Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Map showing Persistent Organic Pollutants signatories (green) and ratifications (dark green) as of July 2007

The Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants, a 1998 protocol on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), is an addition to the 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). The Protocol seeks "to control, reduce or eliminate discharge, emissions and losses of persistent organic pollutants" in Europe, some former Soviet Union countries, and the United States, in order to reduce their transboundary fluxes so as to protect human health and the environment from adverse effects.[1]

Authors and promoters of the Protocol were the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which at the time housed 53 different country members and alliance. The protocol was amended on 18 December 2009, but the amended version has not yet come into force.

As of May 2013, the protocol has been ratified by 31 states and the European Union.

In the United States, the protocol is an executive agreement that does not require Senate approval. However, legislation is needed to resolve inconsistencies between provisions of the protocol and existing U.S. laws (specifically the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act).

Substances

The following substances are contained in the CLRTAP POPs Protocol.[2] The document focuses on a list of 16 substances that have been singled out according to agreed risk criteria[3] (comprising eleven pesticides, two industrial chemicals and three by-products/contaminants). The Protocol assigned the arrangements for proper disposal of waste products deemed banned and limited, including medical supplies.[4]

POPInclusion
AldrinOriginally included
ChlordaneOriginally included
DieldrinOriginally included
EndrinOriginally included
HeptachlorOriginally included
HexachlorobenzeneOriginally included
MirexOriginally included
ToxapheneOriginally included
PCBsOriginally included
DDTOriginally included
PCDDs/PCDFsOriginally included
ChlordeconeOriginally included
HexachlorocyclohexanesOriginally included
HexabromobiphenylOriginally included
PAHsOriginally included
Pentabromodiphenyl etherRecognized
Octabromodiphenyl etherRecognized
PentachlorobenzeneRecognized
PFOSRecognized
HexachlorobutadieneRecognized
PCNsRecognized
SCCPsRecognized

See also

References

  1. ↑ "PROTOCOL TO THE 1979 CONVENTION ON LONG-RANGE TRANSBOUNDARY AIR POLLUTION ON PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS" (PDF). 1979: 1–49.
  2. ↑ UNECE: Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution 2010, p. 12–13.
  3. ↑ "CONVENTION ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS" (PDF). June 25, 1998: 1–35 – via UNECE.
  4. ↑ "Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) - Air Pollution - Environmental Policy - UNECE". www.unece.org. Retrieved 2017-12-02.


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