At its sixth meeting, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, a scientific body established under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, evaluated the risks of chemicals nominated for inclusion in the Convention's annexes.
During this meeting, the Committee reviewed three chemicals proposed for listing in Annex A, B, or C of the Stockholm Convention: hexabromocyclododecane, short-chained chlorinated paraffins (risk profile), and endosulfan (risk management evaluation) with a view of recommending whether the Conference of the Parties should consider these chemicals for listing under the Convention.
In addition to the evaluation of the above-mentioned POPs, the Committee reviewed information on the nine POPs that were listed in August, including perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOS) and brominated flame retardants, and undertook technical review of the implications of recycling bromodiphenyl ethers as part of the new POPs work programme. Furthermore, the Committee also worked on its guidelines on alternatives to PFOS.
The Committee will report its conclusions and make recommendations to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to be held in April 2011.