The current issue of Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, a journal published by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), features a special series of papers generated from the SETAC workshop "Science-Based Guidance and Framework for the Evaluation and Identification of PBTs and POPs."
Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances (PBTs) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are regulated by many regional, national, and global conventions. Despite growing worldwide concerns about contamination and the safety of our food supply, advances in chemistry, information, and other technologies during the past two decades are not being sufficiently applied. As a result, effective guidance for the identification, assessment, and management of these substances is limited and often out-of-date.
Many substances, like the cyclic siloxanes, are inaccurately characterized as PBT substances based on out-of-date scientific screening criteria. However, current science and real-world measurements in the environment demonstrate that these substances are safe for human health and the environment, and should not be classified as PBT.
The articles convey the key elements of the current state of the science, the evolution of scientific understanding, and the challenges for future worldwide regulation of PBT chemicals and POPs. The series is based around the intensive science and regulatory policy deliberations that took place during a SETAC international workshop, held in January 2008. The meeting was the largest gathering of international experts on this issue to date. The views of the participants at that meeting, representing broad international perspectives from academia, government, and industry, will influence science and environmental policy at future international treaty conventions on this topic.
SETAC released the findings of the workshop in its journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (Vol. (5)4: 535-538; October 2009, "Introduction to Special Series: Science-Based Guidance and Framework for the Evaluation and Identification of PBTs and POPs." To learn more about the workshop or to purchase a copy of the journal, visit www.setacjournals.org.