HEALTH: War Declared on Persistent Organic Contaminants

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, May 12 1997 (IPS) - Health ministers from all over the world undertook to wage war on the Persistent Organic Contaminants (POCs) – which are poisonous to human beings and threaten the planet – here Monday.

The World Health Assembly, in session until Friday approved the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Security referring to the persistent contaminants.

The resolution recommended the member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) adopt measures to reduce the dependency on insecticides in the battle against the illnesses the bugs transmit.

As a replacement for this, the resolution suggests integral ways of fighting the vectors of disease in line with the WHO requirements.

The Assembly decision to encourage chemical security places special attention on the persistent contaminants, the compounds which resist photolytic, chemical and biological decomposition.

The persistent organic contaminants are characteised by a high level of solubility in fats, which leads to a build up in the adipose layers of animals.

The International Programme on Chemical Security evaluated the toxicology of 12 POCs: polychlorobipheniles (PCBs), dioxins, furanes, aldrin, dialdrin, DDT, endrin, chlordane, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), mirex, toxaphene and heptacholoride.

Enough proof was found to show the need for international measures to be adopted on these substances.

The research determined these substances travel large distances in the environment, both by air and water, “constituting a threat for the whole planet,” said the WHO.

Hence, the international community has on many occasions called for the adoption of urgent measures to reduce or eliminate the emission or dumping of these chemical substances worldwide.

In all the cases of POCs used as pesticides, ways can be found to replace them, said the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Security.

DDT is the only one of the 12 opposed organic contaminants still used as an insecticide for health reasons, especially in the fight against malaria and leishmaniasis, but the use of this substance is abused in agriculture.

In any case, said the WHO, DDT played a central role in the virtual eradication of malaria in many countries and is still a valid instrument in certain circumstances.

But at present, none of the organic contaminants is recommended for use in agriculture, despite its continued use, said Michel Mercier, director of the International Programme on Chemical Security.

The POCs enter the food chain through the contamination of the water, air or soil. Some groups of people who consume a great deal of greasy fish or wild animals could have higher than average POC levels in their bodies, he explained.

The World Health Assembly committed the governments to work for the use of DDT only to be authorised in public health programmes. The authorities will also guarantee DDT not be used in the private sector, he added.