MANILA, July 19 (PNA) -- With barely a week before the chief executive
addresses the joint session of the 15th Congress, an environmental
network prodded President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" to use the occasion
to unwrap a package of solutions to the country’s environmental woes.
The EcoWaste Coalition, a network of over 100 groups aiming for zero
waste and chemical safety goals, expressed its hope that President
Aquino's first State of the Nation Address (SONA) will give due
prominence to protect the environment from waste and toxic pollution.
“The SONA provides P-Noy with a superb venue to announce and draw
citizens’ support for environmental policies and measures that will
clean up our communities, while promoting an ecological way of life,
mitigating climate impacts, spawning green jobs and inspiring local
self-reliance,” said Roy Alvarez, president, EcoWaste Coalition.
“We hope to hear P-Noy declaring an ambitious waste diversion target,
which is attainable if all the stakeholders, including the people,
government, industry, civil society, formal and informal waste sector,
will put their acts together and advance an innovative people-centered
zero waste program,” he said.
Such program should seek to 1) reduce the volume and toxicity of
discards, 2) promote intensive reusing, recycling and composting, 3)
recognize the role of informal waste sector in resource recovery, and
4) ensure the environmentally-sound management of hazardous waste.
For her part, Dr. Leah Primitiva Samaco-Paquiz, Secretary of the
EcoWaste Coalition, underscored the need for President Aquino to
respond to major chemical challenges facing the Filipino families and
communities.
“The upcoming SONA, we hope, will demonstrate government’s
steadfastness to safeguard the public health and the environment from
toxic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead,
mercury, cyanide and phthalates, to name a few,” she said.
“We’ll be elated if P-Noy will make policy pronouncements in support
of global and local efforts to curb toxic pollution, including the
non-combustion treatment of PCBs, the elimination of lead in paint and
the implementation of various mercury control measures,” she added.
“Our people will be listening intently on how P-Noy plans to fix our
waste and toxic problems and we hope we won’t be disappointed,” she
said.
The EcoWaste Coalition had crafted what they called the “Citizens’
Agenda for Zero Waste and Chemical Safety,” which was submitted to
P-Noy last June 25.
One of the key proposals of the group is for P-Noy to pursue a
national chemical safety policy framework and action plan in line with
the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).
Chemical safety, according to the EcoWaste Coalition, is integral to
improving public health and the environment, eradicating disease and
poverty, and achieving sustainable development for all. (PNA)
V3/pr/mec
Monday, July 19, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
One step forward for PCBs-free Philippines 2014
Dr. Mohamed Eisa of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)-Vienna and Director Atty. Juan Miguel Cuna of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) head the multi-stakeholder team that visited on 17 June the ongoing construction of the Non-Com POPs facility in Mariveles, Bataan. The facility is the cornerstone of the project to safely and ecologically eliminate the Philippines' stockpiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) through non-combustion technology. Comprising the visiting team are representatives from UNIDO, EMB, PNOC Alternative Fuels Corporation (PAFC), NGOs, and IPM Construction.
For P-Noy, ‘Citizens Agenda for Zero Waste’
Environment & You
by Manny Calonzo
Tuesday, 15 June 2010 18:59
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/opinion/11764-for-p-noy-citizens-agenda-for-zero-waste.html
FOR the first 100 days (June 30 to October 8) of President-elect
Benigno C. Aquino III, an environmental coalition has put forward an
ambitious “Citizens Agenda for Zero Waste and Chemical Safety.”
Some 100 participants from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao approved
several action proposals that seek to advance President-elect Noynoy’s
“Social Contract with the Filipino People,” particularly in the health
and environmental arena.
Speaking at a conference held on May 31 at the Occupational Safety and
Health Center in Quezon City, Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, Noynoy’s health
policy adviser, reiterated Aquino’s commitment to protecting and
advancing public health and environment as embodied in the “Social
Contract.”
“As the people’s President, Noynoy, in my view, will warmly welcome
your proposals that will help the government in defining its
priorities in terms of tangible policies and programs to adequately
meet the citizens’ needs for a clean, healthy and safe environment.
Nasa tamang panahon tayo para makatulong sa ating bansa,” said Dr.
Tan.
“Noynoy can help in reversing the persistent garbage disposal crisis
by directing the entire government machinery to step up the
implementation of R.A. 9003 and ensuring fund allotments for zero
waste resource management and enforcement activities,” said Eileen
Sison, NGO representative to the National Solid Waste Management
Commission (NSWMC).
R.A. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the first law
signed in 2001 by outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has not
been fully enforced as evidenced by the continued operation of some
1,234 open and controlled dumpsites and the ever growing national
waste generation that, according to government estimates, will reach
13.67 million tons per year by 2010.
The groups asked President-elect Noynoy to demonstrate the new
leader’s resolve to put an end to our perennial garbage woes and lead
the nation to the path of Zero Waste, by presiding over one meeting of
the NSWMC, an inter-agency body under the Office of the President that
oversees the implementation of R.A. 9003, with all the department
secretaries in full attendance.
Noynoy, the groups said, should mobilize all government departments to
enforce R.A. 9003 within their respective jurisdictions and promote
the use of recycled, reusable and recyclable materials.
The EcoWaste Coalition would like to see Noynoy using the President’s
Social Fund to assist local government units in the closure and
rehabilitation of dumpsites, and jump start the implementation of the
“National Framework Plan for the Informal Waste Sector in Solid Waste
Management.”
Zero Waste advocates urged Noynoy to launch and lead a nationwide
campaign against littering, the most ignored environmental offense,
that is turning our country into one of the dirtiest in Asia.
Integrating chemical safety into the country’s program for sustainable
development, the coalition pointed out, is one concrete strategy that
will surely lighten the health, economic and financial burdens of poor
families that are aggravated by their exposure to toxic chemicals.
In the field of chemical safety, the EcoWaste Coalition urged Noynoy
to initiate -- during his first 100 days in office -- a
multistakeholder, timebound process that will adopt a national
chemical safety policy framework and action plan in line with the
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).
The EcoWaste Coalition requested the incoming President to throw his
all-out support to eliminate the country’s stockpile of
polychlorinated biphenyls through a pioneering UN-assisted
non-combustion treatment facility that will soon commence operations
in Bataan.
Chemical safety campaigners also sought the issuance of executive
orders that will eliminate lead in paints, declare schools
mercury-free, ensure environmentally-sound management of lamp waste
with mercury, ban the aerial spraying of agrochemicals, and implement
the country’s “Chemical Accident Prevention and Preparedness Framework
and Plan.”
Indeed harmful chemicals affect the most vulnerable sectors that look
up to Noynoy for policies and measures that will protect them from
health-damaging exposure to environmental pollutants.
(Manny C. Calonzo is co-coordinator of the Global Alliance for
Incinerator Alternatives and immediate past president of the EcoWaste
Coalition.)
by Manny Calonzo
Tuesday, 15 June 2010 18:59
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/opinion/11764-for-p-noy-citizens-agenda-for-zero-waste.html
FOR the first 100 days (June 30 to October 8) of President-elect
Benigno C. Aquino III, an environmental coalition has put forward an
ambitious “Citizens Agenda for Zero Waste and Chemical Safety.”
Some 100 participants from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao approved
several action proposals that seek to advance President-elect Noynoy’s
“Social Contract with the Filipino People,” particularly in the health
and environmental arena.
Speaking at a conference held on May 31 at the Occupational Safety and
Health Center in Quezon City, Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, Noynoy’s health
policy adviser, reiterated Aquino’s commitment to protecting and
advancing public health and environment as embodied in the “Social
Contract.”
“As the people’s President, Noynoy, in my view, will warmly welcome
your proposals that will help the government in defining its
priorities in terms of tangible policies and programs to adequately
meet the citizens’ needs for a clean, healthy and safe environment.
Nasa tamang panahon tayo para makatulong sa ating bansa,” said Dr.
Tan.
“Noynoy can help in reversing the persistent garbage disposal crisis
by directing the entire government machinery to step up the
implementation of R.A. 9003 and ensuring fund allotments for zero
waste resource management and enforcement activities,” said Eileen
Sison, NGO representative to the National Solid Waste Management
Commission (NSWMC).
R.A. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the first law
signed in 2001 by outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has not
been fully enforced as evidenced by the continued operation of some
1,234 open and controlled dumpsites and the ever growing national
waste generation that, according to government estimates, will reach
13.67 million tons per year by 2010.
The groups asked President-elect Noynoy to demonstrate the new
leader’s resolve to put an end to our perennial garbage woes and lead
the nation to the path of Zero Waste, by presiding over one meeting of
the NSWMC, an inter-agency body under the Office of the President that
oversees the implementation of R.A. 9003, with all the department
secretaries in full attendance.
Noynoy, the groups said, should mobilize all government departments to
enforce R.A. 9003 within their respective jurisdictions and promote
the use of recycled, reusable and recyclable materials.
The EcoWaste Coalition would like to see Noynoy using the President’s
Social Fund to assist local government units in the closure and
rehabilitation of dumpsites, and jump start the implementation of the
“National Framework Plan for the Informal Waste Sector in Solid Waste
Management.”
Zero Waste advocates urged Noynoy to launch and lead a nationwide
campaign against littering, the most ignored environmental offense,
that is turning our country into one of the dirtiest in Asia.
Integrating chemical safety into the country’s program for sustainable
development, the coalition pointed out, is one concrete strategy that
will surely lighten the health, economic and financial burdens of poor
families that are aggravated by their exposure to toxic chemicals.
In the field of chemical safety, the EcoWaste Coalition urged Noynoy
to initiate -- during his first 100 days in office -- a
multistakeholder, timebound process that will adopt a national
chemical safety policy framework and action plan in line with the
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).
The EcoWaste Coalition requested the incoming President to throw his
all-out support to eliminate the country’s stockpile of
polychlorinated biphenyls through a pioneering UN-assisted
non-combustion treatment facility that will soon commence operations
in Bataan.
Chemical safety campaigners also sought the issuance of executive
orders that will eliminate lead in paints, declare schools
mercury-free, ensure environmentally-sound management of lamp waste
with mercury, ban the aerial spraying of agrochemicals, and implement
the country’s “Chemical Accident Prevention and Preparedness Framework
and Plan.”
Indeed harmful chemicals affect the most vulnerable sectors that look
up to Noynoy for policies and measures that will protect them from
health-damaging exposure to environmental pollutants.
(Manny C. Calonzo is co-coordinator of the Global Alliance for
Incinerator Alternatives and immediate past president of the EcoWaste
Coalition.)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Chemical Safety Advocates Laud Global Effort to Eliminate PCBs
Quezon City, Philippines/Bali, Indonesia. Civil society groups promoting chemical safety welcomed the launch today of a global mechanism that will help the Philippines and other countries address a highly toxic industrial chemical pollutant called PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls.
The EcoWaste Coalition, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and the International POPs Elimination Network lauded the launch of the PCBs Elimination Network (PEN) at the start of the simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the Conferences of Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Bali, Indonesia.
“The launch of PEN will complement and bolster our ongoing effort in the Philippines to safely manage and eliminate our own stockpiles of PCB oils and contaminated equipment such as electric transformers and capacitors,” said Manny Calonzo of the EcoWaste Coalition and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
“The current public-private partnership to establish a closed-loop non-combustion facility, with support from the United Nations, to destroy the country’s stockpiles will be our best contribution to the global movement to purge the planet of PCBs,” he added.
Data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources show that the Philippines has 6,879 tonnes of PCB containing equipment and wastes comprising about 2,400 tonnes of PCBs oil. The global estimate for PCBs is 5 million tonnes.
“The formation of PEN should assist developing countries and countries with economies in transition who lack financial and technical resources to identify, contain and destroy or irreversibly transform
PCB wastes both in closed uses such as transformers and in open applications like paints and sealants,” said Alan Watson, IPEN representative to PEN and chair of PEN’s disposal working group.
PEN is a collaborative arrangement that seeks to promote the environmentally sound management (ESM) of oils and equipment containing or contaminated with PCBs in line with the goals and requirements of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
PEN will facilitate information exchange on the ESM of PCBs, promote research, technical assistance and technology transfer, foster networking and cooperation, raise awareness on successful ESM activities and establish annual awards for contributions to the ESM of PCBs.
According to the UN Environment Program, developing countries and countries with economies in transition suffer from the lack of capacities, poor inventories, limited resources and inaccessible
information to ensure ESM of their PCBs.
For more information, please log on to:
http://chm.pops.int/Programmes/PCBs/PCBsEliminationClubPEC/tabid/438/language/fr-CH/Default.aspx
The EcoWaste Coalition, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and the International POPs Elimination Network lauded the launch of the PCBs Elimination Network (PEN) at the start of the simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the Conferences of Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Bali, Indonesia.
“The launch of PEN will complement and bolster our ongoing effort in the Philippines to safely manage and eliminate our own stockpiles of PCB oils and contaminated equipment such as electric transformers and capacitors,” said Manny Calonzo of the EcoWaste Coalition and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
“The current public-private partnership to establish a closed-loop non-combustion facility, with support from the United Nations, to destroy the country’s stockpiles will be our best contribution to the global movement to purge the planet of PCBs,” he added.
Data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources show that the Philippines has 6,879 tonnes of PCB containing equipment and wastes comprising about 2,400 tonnes of PCBs oil. The global estimate for PCBs is 5 million tonnes.
“The formation of PEN should assist developing countries and countries with economies in transition who lack financial and technical resources to identify, contain and destroy or irreversibly transform
PCB wastes both in closed uses such as transformers and in open applications like paints and sealants,” said Alan Watson, IPEN representative to PEN and chair of PEN’s disposal working group.
PEN is a collaborative arrangement that seeks to promote the environmentally sound management (ESM) of oils and equipment containing or contaminated with PCBs in line with the goals and requirements of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
PEN will facilitate information exchange on the ESM of PCBs, promote research, technical assistance and technology transfer, foster networking and cooperation, raise awareness on successful ESM activities and establish annual awards for contributions to the ESM of PCBs.
According to the UN Environment Program, developing countries and countries with economies in transition suffer from the lack of capacities, poor inventories, limited resources and inaccessible
information to ensure ESM of their PCBs.
For more information, please log on to:
http://chm.pops.int/Programmes/PCBs/PCBsEliminationClubPEC/tabid/438/language/fr-CH/Default.aspx
Una sa ASEAN, “PCBs-free” na Pinas
Nangunguna na ang Pilipinas sa mga bansang kasapi sa ASEAN sa pagsugpo sa mapanganib na lasong kemikal na polychlorinated biphenyls o PCBs, gamit ang teknolohiyang subok na ligtas at makakalikasan.
Ito ang binigyang-diin ng Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine National Oil Company – Alternative Fuels Corporation (PAFC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), at mga NGOs na sama-samang nagtutulong-tulong upang marating ng bansa ang pagiging PCBs-free ng mas maaga sa itinakda ng Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
“Inumpisahan na natin ngayon lamang linggong ito ang konstruksyon ng pasilidad na gagamitin upang wasakin ang mga imbak na PCB sa bansa, gamit ang pamamaraang hindi nagsusunog at nagtatapon,” pagmamalaking sinabi ni Retired Rear Admiral Alfredo Abueg, Jr., Park Manager ng PAFC kung saan kasalukuyang itinatayo ang pasilidad.
“Ang Pilipinas marahil ay maituturing na ngayong siyang nagtatakda ng bilis tungo sa pag-abot sa pambansa at pandaigdigang obligasyon nito na bigyang proteksyon ang kanyang mamamayan at kapaligiran mula sa mga banta ng PCBs,” ayon kay Rey Palacio ng EcoWaste Coalition. “Maaari nating matupad ang ating obligasyon nang higit na maaga kaysa maraming mga bansa kung magiging seryoso tayo sa pagtalima sa Chemical Control Order for PCBs,” dagdag pa niya.
Ang CCO for PCBs na inisyu ng DENR ay nag-aatas ng wastong pangangasiwa tungo sa lubusang pag-aalis at pagpapatigil sa paggamit o pag-iimbak ng PCBs sa bansa pagsapit ng 2014, higit na maaga kaysa itinakda ng Stockholm Convention. Kadalasang ginagamit pa rin ang PCBs bilang dielectric fluid sa mga electrical transformer at capacitor.
Kaugnay naman ng teknolohiyang gagamitin upang wasakin ang mga PCBs, ipinagmalaki ni Engr. Edwin Navaluna ng EMB, na “hindi ito katulad ng pangwasak sa PCBs na ginagamit sa ibang bansa, kung saan sinusunog nila ang mga PCBs at kontaminadong materyal.” Si Navaluna ang Tagapag-ugnay ng proyektong ito na tinatawag na Non-Combustion of POPs o “Non-Com POPs Project”.
“Ang paggamit ng isang mahusay na teknolohiyang hindi nagsusunog upang tugunan ang mga imbak na PCBs sa bansa ay alinsunod sa mga layunin at hinihingi ng Clean Air Act, Stockholm Convention at ng Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, upang bigyang proteksyon ang mga mamamayan at ekosistema mula sa panganib ng mga lasong kemikal,” pagbibigay-diin ni Manny Calonzo ng Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), isang grupong internasyunal na kumikilos kontra incinerators.
Maigting na tinututulan ng EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA, at iba pang kasamahan nilang mga NGOs at Civil Society Organizations ang nakagawiang pamamaraan ng paggamit ng incinerator upang wasakin ang mga PCBs, sapagkat higit pang matinding panganib sa kalusugan ng mamamayan at ng kapaligiran ang idinudulot nito, tulad ng pagbubuga ng mas mapanganib pang kemikal na dioxin.
Ang Non-Com POPs Project, sa suporta ng Global Environment Facility (GEF) at ng UNIDO ay pinangangasiwaan ng DENR, samantalang ang PAFC naman ang siyang mamamahala sa operasyon ng non-combustion facility na kasalukuyang itinatayo sa Industrial Park nito sa Mariveles, Bataan.
Ang EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, BAN Toxics, Health Care Without Harm, Mother Earth Foundation at marami pang mga grupong makakalikasan sa ilalim ng EcoWaste Coalition ay ang mga grupong nagsusulong ng pampublikong interes kaugnay ng proyekto.
Ito ang binigyang-diin ng Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine National Oil Company – Alternative Fuels Corporation (PAFC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), at mga NGOs na sama-samang nagtutulong-tulong upang marating ng bansa ang pagiging PCBs-free ng mas maaga sa itinakda ng Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
“Inumpisahan na natin ngayon lamang linggong ito ang konstruksyon ng pasilidad na gagamitin upang wasakin ang mga imbak na PCB sa bansa, gamit ang pamamaraang hindi nagsusunog at nagtatapon,” pagmamalaking sinabi ni Retired Rear Admiral Alfredo Abueg, Jr., Park Manager ng PAFC kung saan kasalukuyang itinatayo ang pasilidad.
“Ang Pilipinas marahil ay maituturing na ngayong siyang nagtatakda ng bilis tungo sa pag-abot sa pambansa at pandaigdigang obligasyon nito na bigyang proteksyon ang kanyang mamamayan at kapaligiran mula sa mga banta ng PCBs,” ayon kay Rey Palacio ng EcoWaste Coalition. “Maaari nating matupad ang ating obligasyon nang higit na maaga kaysa maraming mga bansa kung magiging seryoso tayo sa pagtalima sa Chemical Control Order for PCBs,” dagdag pa niya.
Ang CCO for PCBs na inisyu ng DENR ay nag-aatas ng wastong pangangasiwa tungo sa lubusang pag-aalis at pagpapatigil sa paggamit o pag-iimbak ng PCBs sa bansa pagsapit ng 2014, higit na maaga kaysa itinakda ng Stockholm Convention. Kadalasang ginagamit pa rin ang PCBs bilang dielectric fluid sa mga electrical transformer at capacitor.
Kaugnay naman ng teknolohiyang gagamitin upang wasakin ang mga PCBs, ipinagmalaki ni Engr. Edwin Navaluna ng EMB, na “hindi ito katulad ng pangwasak sa PCBs na ginagamit sa ibang bansa, kung saan sinusunog nila ang mga PCBs at kontaminadong materyal.” Si Navaluna ang Tagapag-ugnay ng proyektong ito na tinatawag na Non-Combustion of POPs o “Non-Com POPs Project”.
“Ang paggamit ng isang mahusay na teknolohiyang hindi nagsusunog upang tugunan ang mga imbak na PCBs sa bansa ay alinsunod sa mga layunin at hinihingi ng Clean Air Act, Stockholm Convention at ng Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, upang bigyang proteksyon ang mga mamamayan at ekosistema mula sa panganib ng mga lasong kemikal,” pagbibigay-diin ni Manny Calonzo ng Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), isang grupong internasyunal na kumikilos kontra incinerators.
Maigting na tinututulan ng EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA, at iba pang kasamahan nilang mga NGOs at Civil Society Organizations ang nakagawiang pamamaraan ng paggamit ng incinerator upang wasakin ang mga PCBs, sapagkat higit pang matinding panganib sa kalusugan ng mamamayan at ng kapaligiran ang idinudulot nito, tulad ng pagbubuga ng mas mapanganib pang kemikal na dioxin.
Ang Non-Com POPs Project, sa suporta ng Global Environment Facility (GEF) at ng UNIDO ay pinangangasiwaan ng DENR, samantalang ang PAFC naman ang siyang mamamahala sa operasyon ng non-combustion facility na kasalukuyang itinatayo sa Industrial Park nito sa Mariveles, Bataan.
Ang EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, BAN Toxics, Health Care Without Harm, Mother Earth Foundation at marami pang mga grupong makakalikasan sa ilalim ng EcoWaste Coalition ay ang mga grupong nagsusulong ng pampublikong interes kaugnay ng proyekto.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The PCBs in our lives, by Joe Torres
The PCBs in our lives
By Joe Torres
UP CLOSE
Remate Tonight, 17 Pebrero 2010
About 12 years ago, we wrote about the continuing threats brought about by PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls, despite the supposed decision of the government to phase it out.
Today, PCBs continue to threaten us and our environment.
PCBs are light or dark yellow oily mixtures, typically used as insulating materials in transformers and capacitors and in heat transfer fluids and lubricants.
While the Philippines is not a PCB manufacturer, the EcoWaste Coalition said the country has considerable stocks of PCBs due to importation of electrical transformers through the years.
Based on government inventory, we have some 6,879 tons of PCB-contaminated equipment and wastes comprising about 2,400 tons of PCB oils.
PCBs can be found in some electrical utilities and cooperatives, transformer servicing facilities, old industrial plants and commercial buildings, military camps and bases and hospitals.
Other equipment where PCBs can be found are old fluorescent ballasts, liquid-filled circuit breakers, and voltage regulators, among others.
Exposure to PCBs due to inhalation, skin absorption and the intake of PCB-contaminated food can disturb and damage the skin, liver and gastrointestinal tract as well as the nervous and immune systems.
Experts have warned that health problems brought about by exposure to PCBs include adverse reproductive, developmental and endocrine effects, liver problem and chloracne, with the latter two being the most common signs of exposure to PCBs.
Three US studies even show that PCBs alter brain development and produce neurobehavioral problems in children. The chemicals are also suspected to be cancer-causing.
This week, the Philippines is set to become the first country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to eliminate its stockpiles of persistent organic pollutants, including PCBs.
Stakeholders from the government, industry and the civil society noted the steady progress of the landmark United Nations-supported initiative on PCBs called the “Non-Com POPs Project.”
The Philippines has demonstrated “the best available technology and best environmental practice for the destruction of PCB toward the greening of industries and the pursuit of sustainable industrial development,” a United Nations representative reported last week.
Civil society groups welcome the “collaborative effort” between the government and the private sector. But, of course, much has to be done, especially in the area of implementation.
The PCB issue should not only be a concern of the government, the business sector and environmentalist groups like the EcoWaste Coalition. It should also be a concern of all of us, especially those engaged in businesses like junkshops and those working in dumpsites.
Junkshop workers and people around it can be exposed to PCBs through inhalation, skin contact with PCBs or contaminated materials, and by unknowingly consuming contaminated water or food products.
While the government and advocates are celebrating the milestones in their campaign against PCBs, we hope that the issue will cascade all the way down to those threatened by these pollutants.
By Joe Torres
UP CLOSE
Remate Tonight, 17 Pebrero 2010
About 12 years ago, we wrote about the continuing threats brought about by PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls, despite the supposed decision of the government to phase it out.
Today, PCBs continue to threaten us and our environment.
PCBs are light or dark yellow oily mixtures, typically used as insulating materials in transformers and capacitors and in heat transfer fluids and lubricants.
While the Philippines is not a PCB manufacturer, the EcoWaste Coalition said the country has considerable stocks of PCBs due to importation of electrical transformers through the years.
Based on government inventory, we have some 6,879 tons of PCB-contaminated equipment and wastes comprising about 2,400 tons of PCB oils.
PCBs can be found in some electrical utilities and cooperatives, transformer servicing facilities, old industrial plants and commercial buildings, military camps and bases and hospitals.
Other equipment where PCBs can be found are old fluorescent ballasts, liquid-filled circuit breakers, and voltage regulators, among others.
Exposure to PCBs due to inhalation, skin absorption and the intake of PCB-contaminated food can disturb and damage the skin, liver and gastrointestinal tract as well as the nervous and immune systems.
Experts have warned that health problems brought about by exposure to PCBs include adverse reproductive, developmental and endocrine effects, liver problem and chloracne, with the latter two being the most common signs of exposure to PCBs.
Three US studies even show that PCBs alter brain development and produce neurobehavioral problems in children. The chemicals are also suspected to be cancer-causing.
This week, the Philippines is set to become the first country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to eliminate its stockpiles of persistent organic pollutants, including PCBs.
Stakeholders from the government, industry and the civil society noted the steady progress of the landmark United Nations-supported initiative on PCBs called the “Non-Com POPs Project.”
The Philippines has demonstrated “the best available technology and best environmental practice for the destruction of PCB toward the greening of industries and the pursuit of sustainable industrial development,” a United Nations representative reported last week.
Civil society groups welcome the “collaborative effort” between the government and the private sector. But, of course, much has to be done, especially in the area of implementation.
The PCB issue should not only be a concern of the government, the business sector and environmentalist groups like the EcoWaste Coalition. It should also be a concern of all of us, especially those engaged in businesses like junkshops and those working in dumpsites.
Junkshop workers and people around it can be exposed to PCBs through inhalation, skin contact with PCBs or contaminated materials, and by unknowingly consuming contaminated water or food products.
While the government and advocates are celebrating the milestones in their campaign against PCBs, we hope that the issue will cascade all the way down to those threatened by these pollutants.
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