IPEN Press Releases
COP 4 :

Arctic Peoples Threatened by Toxic Chemicals

Will U.S. Honor International Treaty?

Indigenous Arctic delegation to travel to Geneva to urge protection from toxic chemicals

(Anchorage, AK) The fourth meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme's Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants will convene from May 4-8 in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss restricting and phasing out the world's most dangerous chemicals. Representatives from Indigenous communities of the Arctic will attend to support a transformation of the previous U.S. position on the treaty, which has created obstructions for public health protections in response to chemical industry lobbying. The Indigenous Peoples will also urge the Parties to the Convention to integrate a comprehensive human rights framework through the United Nations and the implementation of the Stockholm Convention.?

Some Arctic Indigenous populations have shown "levels of contaminants in blood and breast milk [that] higher than those found anywhere else on the Earth." The Arctic acts as a "cold trap" for contaminants transported via atmospheric and oceanic currents. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate and some may increase in the Arctic food web. Indigenous communities of the north are reliant on a traditional diet of foods from the land and ocean for their physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. These communities are at particular risk from contaminant exposures. In some cases, there are significant exceedances of national and international health standards for exposure to such chemicals as PCBs.

"The Indigenous Arctic peoples are suffering the most from these chemicals," says Vi Waghiyi, a Yupik woman from St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea, "because the chemicals - DDT, endosulfan, lindane, perfluorinated compounds and toxic flame retardants, to name a few - are long lasting, and drift North on wind and water currents from where they are applied in the Southern latitudes. That means these chemicals are also in our traditional foods and affecting our health and the health of our children."

Exposures to POPs chemicals are associated with harmful health effects at extremely low doses, including immune system suppression, learning and developmental disabilities, diabetes, impairment of reproductive health, and certain cancers. Levels of PCBs and other contaminants are elevated among some Arctic Indigenous populations and have been found to be within the range associated with effects on learning and immune function. A previous study demonstrated that the Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island have significantly higher body burdens of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) than the background populations in the U.S. and Canada. Studies have confirmed that Arctic populations relying on marine foods have exposure levels to POPs and methyl mercury related to the amount of traditional foods eaten and at levels associated with adverse health effects. The Alaska State Department of Public Health conducted a study in 2008 that documents the highest birth defect rates in the United States, double the national average. A 2007 report by scientists from the United Nations Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme show a gender imbalance in Arctic communities in Greenland, Canada and Russia due to elevated levels of chemicals there.

The Preamble of the Stockholm Convention recognizes the special vulnerability of Arctic Indigenous Peoples and states: "Acknowledging that the Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of biomagnifications of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue."

"For the past eight years, the U.S. has refused to ratify the Stockholm Convention, the international treaty that demands a global phase-out of these dangerous chemicals," according to Andrea Carmen, Executive Director of the International Indian Treaty Council. "The chemical industry has spent millions lobbying Congress to delay responsible ratification and implementation with public health in mind. This has cost human lives and the health of those living in the Arctic. Even when Congress did try to ratify it, they put so many restrictions on for the benefit of the chemical industry it would have been a useless act. Time is running out and the U.S. Congress has got to take a stand and fight for the lives of the contaminated people and environments of the North. They must ratify the treaty with the Precautionary Principle standards intact. We are traveling to Geneva to inform the other nations that for us this is not an abstract issue-we need action now to stop the production of these chemicals that affect our health and the health of future generations. These chemicals harm everyone-we believe it is our responsibility to protect the health of all peoples of our Mother Earth."

Many participants in the Stockholm Convention are paying close attention to the U.S. involvement in the upcoming meeting, and are hoping the new U.S. administration will take a stand to protect the Indigenous people of the North.?

Members of the Indigenous Delegation to the Stockholm Convention Conference of Parties (COP4) available for interviews include:
" Andrea Carmen, Yaqui, Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council; 907-745-4482 andrea@treatycouncil.org
" Jane Kava, Inupiat-St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, Mayor of Savoonga; 907-984-6614 kavajane@yahoo.com
" Margaret Celeste McKay, Métis-Native Women's Association of Canada; 204-237-1555 celeste@mcmckay.ca
" Vi Waghiyi, Yupik-St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; 907-222-7714; 907-841-5163 vi@akaction.net
" Mike Williams, Yupik-Native Village of Akiak, and Chair of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council; 907-765-7426 mwilliams19522004@yahoo.com

Also Available for Interviews:
Shawna Larson Carmen, Environmental Justice Director at Alaska Community Action on Toxics and staff member of Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL).
She is Ahtna Athabascan (Indian) from Chickaloon Village on her father's side, and Supiaq (Aleut/Eskimo) from the village of Port Graham on her mother's side.
907-222-7714; cell (907) 841-5163 shawna@akaction.org

Joseph DiGangi, Ph.D. Senior Scientist, Environmental Health Fund. 312-566-0985 digangi@environmentalhealthfund.org

Pamela K Miller, Executive Director, Alaska Community Action on Toxics. 907-222-7714, cell 907-242-9991, pkmiller@akaction.net

David O. Carpenter, MD, Director, Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, 518 525-266, carpent@uamail.albany.edu

Resources:
United Nations Environment Program Stockholm Convention http://chm.pops.int/
Alaska Community Action on Toxics www.akaction.org

Expand the Original "dirty dozen" POPs Chemicals with 9 New Chemicals.

MANILA, April 29 (PNA) -- Public interest groups appealed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to actively support global action against nine extremely nasty chemicals that pose significant risk to human and ecological health.

The groups prodded the Philippine delegation to the 4th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP4) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) scheduled in Geneva on May 4-8 to back the move to expand the original "dirty dozen" POPs chemicals.

The DENR is the national focal point for the Stockholm Convention, a treaty ratified by the Senate way back in 2004 to protect human health and the environment from POPs. Usec. Demetrio Ignacio and Angelita Brabante will represent the Philippines at COP4.

"The COP4 next week will be a historic milestone as the international community considers the proposal of the POPs Review Committee to add nine unacceptably toxic chemicals for reduction and eventual elimination," stated Manny Calonzo of the EcoWaste Coalition and the Global Alliance for Incinerator (GAIA).

Both the EcoWaste Coalition and GAIA are active participants of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), a worldwide network of public interest groups working to eliminate POPs and other chemicals of equivalent concern so that they no longer contaminate humans and the local and global environments.

"We urge the DENR to champion the precautionary principle at COP4 and support decisions against chemicals with POPs-like characteristics and for the transition to safe and ecological alternatives," Calonzo said.

POPs are highly toxic chemicals that persist in the environment for years or even decades, traveling long distances via air and water and accumulating in living things.

The initial "dirty dozen" POPs covered by the Convention includes pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heltachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex and toxaphene), industrial chemicals (hexachlorobenzene, which is also used as pesticide, and polychlorinated biphenyls) and unintentional chemical byproducts (dioxins and furans).

Up for approval at COP4 as additional POPs are flame retardants, pesticides and waste products such as 1) alpha and beta hexachlorocyclohexane, 2) chlordecone, 3) hexabromobiphenyl, 4) lindane, 5) pentachlorobenzene, 6) perfluorooctane sulfonate, 7) perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride, 8) components of c-octa, hexa and hepta bromodiphenyl ether, and 9) components of c-penta and tetra bromodiphenyl ether.

Listing these chemicals on the Stockholm Convention will ensure that these toxic substances are banned throughout the globe.

The EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA and IPEN also asked the Philippine delegation to support measures aimed at truly reducing or eliminating the releases of POPs from stockpiles and wastes.

"We likewise urge the Philippines to speak against the inappropriately high limit values for the concentrations of POPs that can be released, which could be used to justify the export of hazardous and POPs-contaminated wastes from developed to developing countries," the groups said.

Citing a fact sheet prepared by scientist Pat Costner, the groups warned that the extraordinarily high values chosen will have the effect of minimizing the quantities of POPs wastes that are prioritized for destruction, while maximizing the quantities of POPs wastes that are left to be dealt with through landfilling or other disposal methods. (PNA) FFC/PR/mec

  Version: April 2009