KARACHI, May 28: A local NGO has urged the government to ratify the international convention on “persistent organic pollutants (POPs)”, which calls for restricted use and safe handling of pesticides and industrial chemicals posing serious threats to human health and wildlife.

Speaking at a press conference, organized to mark the completion of one year of the adoption of a global treaty on control and phasing out of the POPs, the chief executive officer of the Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment, Tanveer Arif, stressed the need for implementation of the agreement in the country.

He informed that the POPs treaty, known as Stockholm Convention, had so far been signed by 151 countries, including Pakistan, while nine of the countries had ratified it.

The initiatives towards an international treaty on POPs was first proposed in 1992, while in May 2001, the Stockholm Convention, mainly pushed by representatives of Nordic countries with the observations that their Arctic region was becoming a warehouse of the POPs.

Mr Arif said that POPs were not soluble in water but they dissolved readily in fats and oils and tended to accumulate in the body fat of living organisms. Due to their stability in the environment, the POPs found their way into humans and wildlife, leaving their marks in numerous ways, including the disruption of the endocrine system, reproductive failures, learning and behaviour problems, weakened immune systems and neurological disorders, such as convulsions and visual defects in offspring.

Referring to a survey of 28 representative sites in Pakistan, undertaken by international environmental experts in 1987, the SCOPE chief said that 8,000 matric tons of chemical and contaminated materials, including expired pesticides, were lying unattended or stored at 1,900 sites in Sindh and Punjab.

He said that a inventory of toxic substances, including obsolete chemicals and pesticides, should be made by the government and publicised properly. He said that unlimited import or smuggle of POPs and improper management of the stockpiles was a major source of concern for those who believed in healthy environment both for humane and animals.