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Many countries and regions have set up regulatory and policy frameworks to achieve sound chemicals and waste management. In addition to national and regional efforts, the international community has taken concerted joint actions to address specific issues of concern, including chemicals that can be transported over long distances by wind and water, are transported through global trade in resources, products and waste, or are used or are present in many countries.Substantial progress has been made by the international community, including

From 20 to 26 October 2019 the seventh International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of action (ILPPW) took place in countries around the world. This report describes some of the activities held during the week. As with earlier years, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (the Lead Paint Alliance) provided a campaign resource package and a range of multilingual campaign materials. All the materials were made available from the World Health Organization (WHO) website.

This novel publication provides an overview of the knowledge gap and enforcement challenges in the illegal trade of toxic, hazardous and severely restricted chemicals, as well as in non-existing or low areas of chemical regulations.Chemicals surround us in our daily lives providing benefit to people and society. However, chemicals can contaminate all components of ecosystems and are implicated in a range of acute and chronic health problems. Though a range of guidelines now govern the trade in chemicals, many remain

UNEP's newsletter from March 2020 on scientific articles, research and knowledge on selected topics.TopicTitleChemicals and Waste / PollutionAdvancing environmental exposure assessment science to benefit society / A. Caplin et al. 2019. Nature.Assessment of air pollution caused by illegal e-waste burning to evaluate the human health risk / C. Gangwar et al. Environment International 125, Pages 191-199, 2019. ScienceDirect.A Comparison of hourly to annual air pollutant emissions: Implications for estimating acute exposure and public health risk / M. Stewart et al

The new report “Sustainable Fashion? How companies provide sustainability information to consumers” by HEJSupport touches upon gaps in the current provision of product sustainability information to consumers, with the aim of suggesting a way forward which makes consumers a driving force able to shape the future of sustainable textiles.The report provides recommendations for business, policy makers and consumers.The sustainability of the fashion industry largely depends on the work of regulators and product manufacturers, including their suppliers. But very often the

Pharmaceutical Residues in Freshwater: Hazards and Policy ResponsesThis report calls for a better understanding of the effects of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, greater international collaboration and accountability distribution, and policy actions to prevent and remedy emerging concerns. Laboratory and field tests show traces of oral contraceptives causing the feminisation of fish and amphibians, and residues of psychiatric drugs altering fish behaviour. Antimicrobial resistance, linked to the overuse of antibiotics, has rapidly escalated into a global health crisis. Unless adequate

The Global Chemicals Outlook II – From Legacies to Innovative Solutions: Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, mandated by the UN Environment Assembly in 2016, seeks to alert policymakers and other stakeholders to the critical role of the sound management of chemicals and waste in sustainable development. It takes stock of global trends as well as progress made and gaps in achieving the global goal to minimize the adverse impacts from chemicals and waste by 2020.Part I of the

The present publication was produced as part of the project: "Gender and Chemicals - Together for a gender-just healthy planet", conducted by the MSP Institute in 2019.There is a number of gender aspects relevant to chemicals and chemicals and waste management. However, many of them are not receiving the attention they should in order to ensure the best possible decisions in policy-making and effective implementation.The goal of this report is to increase the integration of gender in international chemicals and