122 nations pledge to cut toxic pollutants

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Representatives of 122 nations reached a landmark agreement Sunday to ban or greatly reduce use of the world's most toxic pollutants, in what was termed a "declaration of war" against substances that endanger human and animal life.

The treaty, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program, provides a global strategy for eliminating the "dirty dozen," 12 particularly dangerous pollutants: pesticides, chemicals used in manufacturing, and industrial byproducts. Known as persistent organic pollutants, they spread quickly, break down slowly and pose serious health hazards across the globe.

"The treaty is a declaration of war on . . . persistent organic pollutants" that "threaten the health and well-being of humans and wildlife in every region of the world," said John Buccini of Canada, chairman of the talks. It was the fifth and final round of negotiations in a search for a ban that started more than five years ago. The document is due to be signed formally in Stockholm in May.

Persistent organic pollutants are among the most dangerous man-made substances released into the environment each year. Because they are easily stored in living organisms, they accumulate at higher levels of the food chain, in fish, predatory birds, mammals and humans and can travel through various natural and migratory means. Thousands of miles from where they are used, for example, these pollutants are found in concentrated levels among people and animals in the Arctic.

The treaty regulates the production, import, export, disposal and use of the initial 12 substances, which include pesticides like aldrin and chlordane; the industrial chemicals polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and hexachlorobenzene; and toxic byproducts called dioxins and furans. Nine are to be banned immediately.

The ban, which is legally binding, may require entire industries to find new ways to produce even basic commodities like steel and to dispose of waste without emitting the newly banned byproducts. Health strategies will also be affected. The document allows for the continued use of the pesticide DDT, which about 25 developing nations still use to combat malaria, but urges increased research into DDT alternatives.

Governments also were given time to deal with PCBs, which, though no longer produced, were widely used in electrical transformers and other equipment still in use. Provided those devices do not leak the toxic substance, the treaty allows a phase-in of PCB-free replacements by 2025.