APIA (Pacnews) — A workshop to assess the volume and impact of persistent toxic substances in the Pacific will be held here in Samoa.
The Regionally Based Assessment of Persistent Toxic Substances project began in 2001 and is being implemented through the United Nations Environmental Program.
The project is based around reviews of existing information on selected toxic chemicals, their production and use, discharges to the environment, and current environmental levels and effects.
Persistent toxic substances are characterized as being difficult to breakdown in the environment, and can accumulate in fat cells of humans with related cancer, birth, and developmental defects. The substances also have adverse effects on animals and fish.
During the three-day meeting organized by the South Pacific Regional Environment Program and UNEP, delegates and academics from 11 mainly Pacific countries, will gather and review the technical sections of a draft report covering the situation in the region; from information gathered over the last nine months by a team of researchers.
Their findings will be collated into a regional report for consideration by a regional priority setting workshop scheduled for August.
Once finalized, a regional report is to be submitted to UNEP as part of a global review, so that future priorities for global action in managing persistent toxic substances can be assessed.
