Persistent Organic Pollutants and Policy

Paul Webster's News of the Week article “For precarious populations, pollutants present new perils” (14 March, p. [1642][1]) testifies to the sometimes difficult relationship between scientific discovery and public policy. In the case of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), however, increases in our understanding of the production, transport, fate, and impact of these toxic chemicals have often led to meaningful changes in public policy in Canada, Europe, and the United States. Perhaps the most important development in this regard is the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. This global treaty places immediate, binding controls on 12 particularly pernicious POPs, often referred to as the “dirty dozen”; establishes scientifically based criteria for establishing controls on additional POPs; and mandates additional national and international research into POPs and their environmental and health impacts. Canada has long been a leading and influential advocate for international POPs science and policy. Its government should be encouraged to continue this leadership and to meet its research obligations under the Convention by continuing the important Arctic Science and the Northern Contaminants Program discussed in the article. In the United States and Europe, President Bush and other leaders should keep their promises to support full ratification and implementation of the Convention in their own countries and throughout the world. Science has shown us the problems. Policy-makers must now use that knowledge effectively. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.299.5613.1642b