From December 04, 2001
Baltic Countries
Halt Use of 26 Pesticides
The Pesticide Report has revealed that 26 of the most hazardous pesticides, which had been selected as requiring immediate priority action, are no longer in use or have been banned in all countries bordering the Baltic Sea.
The new report compiled by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, known as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is based on questionnaires sent out to all nine countries bordering the Baltic Sea. The 26 pesticides that are now out of use were selected for immediate action due to properties such as toxicity, persistency, and tendency to bioaccumulate. Nine of the pesticides are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and covered by the Stockholm Convention on POPs.
Stockpiles of obsolete
pesticides in the Baltic countries remain a source of severe pollution,
according to HELCOM. In many countries, pesticides leaking from inadequate
storage facilities have heavily contaminated unquantified amounts of soil
and building materials. The current amount of accumulated old stocks is:
445 tons in Estonia, with an unknown amount yet to be identified; 2060
tons in Lithuania - 214 tons of which are banned pesticides, and 1350
tons have not yet been identified; and 1480 tons in Latvia, 130 tons of
which have yet to be identified.
To view The Pesticide Report, please see: www.helcom.fi/land/Hazardous/Final_Pesticide_Report.PDF