EvanL
05-17-2004, 12:25 AM
Sun May 16, 2:56 PM ET
BOB WEBER
(CP) - Inuit around the circumpolar world celebrated a Canadian-led diplomatic victory Monday as an international agreement came into force limiting the use of the "dirty dozen" chemicals poisoning the Arctic.
But some environmentalists warn the hard work of updating Canada's regulations on so-called persistent organic pollutants, which could affect everything from landfills to incinerators to wood stoves, has just begun. After 15 years of negotiations, the Stockholm Convention on such chemicals as PCBs, dioxins and furans is now binding on its signatories.
"We're absolutely thrilled," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (news - web sites), which represents 155,000 Inuit worldwide. "For us, it's not just an environmental issue, it's an issue of health."
The convention commits signatories to eliminating the use of a dozen chemicals once used in pesticides, such as DDT and PCBs. The latter were used for industrial cooling. Producing or importing PCBs into Canada was banned in 1980 when they were linked to liver, skin and nerve disorders in humans and brain cancer in mice.
But global climate flows have kept pumping the chemicals into Canada's Arctic, where they have accumulated in the tissues of animals commonly used for food.
The Inuit have recorded some of the highest PCB levels in the world, up to 10 times levels found in southern Canada. The chemical has been found in the breast milk of Inuit mothers.
Canada began raising concerns on the international stage as far back as 1989 and conducted much of the research that eventually persuaded the world to act.
Canada was also the first country to sign and ratify the convention when it was created in 2001. The convention was to come into force 90 days after the 50th country ratified it, which France did last February.
A plan on how Canada will implement the convention is expected by May 2005, in time for an international conference in Ecuador, said Cheryl Heathwood of Environment Canada.
With standards on emissions and a national inventory on chemical stockpiles already in place, "we're in good shape," she said.
But some environmentalists say developing the plan is an opportunity to improve current regulations.
New chemicals have come on the market that may behave in similar ways to the banned substances, they say. Current regulations, which allow old transformers to leak as much as one gram of PCB-laden oil per day, may need tightening.
And Canada needs to examine how dioxins and furans are produced as a result of industrial, municipal and household practices.
"What we still haven't done anything about is the unintentional byproduction of those dangerous chemicals in other kinds of industries - and we're talking about any industry that burns stuff," said Karen Wristen of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee from Ottawa.
Daniel Green of the Sierra Club (news - web sites) said incinerators from Quebec to Alberta are still releasing PCBs into the environment, as are some industrial plants and municipal landfills.
"Hopefully, the coming into force of the Stockholm Convention will force Canada to live by the convention it signed," he said from Montreal.
Heathwood said private homes are one of Canada's largest sources of dioxins and furans.
"We're also going to have to look at wood stoves and open burning," she said. "That needs to be part of the plan."
For now, though, Watt-Cloutier is content.
Her group is hosting a feast in Iqaluit, Nunavut, today to celebrate the occasion. Many of the foods once threatened by contamination - caribou, char, whale skin - will be served.
"We are going to celebrate that day," she said. "Perhaps, in the future, we're going to have safer country food."
BOB WEBER
(CP) - Inuit around the circumpolar world celebrated a Canadian-led diplomatic victory Monday as an international agreement came into force limiting the use of the "dirty dozen" chemicals poisoning the Arctic.
But some environmentalists warn the hard work of updating Canada's regulations on so-called persistent organic pollutants, which could affect everything from landfills to incinerators to wood stoves, has just begun. After 15 years of negotiations, the Stockholm Convention on such chemicals as PCBs, dioxins and furans is now binding on its signatories.
"We're absolutely thrilled," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (news - web sites), which represents 155,000 Inuit worldwide. "For us, it's not just an environmental issue, it's an issue of health."
The convention commits signatories to eliminating the use of a dozen chemicals once used in pesticides, such as DDT and PCBs. The latter were used for industrial cooling. Producing or importing PCBs into Canada was banned in 1980 when they were linked to liver, skin and nerve disorders in humans and brain cancer in mice.
But global climate flows have kept pumping the chemicals into Canada's Arctic, where they have accumulated in the tissues of animals commonly used for food.
The Inuit have recorded some of the highest PCB levels in the world, up to 10 times levels found in southern Canada. The chemical has been found in the breast milk of Inuit mothers.
Canada began raising concerns on the international stage as far back as 1989 and conducted much of the research that eventually persuaded the world to act.
Canada was also the first country to sign and ratify the convention when it was created in 2001. The convention was to come into force 90 days after the 50th country ratified it, which France did last February.
A plan on how Canada will implement the convention is expected by May 2005, in time for an international conference in Ecuador, said Cheryl Heathwood of Environment Canada.
With standards on emissions and a national inventory on chemical stockpiles already in place, "we're in good shape," she said.
But some environmentalists say developing the plan is an opportunity to improve current regulations.
New chemicals have come on the market that may behave in similar ways to the banned substances, they say. Current regulations, which allow old transformers to leak as much as one gram of PCB-laden oil per day, may need tightening.
And Canada needs to examine how dioxins and furans are produced as a result of industrial, municipal and household practices.
"What we still haven't done anything about is the unintentional byproduction of those dangerous chemicals in other kinds of industries - and we're talking about any industry that burns stuff," said Karen Wristen of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee from Ottawa.
Daniel Green of the Sierra Club (news - web sites) said incinerators from Quebec to Alberta are still releasing PCBs into the environment, as are some industrial plants and municipal landfills.
"Hopefully, the coming into force of the Stockholm Convention will force Canada to live by the convention it signed," he said from Montreal.
Heathwood said private homes are one of Canada's largest sources of dioxins and furans.
"We're also going to have to look at wood stoves and open burning," she said. "That needs to be part of the plan."
For now, though, Watt-Cloutier is content.
Her group is hosting a feast in Iqaluit, Nunavut, today to celebrate the occasion. Many of the foods once threatened by contamination - caribou, char, whale skin - will be served.
"We are going to celebrate that day," she said. "Perhaps, in the future, we're going to have safer country food."