Banning The 12 Most Deadly Chemicals

Twelve chemicals, known as the "Dirty Dozen" present a grave threat to the environment. The Bush administration is supports an international effort to ban these chemicals.

1 minute read

May 24, 2001, 9:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"The dozen chemicals, known officially as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are highly toxic and cause disease, birth defects and possibly tens of thousands of deaths every year...Nor do the dozen chemicals respect borders. Once in the environment, POPs can circulate around the world. Through a process called bioaccumulation they are then absorbed into the tissue of animals, where they can reach damaging, even lethal, concentrations as they work their way up the food chain to humans... Mr Bush has already said that the United States will ratify the treaty because the chemicals 'can harm Americans even when released abroad.' Cynics suggest his enthusiasm for the POPs treaty is mostly to help boost his tattered environmental credentials. T"

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Wednesday, May 23, 2001 in The Economist

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