| Montreal, 1/10/2001 – The North American Task Force on Dioxins and Furans, and Hexachlorobenzene was established by the North American Working Group on the Sound Management of Chemicals to prepare a North American Regional Action Plan on Dioxins and Furans, and Hexachlorobenzene, as called for by Council Resolution 99-01 of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Both the SMOC Working Group and its task forces operate under the CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals initiative, which is a part of the CEC's Pollutants and Health program.
The Task Force, via the SMOC initiative, sponsored a government-to-government experts workshop 19-20 June 2001 in Washington, D.C., entitled Common Ground: A North American Overview of Dioxins, Furans and Hexachlorobenzene. The purpose of the workshop was to brief task force members and participants on the scope and status of science pertaining to dioxins, furans and hexachlorobenzene and research efforts underway in Canada, Mexico and the United States so as to provide a common foundation for moving forward on development of a North American Regional Action Plan these substances.
Topics addressed included analytical and sampling techniques; formation and sources; environmental fate and transport mechanisms; levels in the environment and human exposure levels; trends regarding these levels; international instruments pertaining to persistent organic pollutants; and domestic risk management strategies.
Slides of presentations are available on CD-ROM from the CEC Secretariat. For a copy, contact Ms. Erika Hercules: tel. 514-350-4362; fax: 514-350-4319; e-mail <ehercules@ccemtl.org>.
The following Internet sites may also provide useful information:
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air regulations: http://epa.gov/air/oarregul.htmlUS EPA pulp and paper: http://epa.gov/OST/pulppaper/reg.html
US EPA technology transfer: http://epa.gov/ttn
AirNOW: http://www.epa.gov/airnow (real time air quality data: ozone from 38 states and Canadian index,time lapse map)
Environment Canada: 2000 dioxin inventory: http://www.ec.gc.ca/dioxin/index/htm
The CEC was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to build cooperation among the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners in implementing NAAEC, the environmental side accord to NAFTA. The CEC addresses environmental issues of continental concern, with particular attention to the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade. |
