Essential Elements of U.S. Leadership in Ratifying the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

A coalition of environmental and health organizations calls on the U.S. Congress to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The authors argue that U.S. absence from the treaty harms its international reputation and limits its influence over the convention's success. They propose three criteria for implementing legislation: ensuring timely action on new POPs, respecting state-level environmental laws, and granting the EPA clear legal authority to act without redundant evaluations or cost-benefit balancing tests.

• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are described as a global hazard due to their ability to persist in the environment for years, travel long distances via wind and water, and accumulate in the food chain, causing cancer, neurological and learning disabilities, and impacts on reproductive and immune systems.
• The Stockholm POPs Convention regulates 12 initial chemicals, including PCBs, DDT, and dioxins, and provides a science-based process for adding further pollutants. While the 'dirty dozen' are no longer intentionally produced in the U.S., the authors state that the U.S. government signed the treaty in May 2001 but has not yet ratified it.
• The coalition proposes three essential criteria for U.S. implementing legislation: first, the U.S. should promptly decide whether to regulate new POPs added to the treaty; second, federal legislation must not weaken state and local laws in places such as California, Washington, Maine, Hawaii, Michigan, and New York; and third, the EPA should have the authority to use the Convention's scientific review process and health-based decision-making standards rather than 'cost-benefit balancing' tests.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2005). Essential Elements of U.S. Leadership in Ratifying the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/POPs_Leadership_7Sep05.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Essential Elements of U.S. Leadership in Ratifying the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). 2005. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/POPs_Leadership_7Sep05.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Essential Elements of U.S. Leadership in Ratifying the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) |date=7 September 2005 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/POPs_Leadership_7Sep05.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2005essential, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Essential Elements of U.S. Leadership in Ratifying the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2005}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/POPs_Leadership_7Sep05.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }