The meeting focused on a list of 12 persistent chemicals, including nine pesticides. This list includes aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachor, hexachlorobenzene, and toxaphene. The remaining chemicals on the list are dioxins, furans, mirex, and PCBs. The INC1 started with opening remarks, election of the Bureau, and discussion of the INC1 international body and presentations by countries and their positions on POPs. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that exposure to very low doses of certain POPs can lead to cancer, birth defects, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, diseases of the immune system, reproductive disorders, genetic abnormalities and interference with normal infant and child development in people and animals.
POPs can travel through the air and water thousands of miles from their source.
Ninety-six percent of human dioxin exposure is through diet. Meat, fish, and milk are the primary carriers of these chemicals. POPs, including PCBs, pesticide DDT and dioxins - bioaccumulate in people whose diets include large amounts of wild game and especially big fish, marine mammals and other aquatic resources. It has been found that POPs migrate from warmer climates of the south to colder climates of Great Lakes, Canada, Alaska, and other broader Arctic regions. Because many POPs vaporize at warmer temperatures and condense as the air gets cooler, POPs systematically migrate to cooler latitudes.