Inuit attend UN meeting in Rome to push for elimination of “Forever Chemicals” in the Arctic
October 3, 2022 – Ottawa, Canada – Getting rid of a group of dangerous “forever chemicals” took a step forward last week at a meeting under the United Nations Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPs. These chemicals, called “long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids” (LC-PFCAs), belong to the so called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down under any known environmental conditions.
Inuit have played a key role in the negotiations that led to the Stockholm Convention on POPs which was signed 20 years ago — and the work continues. Inuit have a major stake in these discussions: LC-PFCAs are detected at exceptionally high concentrations in Inuit populations compared to other populations further south and appear to be increasing over time.
Canada nominated these chemicals for addition under the Convention in 2021, partially driven by these key findings. LC-PFCAs belong to a complex group of thousands of substances which are extremely persistent in the environment, including in humans, and have been linked to a myriad of health outcomes, such as suppressing the immune system and cardio-metabolic diseases. Like other POPs, they accumulate in the tissues of the animals Inuit eat.
Lucy Grey from Makivik Corporation in Nunavik attended last week’s 18th meeting of the Stockholm Convention’s technical review committee (POPRC-18) in Rome with the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and a team of scientists from Laval University (Mélanie Lemire and Amira Aker) to highlight the injustices Inuit populations encounter. The group intervened several times during the meeting, providing information on contaminant levels in the Arctic, and their impacts on Inuit populations.
“Inuit have a right and will always fight to eat their highly nutritious traditional foods free of chemicals transported from far away lands and countries that could have adverse health effects,” said Ms. Grey. “Inuit should never be put at risk and every precautionary measure should be taken by the international community to ensure that all living things and humanity live in a toxic free environment.”
Last week at the POPRC-18, the LC-PFCA risk profile document was adopted, and POPRC agreed that due to the long-range transport of this compound, there is a significant risk to environmental and human health. LC-PFCAs thus advanced to the next phase of the process to assess the socio-economic impacts and management options.
The Canadian nomination of LC-PFCAs was urged and highly supported by the ICC.
“ICC Canada is pleased that LC-PFCAs got a step closer to being globally banned. We know it will take time to eliminate these chemicals from the Arctic and other parts of the globe, but every step counts towards this important goal. The health of the Arctic ecosystem and that of Inuit is highly impacted by these chemicals, and these must be eliminated” said ICC Canada President Lisa Koperqualuk.
Several other chemicals also were discussed in the review process. These include a pesticide (chlorpyrifos), a flame retardant (dechlorane plus), industrial chemicals (medium-chain chlorinated paraffins), and a plastic additive (UV-328). POPRC-18 recommended that dechlorane plus and UV-328 be listed in Annex A for elimination, with time-limited exemptions for several uses, such as vehicle spare parts. Chlorinated paraffins were also found to pose a risk to human and environmental health due to their long-range transport and were moved forward in the review process.
Regrettably, the committee could not agree on moving the pesticide chlorpyrifos forward in the process. While the committee agreed on the compound’s toxicity, bioaccumulative properties, persistence, and long-range transport capacity, some members requested further evidence of environmental and health risk as a direct result of long-range transport. During the discussion, Lucy Grey pointed out: “The precautionary principle of the Stockholm Convention should be strictly utilized for global action before Inuit suffer significant adverse health effects.” POPRC will review new evidence at its 19th meeting in October next year.
If the multi-year review process is successful, it will lead to the listing of the chemicals for global action by the Stockholm Convention Conference of the Parties (COP). Currently, 31 chemicals are listed in the annexes of the Convention, which entered into force in 2004 with prescribed global action on 12 chemicals. Over 180 countries have ratified the Convention. Parties to the Convention will meet in May 2023 where decisions on the listing of dechlorane plus and UV-328 will be made.
Contact:
Melodie Lavallée
ICC Canada
Communications Coordinator
mlavallee@inuitcircumpolar.com
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Founded in 1977 by the late Eben Hopson of Sr. of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, the Inuit Circumpolar Council
(ICC) has flourished and grown into a major international non-governmental organization representing approximately 180,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka (Russia). ICC works to promote Inuit rights, safeguard the Arctic environment, and protect and promote the Inuit way of life.