Nine more toxic chemicals have been added to a list of banned or restricted substances, the United Nations Environment Programme announced Saturday, dpa. The nine join the original so-called "dirty dozen" pollutants on the Stockholm Convention, which aims to restrict or end entirely their use. The Stockholm Convention was an international treaty that came into force in 2001, targeting persistent organic pollutants that cause health problems or pollute the environment. The convention targets chemicals and byproducts that damage the nervous and immune systems, cause cancer and reproductive disorders and interfere with normal infant and child development, UNEP said. "We now have a clear signal that governments around the world take seriously the risks posed by such toxic chemicals," UNEP chief Achim Steiner said. "This shift reflects international concern on the need to reduce and eventually eliminate such substances throughout the global community," he added. The new list of chemicals to be restricted or banned is: Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane, Beta hexachlorocyclohexane, Hexabromidyphenyl ether, heptabromodiphenyl ether, tetrabromodiphenyl ether, pentabromodiphenyl ether, Chlordecone, Hexabromobiphenyl, Lindane, Pentachlorobenzene, Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride.
