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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

Pharmaceuticals are chemicals we specifically design to act on living cells. They regulate, in organisms, hormonal balance and the way it metabolizes its nutrients. Pharmaceuticals even change the way signals travel between cells. In order to work, many drugs have to resist the stomach’s acid environment, so the compounds can reach their destination inside the body. That’s why they are formulated to degrade very slowly or not at all. When active pharmaceuticals pass through our bodies and enter the environment

We use a wide variety of chemical compounds to prevent living organisms from damaging crops and spreading diseases like malaria. These compounds are collectively termed pesticides. These days the majority of pesticides have low to moderate acute toxicity. But despite their many positive developments, there remain a small but significant group of Highly Hazardous Pesticides that cause illness and environmental damage.Not only because they are very toxic, but also because they remain active for a long time after being released

Video animation explaining why mercury and, in particular, mercury in skin lightening products is dangerous to health and the need for countries to take action to ban this source of exposure.

UN Environment Programme and Open Universiteit have created a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Marine Litter as a key activity of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (you can join the GPML). It is also part of the Clean Seas Campaign. The course starts on October 26, 2020. It is free for all students and available in 10 different languages. You can still enroll until November 15. Register here!Marine litter is a global problem that affects every ocean of

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

SAICM - International Conference on Chemicals Management - Curtain raiser from UN Environment on Vimeo.

Lead in PaintLead in Paint from UN Environment on Vimeo.

Chemicals in ProductsChemicals in Products from UN Environment on Vimeo.