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A Toxics-Free Future

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Highlights Front Roll

Plastics, Plastic Waste, and Chemicals in Africa
New Video: Plastics Poisoning Our Health
Promoting Stronger Protections on Chemicals at BRS COP
How the UNEA Plastics Resolutions Relates to Chemicals and Health
Plastic Poisons the Circular Economy
Plastic Waste Fuels: policy spreads toxic trade across Asia
UV-328, Dechlorane Plus and MCCPs among chemicals included

Gothenburg, Sweden In a landmark decision, a U.N. expert committee decided, unanimously, that global action is needed for the toxic plastic additive UV-328. The evaluation provided clear evidence that this toxic substance is also persistent, bioaccumulative, and has spread to remote islands and the Arctic. It also showed that floating plastic debris in the ocean is an important contributing factor to this transport.

Last year, IPEN showed that UV-328 is found in beached and recycled plastic pellets collected in countries all over the world. In a recent research brief, IPEN also shows that it is present in toys, which is especially alarming due to its toxicity and endocrine effects.

UV-328 can cause damage to liver and kidneys in mammals. Studies have also shown that it has endocrine disrupting effects, as described further in a recent report on Plastics, EDCs & Health prepared by scientific experts in the Endocrine Society and IPEN.

IPEN Science and Technical Advisor Therese Karlsson said “This decision is a really important step forward. It clearly shows that plastics and chemicals go hand in hand and that plastics can transport chemicals to very remote locations. To prevent further harm to the environment and human health from toxic chemicals used in plastics, it is therefore crucial that toxic chemicals are not allowed in plastics.”

EcoWaste Coalition Discovers Excessive Lead Levels in 37 Imported Spray Paints, Urges Government Action to Protect Public Health

Quezon City, Philippines Paint products in aerosol cans containing shocking levels of lead are still offered for sale by offline and online retailers despite the ban on such paints, according to the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition.

IPEN, Arnika and 16 European NGOs call on leaders to lower threshold values for POPs in waste, which enter recycling and waste exports

The problem: the European Commission currently proposes industry friendly ‘middle-ground’ POP limits for waste based on economic criteria instead of strong and health-protective values.

The European Commission (EC) is proposing to adopt new limit values for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in waste. The Stockholm Convention requires the destruction of wastes that exceed POPs limit values (known as Low POP Content Levels set by the Basel Convention) and bans the recycling of wastes contaminated with POPs to maintain toxic-free material cycles. However, the EC is proposing weak POP limits, which will allow plastic and other wastes contaminated with POPs to be, in practice, recycled by industry in the EU. The transition to high-quality and toxic-free material cycles cannot be achieved while allowing POPs recycling in materials.

IPEN, Arnika, and 16 NGOs urge in their letter to Members of the European Parliament and Member States to support stronger limit values for POPs in waste than what the EC proposes. The weak limits currently proposed by the EC undermine the Stockholm Convention and will lead to POPs recycling that is incompatible with the European Green Deal.

Health and environmental groups call for international action to control plastic chemicals, and the scaling down of plastics production, to curb growing crisis

Press Release
Embargoed until 9AM Beijing, China time 14 December 2021
Attn: Health, News,and Environment Editors
Contacts:
Björn Beeler, IPEN, Bjornbeeler@ipen.org

New global studies show health threats throughout the plastics supply chain

Health and environmental groups call for international action to control plastic chemicals, and the scaling down of plastics production, to curb growing crisis (Report and Press Release (English, Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish))

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Gothenburg, Sweden Plastics pose significant threats to human health and ecosystems throughout their life cycles, according to two new studies by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN). To get a global picture of the role plastics play in transporting toxic chemicals around the world, IPEN worked with International Pellet Watch (IPW) and its NGO partners in 35 countries to investigate hazardous chemicals and pollutants present in:

  • spilled or lost pre-production plastic pellets found on beaches; and
  • recycled plastic pellets purchased from recycling facilities.

Both studies reveal the presence of toxic chemical additives and pollutants that pose multiple health threats to humans and the environment. The health effects include causing cancer or changing hormone activity (known as endocrine disruption), which can lead to reproductive, growth, and cognitive impairment. Many of the toxic chemical additives have several other known health impacts, persist in the environment, and bioaccumulate in exposed organisms.

IPEN science and technical advisor, and lead author of the beach pellet study, Dr. Therese Karlsson says: “These new studies further support our recommendation that international action to create more sustainable uses of plastics needs to look beyond waste to address harm and damage related to the toxic chemical additives in plastics.”

Over 180,000 petitioners around the globe urge UN to support people's health not industry's wealth

Gothenburg, Sweden Today, civil society and indigenous peoples organizations delivered more than 187,300 petition signatures from over 107 countries to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu, demanding that the FAO end its partnership with CropLife International, an international lobbying association for the world’s largest agrochemical companies.

Texcoco, México Around the world, pesticides sprayed from planes come with harmful side effects. The aerial drift falls on nearby fields, and impacts nearby communities.

In early November 2021, IPEN's regional hub in Latin America and the Caribbean hosted a webinar on the subject, featuring speakers from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and the European Union discussing their fights to prohibit or restrict aerial spraying.

Presentations are in Spanish. Click here to view the webinar page "Conversatorio sobre fumigaciones aéreas de plaguicidas en America Latina"

Plastic production, use, and end-of-life management threaten the environment and human health with toxic chemicals exposures. Protecting women, children, and communities in low- and middle-income countries that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of plastics is a priority. IPEN recognizes the need for a new global treaty addressing plastics and associated chemicals, which must include new and additional sustainable financial resources and complement existing international conventions and frameworks. The negotiations should recognize the importance of not diverting resources from commitments on legacy chemical pollution such as PCB stockpile management and POPs waste trade restrictions in favour of a new treaty.

A new legally binding global treaty must hold polluters legally and financially accountable, provide remedies to affected communities, and mitigate the toxic impacts plastics and their toxic additives have on the enjoyment of human rights throughout their life cycle, particularly on communities that are the least responsible for plastic production. The projected increased production of chemicals and plastics hamper the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Negotiating the treaty requires the meaningful open, transparent, and inclusive participation of civil society and the communities most affected by plastics’ harmful impacts.

Overarching goal: Eliminate the toxic impact of plastics throughout their life cycle – production, use, and disposal.

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