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Have you ever noticed how many chemicals shape people’s daily lives? They keep homes sparkling clean, boost food production, and are included in virtually all manufactured goods surrounding you right now. Chemicals drive the economy but as we produce more than ever before, they have to deliver their benefits without damaging our health and environment.Toxic lead paint for example is still used in many regions of the world and Highly hazardous pesticides continue to poison agricultural workers and contaminate the

The ChallengeThe Strategic Approach To International Chemicals Management (SAICM) mandate expires in 2020, long before we will reach the target of minimizing the health and environmental impacts of chemicals throughout their lifecycle. Overall progress has been uneven and there is still a significant need for development and implementation of effective chemical and waste management policies and practices around the globe.What We DoSAICM provides a valuable multi-stakeholder forum to discuss and address the many challenges facing the adoption and implemen-tation of

This course will help the participants to understand why and how to manage e-waste in an environmentally sound manner and how action on e-waste could be taken in their own life, business, or organization.The aims of the course are to:Show how sound management of e-waste can help reduce GHG emissions, mitigate climate change and prevent hazards to health and the environment in accordance with the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions;Share best practices, technological innovations, and sustainable e-waste recovery and inclusive

Perflourinated Chemicals (PFCs) are the key ingredient in many stain, water and grease repellent coatings that make outdoor jackets water tight and frying pans non sticky. These chemicals consist of long molecules that contain carbon chains surrounded by fluorine. That bond between carbon and fluorine is incredibly tight. They interact so strongly with each other that the normal, inter-molecular forces, that cause substances to stick to each other, don’t stand a chance.While some types of PFCs are either safe or

We live in a chemical world. Almost everything we touch contains chemicals.

World Environment Day took place on 5 June 2020 and the theme this year was biodiversity. SAICM celebrated by creating an infographic on how chemicals and waste can impact biodiversity and releasing an article on how we can do more to protect and help our planet's biodiversity flourish.

Hazardous Substances in the Life Cycle of Electronics and Electrical Products (HSLEEP)Hazardous Substances in the Life Cycle of Electronics and Electrical Products (HSLEEP) from UN Environment on Vimeo.

The present paper is the product of a joint effort by the Sectoral Activities Depart-ment and the Cooperatives Unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO).This initiative supports the ILO’s commitment to promote forms of employment that safeguard the environment, eradicate poverty and promote social justice through sustainable enterprises and decent work, as reinforced by the International Labour Con-ference (ILC), at its 102nd session in June 2013. Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the fastest growing waste stream, and it

Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the largest growing waste stream. It is hazardous, complex and expensive to treat in an environmentally sound manner, and there is a general lack of legislation or enforcement surrounding it.Today, most e-waste is being discarded in the general waste stream. Of the e-waste in developed countries that is sent for recycling, 80 per cent ends up being shipped (often illegally) to developing countries to be recycled by hundreds of thou-sands of informal workers