19 October 2012: The eighth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC 8) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) took place from 15-19 October 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland. Over 125 participants attended the meeting, which adopted 12 decisions and established six intersessional working groups.

POPRC 8 adopted decisions on: advancing pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its salts and esters to the risk profile stage; advancing chlorinated naphthalenes (CNs) and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) to the risk management evaluation stage; amending POPRC 7’s decision on hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) to recommend that Parties consider listing it in Annex A with exemptions for production and use in expanded and extruded polystyrene in buildings; assessment of alternatives to endosulfan and DDT; the impact of climate change on the Committee’s work; the work programme on brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF), and evaluation of the implementation of the Stockholm Convention for those chemicals; issues and common practices in the application of the Annex E criteria; assessment of PFOS alternatives in open applications; revision of the guidance on alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF; and effective participation of parties in the POPRC’s work.

Intersessional working groups were established to address: CNs; HCBD; PCP, its salts and esters; the impact of climate change on the POPRC’s work; issues and common practices in the application of Annex E criteria; and the guidance on alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF. These working groups will report back at POPRC 9, which is scheduled to take place in October 2013.

The Committee also established an intersessional working group to continue revising the draft risk profile for short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs). This group will begin its work after POPRC 9. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage]