Swiss happy with chemical controls in Geneva

Despite a lack of progress to limit products such as asbestos and the herbicide paraquat, Switzerland is largely pleased with the results of a summit on chemicals and hazardous waste held in Geneva.  “We obtained much more than we expected,” Franz Perrez, the head of international affairs at the Federal Environment Office, told the Swiss News Agency on Friday. Some 1,600 officials from 180 states party to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions met in Geneva over the past two weeks to consider new limits and guidelines for chemicals and wastes to improve human health and the environment.  Under the UN Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, states agreed to eliminate decabromdiphenyl ether, a flame retardant used in electrical and electronic devices. Use of the chemical hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) should also be reduced before being eventually eliminated.  Under the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes ...

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