Invitation to submit comments and additional information <br/>on the guidance on alternatives to PFOS and derivatives

At its fourth meeting in May 2009, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention decided to amend Annex B of the Convention to list perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride.

In light of this amendment and in response to the needs expressed by Parties, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee has developed guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonate and its derivatives. The guidance as contained in UNEP/POPS/POPRC.6/13/Add.3 was endorsed by the sixth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, which took place on 10-15 October 2010.

The Committee agreed that the guidance should be revised regularly as necessary to take into account available information on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonate and its derivatives. Parties and observers are therefore invited to review the guidance document (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.6/13/Add.3) and provide comments and additional information by 30 June 2011. The information will be presented to the seventh meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee in October 2011, which will consider the information and the possibility of initiating the updating of the guidance document.

Submissions can be found on this page.

Invitation letter

The Secretariat has sent a letter, together with document UNEP/POPS/POPRC.6/13/Add.3 (unedited advance version) to Official Contact Points (OCPs) and National Focal Points (NFPs) of the Stockholm Convention. The documents are available for download below:

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Invitation to submit comments and additional information on the guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonate and its derivatives
(letter dated 13 December 2010)
Guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonate and its derivatives
(UNEP/POPS/POPRC.6/13/Add.3)

How to submit the information

The Committee invited Parties and observers to submit any additional information by 30 June 2011 on the following items:

 

  1. Comments on the guidance document (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.6/13/Add.3); 
  2. Additional information on the health and environmental effects of possible alternatives mentioned in the document; 
  3. Experience in replacing perfluorooctane sulfonate and its derivatives with additional alternative products and/or processes, including information about their health and environmental effects.

Submissions are most appreciated in electronic files by e-mail to ssc@pops.int and kohno@pops.int.  Should this not be possible, submissions can be sent by fax (+41 22) 917 8098), or as hard copy documents, by post mail to:

Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention
Att: POPs Review Committee
Ms. Kei Ohno
United Nations Environment Programme
11-13 chemin des Anemones
CH-1219, Chatelaine, Geneva, Switzerland

For further information regarding this invitation or to receive hard copies of the documents, please contact Ms. Kei Ohno (e-mail: kohno@pops.int; telephone +41 22 917 8201).