Page 2 - Policy brief on persistent organic pollutants in Indian environment: A wake-up call for concerted action
P. 2
Policy Brief
Box 2: The ‘New POPs’ for long-range environmental transport, and toxicity.
α-, β-, γ-hexachlorocyclohexane Later the convention added more chemicals to the initial
Chlordecone
Brominated diphenyl ethers (tetra- and penta, hexa- and hepta) list (Box 2). The Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Pentachlorobenzene Organic Pollutants was adopted and opened for
Hexabromobiphenyl ratification in 2001 and came into force in 2004, nearly
Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctanesulfo- a decade after the call for global action on POPs by
the United Nations Environment Programme in 1995.
nyl fluoride The Stockholm Convention sought to prohibit or limit
Pentachlorobenzene the use, production, and release of selected chemicals
Technical endosulfan and its related isomers including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins,
Hexabromocyclododecane furans, and a range of organo-chlorine pesticides
Chlorinated naphthalenes (di- to octa-) (OCPs) in countries signatory to the convention. India
Hexachlorobutadiene had been using PCBs, one of the industrial POPs, since
Pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters the 1950s until the1990s, the year the ban came into
force. Although PCBs were never produced in India,
India has been exempted from the ban of DDT as a they were imported for use in electrical components for
result of the Stockholm Convention (SC) and is allowed power generation, in steel mining, and in the production
to produce and use DDT—but only for the control of of cement, fertilizers, and lubricants. The major use of
vector-borne diseases. India was also allowed to use PCBs in India has been in transformer oils (MoEF 2011).
DDT for termite control until March 2013, although India banned PCBs very recently, through a gazette
DDT was banned for agricultural use. notification issued by the Ministry of Environment,
Forests and Climate Change (MoEF & CC 2016). Poor
Persistent organic pollutants were initially termed the management of waste PCBs and OCPs and processes
‘Dirty dozen’ (Box 1) at a convention held in Stockholm resulting in the formation of furans, dioxins, and other
in 1995; the term was used for describing twelve hazardous chemicals has been a major contributor to the
important POPs thought to be toxic to the environment high levels of these toxic chemicals in local environments
and human health. These POPs were characterized by
four features: persistence, bioaccumulation, potential near the releasing sources, potentially affecting local
health and the environment (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Sources and pathways of human exposure to persistent organic pollutants
2 JANUARY 2018
Box 2: The ‘New POPs’ for long-range environmental transport, and toxicity.
α-, β-, γ-hexachlorocyclohexane Later the convention added more chemicals to the initial
Chlordecone
Brominated diphenyl ethers (tetra- and penta, hexa- and hepta) list (Box 2). The Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Pentachlorobenzene Organic Pollutants was adopted and opened for
Hexabromobiphenyl ratification in 2001 and came into force in 2004, nearly
Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctanesulfo- a decade after the call for global action on POPs by
the United Nations Environment Programme in 1995.
nyl fluoride The Stockholm Convention sought to prohibit or limit
Pentachlorobenzene the use, production, and release of selected chemicals
Technical endosulfan and its related isomers including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins,
Hexabromocyclododecane furans, and a range of organo-chlorine pesticides
Chlorinated naphthalenes (di- to octa-) (OCPs) in countries signatory to the convention. India
Hexachlorobutadiene had been using PCBs, one of the industrial POPs, since
Pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters the 1950s until the1990s, the year the ban came into
force. Although PCBs were never produced in India,
India has been exempted from the ban of DDT as a they were imported for use in electrical components for
result of the Stockholm Convention (SC) and is allowed power generation, in steel mining, and in the production
to produce and use DDT—but only for the control of of cement, fertilizers, and lubricants. The major use of
vector-borne diseases. India was also allowed to use PCBs in India has been in transformer oils (MoEF 2011).
DDT for termite control until March 2013, although India banned PCBs very recently, through a gazette
DDT was banned for agricultural use. notification issued by the Ministry of Environment,
Forests and Climate Change (MoEF & CC 2016). Poor
Persistent organic pollutants were initially termed the management of waste PCBs and OCPs and processes
‘Dirty dozen’ (Box 1) at a convention held in Stockholm resulting in the formation of furans, dioxins, and other
in 1995; the term was used for describing twelve hazardous chemicals has been a major contributor to the
important POPs thought to be toxic to the environment high levels of these toxic chemicals in local environments
and human health. These POPs were characterized by
four features: persistence, bioaccumulation, potential near the releasing sources, potentially affecting local
health and the environment (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Sources and pathways of human exposure to persistent organic pollutants
2 JANUARY 2018
