Five Chemicals Pass Hurdle for Control under Pops Treaty

Five chemicals have passed the first test for regulation under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), an international team of scientists determined earlier this month. If the compounds pass a second, more detailed, round of scrutiny, they may be added to the pact, which bans or severely restricts the production and use of a dozen chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins. The treaty's scientific POPs Review Committee met for the first time on Nov. 7–11 in Geneva and agreed that five more compounds met the screening criteria for inclusion in the pact. They are the pesticides chlordecone (kepone) and lindane, including its hexachlorocyclohexane isomers; the flame retardants hexabromobiphenyl and pentabromodiphenyl ether; and the stain repellant perfluorooctane sulfonate. As a second step, the committee will develop risk profiles for the substances. Ultimately, countries that are partners to the treaty will determine whether to add any or all of the five chemicals to the pact. The U.S. has signed the Stockholm convention but is not yet a partner because Congress has not passed legislation conforming federal law to the accord's provisions.