UN study finds climate
change increases exposure to POPs and heightens
their toxic effects on humans and the environment
Cancun (Mexico), 7 December 2010
- Climate change increases the planet's
vulnerability to persistent organic pollutants
(POPs), a UN research team concluded in
a major study previewed in Cancun, Tuesday.
The study, "Climate
Change and POPs Inter-Linkages", was
conducted by climate and chemical experts
from 12 countries, and is the first systematic
and authoritative review of the impact of
climate change on the release of POPs into
the environment, their long range transport
and environmental fate, and human and environmental
exposure.
POPs are substances
that are persistent and toxic and can affect
generations of humans. Exposure to POPs
is known to effect health and can be the
source of cardiovascular disease, metabolic
disorders and cancer. Some POPs are also
considered to be endocrine disrupters and
by altering the hormonal system, can also
damage human reproductive and immune systems.
Global warming increases
emissions of POPs and exposure via the food
chain
Climate change, and
the changes in temperature, impact the exposure
of humans and wildlife to POPs and will
also affect biodiversity, ecosystems and
vulnerability.
Among the major conclusions
of the study, increased emissions and the
increased availability of POPs to enter
the food chain leads to bio-magnification
which happens when certain chemicals become
concentrated in organisms as they move into
and up the food chain, threatening the health
of humans and animals.
"Climate change
increases the planet's vulnerability to
persistent organic pollutants, by increasing
emissions and the bio-availability of POPs,
and thus the potential for bio-magnification
through the food chain, one of the chief
pathways of human exposure to POPs,"
said Katarína Magulová, Programme
Officer of the Secretariat of the Stockholm
Convention.
Extreme weather events
open floodgates to POPs
Global warming contributes
to a higher frequency of extreme weather
events, which can cause severe flooding,
triggering the secondary emissions of POPs.
The unusually high monsoon
rains responsible for the catastrophic 2010
summer flooding in Pakistan were part of
an anomalous weather pattern across Asia
causing floods and landslides in China and
North Korea and heavy rains in Indonesia,
a UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service
reported in November 2010. Not surprisingly,
the heavy rains coincided with a heat wave
in Russia.
Floodwaters triggered
by extreme storm events can also inundate
agricultural land where stockpiles of obsolete
POPs pesticides banned under the Stockholm
Convention are awaiting removal.
Large stocks of obsolete
pesticides are situated in areas where there
are intensive cash crops and agricultural
activities. Stockpiles located in towns
or villages and near water bodies pose potential
human health and environmental risks.
"The increasing
frequency and severity of tropical cyclones
and flood events are increasingly putting
at risk stockpiles containing thousands
of metric tonnes of obsolete POPs pesticides
and the low-lying agricultural communities
where these chemicals are typically stored,"
warned Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
"The heavy monsoon
flooding in Pakistan this year was an unprecedented
natural disaster. Over 20 million Pakistanis
were affected and 1.6 million families suffered
major disruptions to their homes and livelihoods,"
said Cameron Munter, the U.S. Ambassador
to Pakistan.
"Floods and other
natural disasters can quickly defeat existing
infrastructure and release dangerous and
obsolete pesticides into the environment
where people and animals are directed exposed,"
Ambassador Munter added.
The United States has
given more than US$600 million to support
Pakistan's flood relief.
Wildlife's increasing
sensitivity to POPs
Higher temperatures
can make wildlife more sensitive to exposure
of certain pollutants. In the Arctic region,
climate change can alter the exposure levels
of marine mammals, such as seals or the
polar bears, through a variety of means
including changes in long-range atmospheric
and oceanographic transport along with the
melting of the ice caps.
DDT is a persistent
organic pollutant which the global community
hopes eventually to eliminate from the planet.
However, the expected increase in the incidence
of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria,
associated with climate change may lead
to enhanced demand for and release of DDT
in some regions.
Knowledge gaps identified
The investigators identified
key knowledge gaps, including the lack of
long-term monitoring data to evaluate the
impact of climate change on changing POP
emissions and concentrations and the need
for climate change mitigation options to
fully take into account influences associated
with the production and distribution of
unintentionally produced POPs.
They called for improved
coordination between policy makers who address
climate change and those who address the
management of POPs both domestically and
internationally.
The outcomes of the
study are expected to result in policy recommendations
on how to mitigate the impacts of POPs under
the planet's changing climate.
Sharing the Science
of Climate Change and POPs at the UN Climate
Change Conference
The full study will
be presented to the 5th meeting of the Parties
to the Stockholm Convention in April 2011.
The objective of the Stockholm Convention
is to protect human health and the environment
from POPs.
The study was conducted
with partners from: Arctic Monitoring and
Assessment Programme (AMAP), University
of Berne (Switzerland), Environment Canada,
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Health Canada,
European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme
(EMEP), Indian and Northern Affairs Canada,
International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN),
Laval University (Canada), Masaryk University
(Czech Republic), Norwegian Institute for
Air Research (NILU), Norwegian University
of Science and Technology, Trondheim (Norway),
Peking University (China), Stockholm University
(Sweden), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
(Switzerland), Technological University
of Monterrey (Mexico), University of Bern
(Switzerland), University of Concepción
(Chile) and University of Texas School of
Public Health (USA).
Note to Editors:
Approximately 6,033
metric tonnes of obsolete stocks of POPs
pesticides in Pakistan were reported to
the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention
by the Government of Pakistan in February
2009. See: National Implementation Plan
for Phasing Out and Elimination of POPs
under the Stockholm Convention Art. 7 (b)).
From 11000 to 2008,
climate-related hazards ("extreme events")
have resulted in an average of US$59 billion
a year in global damages, or 0.1 percent
of Global Domestic Product in 2008. Tropical
cyclones account for 44 percent, and floods
33 percent. Recent studies suggest that
a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations
could double tropical cyclone damage worldwide.
The UNEP Secretariat
of the Stockholm Convention in December
2010 produced the global study on Climate
Change and Persistent Organic Pollutants:
How climate change increases the planet's
vulnerability to persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) by increasing exposure and heightening
toxic effects on humans and the environment.
See: http://www.pops.int
UNEP's Global Environmental
Alert Service (GEAS) in 26 November 2010
produced the Near Real-Time Environmental
Event Alert, Pakistan's Flood of the Century
is a Global Disaster.
See: http://na.unep.net/geas/science/pdfs/GEAS%20November.pdf
The United Nations General
Assembly on 22 August 2010 calls for strengthened
emergency relief to meet Pakistan's urgent
needs after massive destruction caused by
unprecedented, devastating floods. See:
UN sixty-fourth General Assembly, 19th August
2010. http://www.un.org/
The World Bank and the
United Nations produced on 11 November 2010
Natural Hazards, Unnatural Disasters: The
Economics of Effective Prevention.
See: http://www.gfdrr.org/gfdrr/node/281
The UNEP Secretariat
of the Stockholm Convention and United Nations
Safe Planet Campaign exhibition, WHAT WILL
BE: The visual and performing arts for a
Safe Planet, at the UN Climate Change Conference
in Cancun, Mexico (open from 2 to 15 December
2010), exhibits the works of seven international
artists reflecting upon climate change and
chemicals and featuring the flood victims
in Pakistan.
See: http://www.artmill.eu/app-content/files/groups/what-will-be/what-will-be.pdf
