ACAT In Rome To Move Three Toxic Chemicals Toward Ultimate Oblivion
Executive Director/Scientist Pam Miller urges United Nations advisory group to recommend global ban on dicofol, PFOA, and deca-BDE
(Rome, Italy) The scientific review committee of the Stockholm Convention (POPs Review Committee or POPRC) began its work today in Rome. The Committee began its consideration of two of the chemicals nominated for global bans – the pesticide dicofol and PFOA, known as the “Teflon chemical.” ACAT and IPEN were on hand to present public health information to counterbalance the influence of chemical industry representatives.
Dicofol is manufactured from technical DDT and is a source of ongoing DDT contamination. Exposure to dicofol is linked with endocrine, immune, neurological, and reproductive harm.
PFOA is so persistent it does not have measurable half-lives in the environment. In people, PFOA is associated with high cholesterol, inflammatory diseases, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, immune effects, pregnancy-induced hypertension, endocrine disruption, and impaired neurological and reproductive development.
The view of Rome from the top of the United Nations building where the Stockholm Convention’s POPs Review Committee is meeting this week.
ACAT’s Pam Miller is in Rome with the IPEN team that includes Eva Kruemmel of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Joe DiGangi the Senior Science and Technical Advisor of IPEN, and Mariann Lloyd Smith with the National Toxics Network in Australia. Mariann gave a brilliant presentation today, calling out the chemical industry for its decades of secrecy about the persistence and toxicity of PFOA.
The POPs Review Committee and official observers listen to a presentation by Dr. Phillippe Grandjean about the health effects of PFOA.