Organisation :
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a group of toxic chemicals that can travel long distances through air and water, and accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals. They do not degrade quickly over time, and as a consequence, potentially expose people to serious health issues including cancer, birth defects and immune system impairments.
This report provides resources to create national and community-level awareness campaigns to inform and positively influence community attitudes, behaviours and beliefs around waste management, chemicals management and other activities that contribute to the generation of of unintentional POPs (uPOPs). It includes measures to prevent and reduce uPOPs emissions as well as to improve the management of chemicals. The report highlights seven campaign briefs covering priority areas for uPOPs emissions reduction in Pacific island countries, which aim to: · Promote composting – an alternative to open burning · Improve healthcare waste management · Promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling · Improve used oil management · Promote healthy vehicles · Reduce exposure to uPOPs from domestic cooking · Improve the management of chemicals These campaigns examples could be used to encourage national or community-level awareness-raising campaigns in the region.