Chemical companies polluting the Arctic

Greenpeace activists from 11 countries hung a giant banner on the Frambren glacier in Svalbard, Nordic Arctic saying "The Arctic Poisoned by the Chemical Industry".

Participating activists working under the midnight sun, came from Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, the UK, the US, and Yugoslavia. Greenpeace identified thirteen chemical companies as manufacturers of the type of pollutants which can be found in the Arctic by placing barrels with company names in the foreground of the glacier. The names on the barrels read Akzo Nobel, BASF, Bayer, Ciba, Dow, Du Pont, Elf Atochem, Enichem, Hoechst, ICI, Rhone Poulenc, Shell and Solvay

The ship MV Greenpeace is in the Nordic Arctic to investigate toxic pollution in the area. Last week, Greenpeace and scientists from the University of Umea in Sweden conducted tests to measure persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Arctic air and water with a new sampling device developed by the University. The results are expected later this year. Greenpeace also collected other samples including bird excrement (guano).

Toxic substances, known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are released in industrialised countries and travel to the Arctic via water and air currents. Once they have reached these remote cold regions they remain in the Arctic for a long period and find there way into the Arctic food chain. "People think of the Arctic as a pristine and clean remote wilderness. However, it is far from being untainted. Chemicals such as Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB’s) used in transformer oils and the well-known pesticide DDT have been detected in the Arctic where they will remain for decades or even centuries", said Greenpeace campaigner Jan Soendergaard on board the ship MV Greenpeace.

The toxic and persistent substances that are used in industrial countries are posing a serious threat to people and wildlife in these remote areas, far away from their point of release. Because they build up in the Arctic food chain, indigenous people who depend on traditional food and species on top of the food chain such as polar bears are especially at risk. "We have not learned from the past," said Jan Soendergaard. "We are still manufacturing and marketing substances that have properties comparable to PCBs and other well studied POPs that are now threatening the Arctic."

Production of PCBs may have been restricted in most parts of the world, but there is now increased use of comparable substances like brominated flame-retardants which are widely used in electronic products such as personal computers. Last week, Greenpeace started its "Down to Zero" campaign to phase out POPs with the launch of a new Greenpeace report on the toxic pollution in the Arctic.

The MV Greenpeace will set sail for Europe at the end of this week where it will remind European governments of their commitment to eliminate the release of hazardous substances into the environment within one generation (by 2020) as agreed at the OSPAR ministerial conference in Sintra, Portugal last year. OSPAR, also known as the Oslo-Paris Commission, is the regulatory body to prevent pollution in the Northeast Atlantic. "OSPAR member states, including the EU, need to take their commitment seriously and phase out the manufacture of all POPs. That is the only way to prevent further contamination and safeguard the future of the Arctic", Soendergaard said.