China will make stronger efforts to implement the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) to
protect human health and build an environmentally friendly society,
a senior official from the national environmental regulator said in
Beijing on Thursday.
Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), made the remarks
on the eve of the first anniversary of China's implementation of
the convention on November 11 last year.
He said that, through arduous efforts in the face
of tough challenges, the country has adopted a series of measures
to phase out and control existing POPs and prevent further POP
pollution.
POPs have been used for many purposes, most notably
as pesticides.
He cited efforts to supervise the production,
circulation, storage and disposal of the dangerous chemicals and
research conducted to map out a strategic plan to control them.
China set up a national work group to coordinate
efforts to implement the Stockholm Convention early this year, he
said, and this group is responsible for examining policies,
standards, laws and regulations governing POP control.
Zhang appreciated the international community for
its support for China's efforts in POP control, pledging that the
government would work more closely with other countries and
international institutions for better implementation of the
convention.
POPs are highly toxic and remain in the environment
for a long time, accumulating in body tissues and spreading over
long distances.
They can cause death and birth defects among humans
and animals, as well as cancer, allergies and hypersensitivity,
damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, reproductive
disorders, and disruption of the immune system.
The Stockholm Convention was passed in May 2001,
requiring all parties to take necessary steps to ban the production
and use of some of the most toxic POPs.
The 12 initial kinds to be covered are: aldrin,
chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene,
polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dioxins
and furans.
(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2005)