The treaty would seek to curb pollution from arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury deposits as well. According to Yeager, the U.S., Canada and most European nations have already eliminated most local sources of this contamination, especially DDT pesticides and PCB industrial waste. But other major countries around the world have few restrictions on their use. China manufactures a number of these chemicals and uses them extensively. India uses them, as do other emerging industrial economies.
Brazil is important for similar reasons.
A solution is not possible without their cooperation, so they're very important. According to Hind, Russia is also a major contributor to the contamination, as most of that country's polluted rivers run north into the Arctic. Though talks on halting global warming broke down last month because of differences between the U.S. and Europe, Yeager said he is optimistic progress against POPs will be made at Johannesburg. He said most developing nations have shown concern about the problem but have made clear that their cooperation is contingent on large-scale financial and technical assistance from the U.S. and other industrial nations. This could run to hundreds of millions of dollars.