The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs, which represent a major group of PBTs and many are considered as endocrine disruptors. The Convention has returned to each government for ratification, which is expected to take several years. The treaty must be ratified by 50 nations to become an international law. In the USA, the treaty was submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by President Bush in April 2002. As soon as the treaty enters into force, it will ban outright the use of 8 pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, and toxaphene). It will also take initiatives to reduce the use of DDT, PCBs, and the by-products dioxins and furans. Collectively this group is referred to as the dirty dozen.

In closing the lecture here, it should be pointed out that, at the more micro level, pollution prevention should start with an effective increase in public awareness of the environmental levels and the sources of PBTs. This is essentially one of the challenges included in the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy of 1997 between Canada and the USA.