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 The international
community responded to the threat that POPs pose by adopting the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in May 2001. The Convention
eliminates or restricts the global use and trade of twelve of the worst
POPs. The Bush Administration supports implementation of the ban, in part
because none of the so-called "dirty dozen" is manufactured
or used in the United States anymore, and because the U.S. chemicals industry
believes banning these first-generation pesticides and chemicals will
"level the playing field" for export of more modern, profitable
chemicals to foreign markets, especially in the developing world.
However, U.S. implementing
legislation developed by the Bush Administration would all but ignore
one of the key parts of the Stockholm Convention: its science-based process
for adding additional, dangerous chemicals. This "adding mechanism"
is essential because there are numerous substances that are commonly used
in the United States and abroad that will threaten people and wildlife
here at home unless their use is banned or restricted everywhere. For
example, brominated flame retardants (PBDEs) are widely used in consumer
goods such as televisions, furniture, and computers. Some PBDEs have been
found in very high concentrations in the breast milk of mothers in the
United States. Evidence suggests that these substances may affect thyroid
function and the development of the embryonic nervous system. Yet the
use of these persistent chemicals is still widespread, and their presence
in the human food chain is increasing rapidly: studies reveal that blood
concentrations are doubling in the United States roughly every two to
five years.
CIEL believes that U.S. implementing legislation for the Stockholm Convention
should establish a strong link between the international "adding
mechanism" and domestic regulatory processes, and should create an
expectation that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will restrict
or ban chemicals that are added to the Convention. In contrast, the Bush
Administration has apparently acted to make the implementing legislation
serve as a "test case" to establish that U.S. environmental
and health law will be based not on human health standards, but on the
costs of regulation to corporate interests, and that Congress will be
prohibited from requiring U.S. regulatory agencies to act in response
to decisions taken by international bodies.
CIEL has been a leader in the efforts of the environmental and health
communities to counter the ideological aims of the Administration and
to convince Congress that it is in the U.S. national interest to ratify
and implement the Stockholm Convention fully. We have brought legal expertise,
strategic flexibility, imagination, and the ability to be tough when necessary
to these difficult discussions. For additional information, please contact
Glenn Wiser.
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