects.

The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC), a subsidiary body of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), recommended the inclusion of one additional chemical under the Convention in Annex A - decabromodiphenyl ether or c-decaBDE - a highly toxic and persistent flame retardant commonly used in the aeronautical, automobile, and textile industries. The decision to list decaDBE will be taken at the next Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention, in 2017.

The Committee also agreed and adopted the risk profile for short-chained chlorinated paraffins, moving them to the next stage of the listing process, which requires the development of a risk management evaluation. SCCP uses include in metalworking, paints, adhesives and sealants, leather fat liquors, plastics and rubber, flame retardants, and textiles and polymeric materials.

The Committee further agreed that pentadecafluorooctanoic acid, PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds, meets the Annex D criteria to be considered a POP, namely persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport and adverse effects. The next step is to prepare a draft risk profile for this widely used chemical. PFOA-related substances are used in fire-fighting foams, wetting agents and cleaners, textiles and leather, paper and cardboard (e.g. food packaging), paints and lacquers and others.

Further decisions were adopted concerning new information on unintentional releases of Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD); accepting the Guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts (PFOS), perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride and related chemicals; on ensuring effective participation in the work of the Committee; and on approving the Committee’s workplan for the next intersessional period until POPRC12. On dicofol the Committee agreed to form an intersessional working group to revise the draft risk profile for submission and adoption at the next POPRC meeting in 2016.

Demonstrating very clearly the integrated and cross-cutting nature of chemicals in peoples’ everyday lives, the meetings brought together government-appointed chemical experts from all regions as well as specialised NGOs and the private sector. Deliberations included not only the toxicology of POPs but also consideration of alternatives, risk management, and socio-economic aspects.

“In moving forwards towards eventual listing of these chemicals, the Committee has recommended actions that will protect human lives and the environment against some of the world’s most dangerous toxic chemicals,” said Professor Estefania Gastaldello Moreira, from the University of Londrina (Brazil), Chairperson of the POPs Review Committee. “We believe that only through sound management of chemicals and wastes can the globally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, be achieved, which are crucial for society to overcome the twin challenges of poverty eradication and climate change”.

The meeting of the POPs Review Committee will be followed back-to-back by the Rotterdam Convention’s Chemical Review Committee 11th meeting, 26-28 October 2015, at the same venue.

Note for Editors:

The Stockholm Convention on POPs regulates chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, and evaporate and travel long distances through the air and through water, to protect human health and the environment globally. Article 8 of the Convention entails the reviewing process of new chemicals and Annex D, Annex E and Annex F specify the information and criteria required for the review.

The POPs Review Committee consists of thirty-one scientific experts appointed by the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention charged with undertaking scientific review of chemicals proposed for listing.

The flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE) is an additive flame retardant that has a variety of applications including in plastics, textiles, adhesives, sealants, coatings and inks. c-decaBDE containing plastics are used in electrical and electronic equipment, wires and cables, pipes and carpets. In textiles, c-decaBDE is mainly used in upholstery, window blinds, curtains and mattresses for public and domestic buildings, and in the transportation sector.

For more information, please contact:

For POPRC/Stockholm Convention: www.pops.int

Kei OHNO WOODALL, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), Geneva: +41-79-2333218, +41-22-917-78201, kei.ohno-woodall@brsmeas.org

Charlie AVIS, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), Geneva: +41-79-730-4495, charles.avis@brsmeas.org

For CRC/Rotterdam Convention: www.pic.int

Christine FUELL, Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention (FAO), Rome: + 39-06-5705-3765, christine.fuell@fao.org

Interview between Kei Ohno Woodall, Programme Officer, BRS Secretariat, and Charlie Avis, BRS Public Information Officer.



CA: Good morning, Kei and thanks in advance for telling us why POPRC - the Stockholm Convention’s scientific subsidiary body – is important, and what it will achieve at its next meeting in Rome on 19 – 23 October. First of all, what actually is POPRC?

KOW: Thanks Charlie, well POPRC is short for the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, and is made up of 31 government-designated experts in chemical assessment or management. The Committee reviews a chemical proposed by a Party for listing in Annexes A, B, and/or C to the Stockholm Convention. This is the eleventh meeting, and the Committee has so far reviewed 17 chemicals, of which 14 have been listed in Annexes to the Stockholm Convention. There will be one more new chemical to start the review process at POPRC-11.



CA: Great. So in a nutshell, what is the next meeting set out to achieve?

KOW: The Committee will consider four chemicals proposed for listing: decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE), dicofol, short-chained chlorinated paraffins and pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds.



For decabromodiphenyl ether, the Committee will review the risk management evaluation document, which is at the last stage of the review process, and recommend whether the chemical should be considered by the Conference of the Parties for listing. The recommendation, if adopted, will be considered at the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention to be held in April 2017.



The proposal for listing PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds was submitted by the European Union and the Committee will review it for the first time at this meeting. Dicofol and short-chained chlorinated paraffins have been in the review process since 2013 and 2006, respectively. The Committee will consider adopting the risk profiles on those chemicals and decides whether the chemicals are persistent organic pollutants.



CA: So what are the actual steps for bringing a POP into the Annexes of the Stockholm Convention?

KOW: A proposal for listing a chemical can be submitted by any Party to the Stockholm Convention. The proposal will be first verified by the Secretariat whether it contains the information specified in Annex D (chemical identity, persistence, bio-accumulation, potential for long-range environmental transport, adverse effects, etc.). Then the Committee examines the proposal and applies the screening criteria in Annex D. Of the chemicals to be considered at POPRC-11, PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds are at this stage of the review process. If the Committee is satisfied that the screening criteria have been fulfilled, then the proposal proceeds to the second stage.



The second stage is to decide whether the chemical is likely as a result of its long-range environmental transport to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects such that global action is warranted. For this purpose, a risk profile is developed based on the information specified in Annex E (production, use, releases, hazard assessment, environmental fate, monitoring data, exposure, etc.). Dicofol and short-chained chlorinated paraffins are at this stage of the review process.



The third stage is to prepare a risk management evaluation that includes an analysis of possible control measures for the chemical in accordance with Annex F (efficacy and efficiency of possible control measures, alternatives, positive and negative impacts on society of implementing possible control measures, waste disposal implications, etc.). Decabromodiphenyl ether is at this stage of the review process.



Based on the risk profile and the risk management evaluation developed for the chemical, the Committee recommends whether the chemical should be considered by the Conference of the Parties for listing in Annexes A, B and/or C. Based on the recommendation, the Conference of the Parties takes the decision on listing of the chemical.



CA: How important is the role and contribution of civil society in POPRC work?

KOW: Observers are mentioned several times in the review process provided in Article 8. For example, when the Committee decides that the screening criteria have been fulfilled, it makes the proposal and the evaluation of the Committee available to all Parties and observers and invites them to submit the information specified in Annex E to prepare a draft risk profile. The Committee makes the draft risk profile available to all Parties and observers, collect technical comments from them and, taking those comments into account, complete the risk profile. The information provided by Parties and observers, including civil society, as well as comments on the draft documents are extremely important for the Committee to make sound decisions. The meetings of the Committee are open to observers. Civil society has been participating very actively in the meetings and during the intersessional period.



CA: One last question please. From Science to Action: what does that mean for you, and what does it mean for the Convention/s?

KOW: Good question! Well firstly, the decision on “From Science to Action” was taken at the last Triple COPs in May 2015. The conferences of the parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions recognized the importance of further strengthening the science-policy interface for the effectiveness of the conventions and the need for scientific underpinning for decision-making in the sound management of chemicals and wastes at the national and regional levels.



Information gathering is an important step in a decision-making process. In the scientific world, new data and knowledge on environmental and health risks of hazardous chemicals and wastes are being accumulated on a daily basis. On another front, policy makers are required to take decisions related to the implementation of the conventions based on the information made available to them. This is why it is important to strengthen the science-policy interface. The gaps in access to scientific information in particular in developing countries and countries with economies in transition should also be addressed. The information required at the Annex E stage, for example, is highly technical and scientific. One of the objectives of the activities for “From Science to Action” is to support Parties and observers to effectively collect such information and provide them to the Committee.



I would also like to highlight that, as mentioned in Article 1 of the Convention, the Stockholm Convention is mindful of the precautionary approach. This means that more caution is required when information is uncertain, unreliable or inadequate, and that the lack of adequate scientific information should not be used as a reason for postponing or failing to take action. According to Article 8 of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties, “taking due account of the recommendations of the Committee, including any scientific uncertainty, shall decide, in a precautionary manner, whether to list the chemical, and specify its related control measures, in Annexes A, B and/or C”. Socio-economic consideration undertaken at the Annex F stage includes very important items such as health, including public, environmental and occupational health, agriculture, including aquaculture and forestry, biodiversity, economic aspects, movement towards sustainable development and social costs.



CA: Thank you very much for your time and good luck with the important work in Rome!

KOW: Thank you, Charlie, we hope for a very successful meeting.