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An international drive to ban dangerous chemicals will intensify in the next
two weeks. At a conference organised by the UN Economic Commission for Europe in
Aarhus, Denmark, starting next Tuesday, environment ministers from Europe and
North America will impose strict rules on emissions of lead, cadmium and
mercury—which can damage the nervous system and disrupt fetal development.
They will also set a schedule for phasing out 16 persistent organic pollutants
(POPs), including pesticides such as DDT and industrial chemicals such as PCBs.
At a UN Environment Programme meeting in Montreal the following week, the
world’s nations will begin negotiating a global clampdown on POPs.