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BACKGROUNDER
Persistent Organic Pollutants
Persistent Organic Pollutants, known as POPs, are toxic substances released into the environment through a variety of human activities. They have adverse effects on the health of ecosystems, wildlife and people. POPs tend to concentrate in colder climates such as Canada’s North, as well as in the Great Lakes Basin and St. Lawrence River.
As chemical compounds, POPs are very stable and consequently can last in the
environment for years or decades. POPs are also bio-accumulative, meaning
they can concentrate in living organisms and accumulate up the food chain
through fish, predatory birds, mammals and humans. POPs can enter the human
system through traditional foods such as beluga muktuk (skin) and seal blubber.
Aboriginal peoples, who rely heavily on such country foods, are particularly
affected. Some POPs can be passed on from mother to child across the
placenta, or through breast milk.
POPs can travel great distances around the globe through the atmosphere.
Touching down on oceans and freshwater bodies, they then evaporate into the
atmosphere once again, and travel further to touch down in another spot until
they ultimately gather in the colder climates. This is known as the grasshopper
effect.
Through the United Nations Environment Programme sponsored international
negotiations, 12 POPs are targeted by the draft agreement reached in
Johannesburg, South Africa, December 10, 2000. These 12 fall into three broad
categories:
- Pesticides - DDT, chlordane, toxaphene, mirex, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin,
heptachlor
- Industrial chemicals - PCBs, hexachlorobenzene
- By-products and contaminants - dioxins and furans
The role of Canadian science
Canada is a leader in the science of identifying and assessing past and current
sources of POPs, and in predicting global movement through the atmosphere.
Canadian scientists have improved the ability to detect POPs in rain and snow
and have contributed to tracking the accumulation of these chemicals up the food chain and into humans. These developments are the basis for policy decisions and action both in Canada and on the international scene.
International Action
Most POPs substances of concern have been banned or severely restricted in
Canada for years, but they are still produced, used and stored as waste in a
number of other countries. The vast majority of POPs entering Canada’s
environment, as a result of transport through the atmosphere, come from foreign
sources, in particular: the United States, Mexico and Central America, certain
eastern European countries, including Russia, and certain southern and
southeastern Asian countries. As a result, reductions of international releases of
POPs are required to ensure continued environmental progress in Canada.
Negotiations to reduce or eliminate emissions of twelve POPs on a global scale
began under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) in Montreal in June of 1998. The intent of the UNEP POPs Convention
is to bring all countries under the umbrella of a single global agreement. The fifth
and final negotiating session took place in Johannesburg, South Africa from
December 4-10, 2000.
Canada has worked diligently to create an effective global POPs Convention. In
March of 2000, Canada became the first country to make a specific funding
commitment, $20 million, for POPs capacity building in developing countries and
countries with economies in transition. This funding will help those countries
find alternatives to the use of POPs, such as DDT. This commitment was well
received by the developing world, and helped the final negotiating session to
reach agreement to provide new and additional funding and technical assistance
to developing countries and countries in transition to meet their obligations to
minimize and eliminate POPs.
The UNEP global initiative complements an earlier protocol on POPs developed
by the countries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which
includes Canada, the United States, and countries in Eastern and Western
Europe. Canada was the first country to ratify this protocol which requires
control of sixteen POPs.
Canada has also developed regional action plans with Mexico and the United
States on chlordane, DDT and PCBs under the North American Free Trade
Agreement’s Commission on Environmental Cooperation. Regional action plans
are being considered for lindane as well as for dioxins, furans and
hexachlorobenzene.
Canadian consensus
Canada has a strong history of consultation on the management of toxic
substances in general, and POPs in particular. The federal government has
worked with provincial and territorial governments, Aboriginal, environmental and
health groups, industries such as the Canadian chemical manufacturers and
other interested stakeholders to develop our negotiating strategy.
Representatives of these governments and organizations were members of
Canada’s negotiating team.
Domestic Action
The Government of Canada is leading the way in emission reductions on the
domestic front. Under the Toxic Substances Management Policy (TSMP), toxic
substances that are determined to be persistent, bioaccumulative and resulting
primarily from human activity are known as Track 1 substances, and targeted for
virtual elimination from the environment. The twelve substances subject to the
draft POPs Convention are being managed under the TSMP. For more
information on these substances and on TSMP, please visit
www.ec.gc.ca/wastes_e.html
The key pieces of federal legislation used to implement the objectives outlined in
the TSMP include the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), the Pest
Control Products Act, the Fisheries Act and the Hazardous Products Act.
The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), representing all
federal, provincial and territorial governments, has also identified the
management and reduction of toxic substances in the environment as a national
priority through the CCME Policy for the Management of Toxic Substances. The
CCME Policy supports the coordination of government actions on the
management of toxic substances, ensuring that the approach is complementary
to the TSMP and other activities nation-wide.
The Canada-Wide Standards process is a framework for the CCME to work
together in addressing key environmental protection and health risk reduction
issues that require common environmental standards across the country. In
June of 2000, standards were approved in principle by the Ministers for two
priority sectors emitting dioxins and furans: incineration and coastal boilers
burning salt laden wood.
In response to scientific studies which showed the presence of contaminants in
the Arctic ecosystem, the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) was
established in 1991. The NCP aims at reducing, and where possible, eliminating
contaminants in country foods harvested in the North, while providing information
that assists decision-making by individuals and communities in their food use.
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