Since Monday 1 May 2023, Arnika has participated in the negotiations of the Stockholm, Basel and Rotterdam Conventions in Geneva. The aim was to protect the planet from pollution by the world's most toxic substances. On the very first day of the meeting, Arnika's Jindřich Petrlík appeared in the plenary before delegates from UN countries to present the demands for better regulation of persistent organic pollutants in waste on behalf of NGOs from all over the world.
We also presented a study with Thai colleagues on the contamination of the blood of Thai workers with toxic dechlorate plus who dismantle electrical waste. This whole campaign was aimed at a global ban on this dangerous substance.
At this conference, representatives of more than 120 countries decided to adopt two toxic substances used in plastics on the Stockholm Convention's list for a global ban, and one of them was dechlornane plus. This means that these hazardous substances will not be given an exemption that would, for example, allow them to be recycled, but they will also not be allowed to be added to new plastic products, including children's toys.
Foto: Nikola Jelínek, Jindřich Petrlík/Arnika
