FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2002

CONTACT:
Wendy Balazik, 202-675-2383

SIERRA CLUB URGES SENATORS TO APPROVE TREATY TO ELIMINATE TOXIC CHEMICALS,
PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH
Senate Must First Address Future Harmful Pesticides and Chemicals

Washington, DC: The Sierra Club today asked Senators to take a major step
towards protecting families and wildlife around the world from dangerous
chemicals.  On the International Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
Elimination Day of Action, the Senate is poised to help rid the planet of
harmful chemicals and pesticides that can cause a variety of health
ailments from reproductive disorders to harming nervous system development.
Congress must not only approve the Stockholm Convention that the Bush
Administration has signed, it must also assure that such dangerous
chemicals can be quickly and efficiently eliminated in the future.

"These chemicals are among the most poisonous substances humans created,"
said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.  "They can cause
brain damage and cancer, impair the immune system, interfere with hormones,
and produce genetic mutations which can be passed to our children.  We are
hopeful that the Senate will work to get these poisons out of our air,
water and food as quickly as possible."

The Senate is poised to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants treaty, which phases out twelve of the worst pesticides
and industrial chemicals and provides a process to add other dangerous
chemicals to the treaty in the future. But Congress must also develop
methods for dealing with chemicals that are added to the POPS treaty in the
future.

Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) has proposed a measure to eliminate the use of
future POPs. Senator Jeffords' measure allows the Environmental Protection
Agency to add future chemicals to the Stockholm Convention without chemical
by chemical Congressional approval. The Bush administration has also
proposed a plan for dealing with POPs, but the Administration's approach
would drastically slow down the process by requiring an act of Congress
before the United States can act on new POPs.

POPs remain in the environment long after their release. Generally released
to the air, POPs end up in our lakes, rivers, and seas, in the soil and
plant life, and, ultimately, in the food chain.  POPs are produced either
as products (like pesticides), or as by-products (like dioxins) when
medical, industrial, or municipal wastes are burned.

The Stockholm Convention on POPs calls for outright banning and destruction
of these dangerous chemicals. The treaty is designed to eliminate or
severely restrict production and use of these very dangerous pesticides and
industrial chemicals; ensure environmentally sound management or
destruction of POPs waste and stockpiles; and prevent the emergence of new
chemicals with POPs-like characteristics. The treaty also commits
participating countries to provide developing countries with significant
financial and technical support so that they can successfully implement
treaty provisions.

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Erin Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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