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TOUR
LOGBOOK
20 March 2000 - Hong Kong Government makes concessions over dioxin testing
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The
Hong Kong government has given in to Greenpeace’s demands and
agreed to undertake assessments of dioxin in humans after Greenpeace
activists today carried out an action at the Chemical Waste Treatment
Centre (CWTC) in Hong Kong.
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Activists
from Hong Kong, the Philippines, The Netherlands, Tunisia, and the
United States today occupied one of the tanks at CWTC to protest
against a government plan to burn medical waste at the facility.
They hung a huge banner from the top of the tank reading "Stop Dioxin"
in English and Chinese. |
Incinerators
for medical and municipal waste have been linked to severe public health
threats and pollution as they are believed to be the top sources of
dioxin, as well as mercury and other toxic substances. The government
has proposed the utilisation of the spare incineration capacity at CWTC
to burn medical waste. Hong Kong produces around 7 tonnes of medical
waste per day.
Greenpeace demands that the Hong Kong government eliminates dioxin and
other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) sources; scraps the plan
to incinerate medical waste at CWTC; seeks existing non-incineration
facilities to treat medical waste on site before disposal; and comes
up with cheaper, safer and the least polluting alternatives. After a
meeting with Greenpeace, senior officials from the Environment Protection
Department of Hong Kong agreed to test for dioxin levels in humans and
review alternative non-incineration technologies for the treatment of
medical waste.
"We urged the government to test breast milk and blood in humans
in order to assess the current extent of dioxin contamination in our
bodies. The last dioxin test on humans was done more than 10 years ago,
we need more updated data on dioxin pollution in Hong Kong," said
Clement Lam, Greenpeace China campaigner.
Today’s action coincided with the opening of the fourth
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting (INC4) in Bonn,
Germany, to negotiate for a global treaty to eliminate persistent organic
pollutants (POPs), which are some of the most hazardous chemicals, to
which natural systems can be exposed.
The elimination of dioxins is one of the key issues at this week’s INC4
meeting. Dioxins are extremely potent toxic substances that produce
a remarkable variety of adverse effects in humans and animals at extremely
low doses. They are by-products of industrial manufacturing processes,
such as chlorine bleached paper and PVC plastics and combustion processes,
such as incineration.
"Dioxins and other POPs are responsible for some catastrophic effects
in both humans and the environment. They are poisoning our environment,
our food and our bodies. All these threats have been recognised by many
countries around the world as they meet in Germany this week to negotiate
for a global treaty to phase out POPs. The Hong Kong government, however,
has ignored the warning and proposed to burn medical waste to generate
more dioxins, a move that will seriously jeopardise the health of the
Hong Kong public," said Clement Lam.
POPs are very resistant to natural breakdown and they accumulate in
the fatty tissues of animals and humans as well as in many of our food
stuffs. Many are highly toxic and several have been found to disrupt
the hormone system of humans and wildlife.
A majority of countries agree that most of the 12 POPs listed for discussions
at INC4 should be eliminated. However, there is still strong opposition
from a few countries, led by the US to protect their own national interests
as one of the world’s largest known dioxin emitters. If the negotiations
succeed, the POPs treaty will put an end to the production and use of
POPs worldwide.
More
info: Hong Kong Incinerator Background
Briefing
Get the latest
from the INC4 POPs negotiations
23
March - Activists block waste destined for Incineration, Hong Kong
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