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USA and USSR to cooperate on pollution control
Marine Pollution Bulletin
USA and USSR to Cooperate on Pollution Control The USA and USSR have agreed to adopt a cooperative programme to prevent and clean up marine pollution from shipping and to assess the effect of pollutants on marine organisms. The agreement was reached at the ninth meeting of the US-USSR Joint Committee on the Environment held in Moscow last November. This Committee was established in 1972 with the aim of solving problems in the areas of environmenl~al protection and exploitation of natural resources in both countries. The ninth meeting was the first official high-level meeting between the two countries on environmental cooperation for several years. A programme of joint work for 1986 was established which includes a marine pollution control project. The project will be administered by the USSR Ministry of the Maritime Fleet and the US Coast Guard. The programme of work will include the improvement of methods and technical means of eliminating oil spills, exchanging information on oil spill control technology in cold climates, developing standards and recommendations on controlling pollution within the framework of the International Maritime Organization and developing methods of combatting pollution of the marine environment by chemicals. A second project within the joint programme focuses upon the development and implementation of long-term cooperative programmes which will aid both sides in comprehending effects of pollutants on marine organisms and ecosystems and to further encourage exchange of information. This project will be run principally by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the USSR State Committee for Hydrometeorology and control of the Natural Environment.
Pesticide Problems in South Pacific The use of pesticides in the South Pacific is beginning to arouse some concern since the region lacks effective legislation and enforcement procedures to adequately monitor and control the use of these often dangerous chemicals. Dr David Mowbray, the Principal Investigator of the Pesticide Project of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has recently described the current problem in an article in The Siren, 1985, 29, 13-19. Dr Mowbray, who is a lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea points out that many of the chemicals used in the region are classed by the World Health Organization as extremely or highly hazardous and some are banned or severely restricted elsewhere in the world. In light of this, SPREP initiated its pesticide project in 1983 to review the situation in the 20 countries and territories of the South Pacific Region. The main 48
objectives of the project included a review of existing legislation and registration requirements, a collation of existing information on problems resulting from the use of pesticides, identification of technical expertise available in the region and the development of a pesticide monitoring programme. The number of pesticides available in the region is reported to have increased from 162 to 589 in the last decade. The most widely available chemicals are malathion, warfarin, benomyl, diazinon, methyl bromide as well as captan, dieldrin, glyphosate and paraquat. Despite recent guidelines by the FAO and the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC) of UNEP, which require designated national authorities to be notified by countries which ban or severely restrict specific pesticides, the main problem in the South Pacific is lack of resources or existence of these designated national authorities. Several cases of human poisoning and, occasionally, deaths have been recorded mainly from the misuse of paraquat. However, very little work has been reported on possible chronic effects on presticide users in the region, or on quantification of chemical residues in crops, soil, water and fauna. Dr Mowbray proposes the setting up of a pesticide information centre, a regional pesticide advisory committee and a network of regional pesticides residue laboratories. The main problem facing this programme is again the lack of manpower and funds but the Pesticide Project is now seeking further support for their proposals.
Fish and Bird Mortalities in Southern England A spillage of between 1000 and 2000 I. of tributyl tin and dieldrin has killed all life along a 6 km stretch of water in Southern England. Thousands of fish and fish-feeding birds such as herons, kingfishers and jackdaws were killed when the chemicals escaped from a timber treatment plant into the Newmill Channel, a tributary of the river Rother in East Sussex. The effects of the spillage were minimized due to the low autumn rainfall decreasing the flow of the stream. Scientists from MAFF's Burnham laboratory and the Southern Water Authority, who have been monitoring the incident, are concerned that the pesticide has been adsorbed onto the sediments and may cause continuing mortalities even when levels in the water column have returned to below detection limits.
UK Controls Anti-fouling Paints On 13 January 1986 the UK Government introduced new regulations to control the use of anti-fouling paints containing organotin compounds on yachts and other small pleasure craft. The Control of Pollution (Anti-Fouling Paints) Regulations 1985prohibit the supply to chandlers and other retailers of the following paint: • those copolymer formulations containing more than 7.5% organotin (measured as tin in the dry paint film); and
USA and USSR to Cooperate on Pollution Control The USA and USSR have agreed to adopt a cooperative programme to prevent and clean up marine pollution from shipping and to assess the effect of pollutants on marine organisms. The agreement was reached at the ninth meeting of the US-USSR Joint Committee on the Environment held in Moscow last November. This Committee was established in 1972 with the aim of solving problems in the areas of environmenl~al protection and exploitation of natural resources in both countries. The ninth meeting was the first official high-level meeting between the two countries on environmental cooperation for several years. A programme of joint work for 1986 was established which includes a marine pollution control project. The project will be administered by the USSR Ministry of the Maritime Fleet and the US Coast Guard. The programme of work will include the improvement of methods and technical means of eliminating oil spills, exchanging information on oil spill control technology in cold climates, developing standards and recommendations on controlling pollution within the framework of the International Maritime Organization and developing methods of combatting pollution of the marine environment by chemicals. A second project within the joint programme focuses upon the development and implementation of long-term cooperative programmes which will aid both sides in comprehending effects of pollutants on marine organisms and ecosystems and to further encourage exchange of information. This project will be run principally by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the USSR State Committee for Hydrometeorology and control of the Natural Environment.
Pesticide Problems in South Pacific The use of pesticides in the South Pacific is beginning to arouse some concern since the region lacks effective legislation and enforcement procedures to adequately monitor and control the use of these often dangerous chemicals. Dr David Mowbray, the Principal Investigator of the Pesticide Project of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has recently described the current problem in an article in The Siren, 1985, 29, 13-19. Dr Mowbray, who is a lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea points out that many of the chemicals used in the region are classed by the World Health Organization as extremely or highly hazardous and some are banned or severely restricted elsewhere in the world. In light of this, SPREP initiated its pesticide project in 1983 to review the situation in the 20 countries and territories of the South Pacific Region. The main 48
objectives of the project included a review of existing legislation and registration requirements, a collation of existing information on problems resulting from the use of pesticides, identification of technical expertise available in the region and the development of a pesticide monitoring programme. The number of pesticides available in the region is reported to have increased from 162 to 589 in the last decade. The most widely available chemicals are malathion, warfarin, benomyl, diazinon, methyl bromide as well as captan, dieldrin, glyphosate and paraquat. Despite recent guidelines by the FAO and the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC) of UNEP, which require designated national authorities to be notified by countries which ban or severely restrict specific pesticides, the main problem in the South Pacific is lack of resources or existence of these designated national authorities. Several cases of human poisoning and, occasionally, deaths have been recorded mainly from the misuse of paraquat. However, very little work has been reported on possible chronic effects on presticide users in the region, or on quantification of chemical residues in crops, soil, water and fauna. Dr Mowbray proposes the setting up of a pesticide information centre, a regional pesticide advisory committee and a network of regional pesticides residue laboratories. The main problem facing this programme is again the lack of manpower and funds but the Pesticide Project is now seeking further support for their proposals.
Fish and Bird Mortalities in Southern England A spillage of between 1000 and 2000 I. of tributyl tin and dieldrin has killed all life along a 6 km stretch of water in Southern England. Thousands of fish and fish-feeding birds such as herons, kingfishers and jackdaws were killed when the chemicals escaped from a timber treatment plant into the Newmill Channel, a tributary of the river Rother in East Sussex. The effects of the spillage were minimized due to the low autumn rainfall decreasing the flow of the stream. Scientists from MAFF's Burnham laboratory and the Southern Water Authority, who have been monitoring the incident, are concerned that the pesticide has been adsorbed onto the sediments and may cause continuing mortalities even when levels in the water column have returned to below detection limits.
UK Controls Anti-fouling Paints On 13 January 1986 the UK Government introduced new regulations to control the use of anti-fouling paints containing organotin compounds on yachts and other small pleasure craft. The Control of Pollution (Anti-Fouling Paints) Regulations 1985prohibit the supply to chandlers and other retailers of the following paint: • those copolymer formulations containing more than 7.5% organotin (measured as tin in the dry paint film); and