Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

The full communication paper, Toxic Metals in Children’s products: An Insight into the Market in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia 94 was launched at a side-event during simultaneous COPs of the chemicals conventions in May 2013. 95 The side-event was well attended and con- tributed to raising awareness of the presence of hazard- ous substances in children’s products and the potential harmful effects of heavy metals. SIGNIFICANT OUTCOME: Toxic metals in children’s products This project has made a huge impact in the pilot coun- tries. The results provided information to consumers, who could start making informed choices for their chil- dren. An NGO campaign for ‘No Toxic Toys’ collected more than 1000 signatures in support of safe toys. The project stimulated dialogue with national regulators in the EECCA, as well as initiating processes for policy de- velopment and increased monitoring of producers and retailers in the region. While policy changes cannot be directly attributed to single projects or publications, it is reasonable to conclude that the findings of the ‘Toxic Metals in Chil- dren’s Products’ project may have influenced certain recent decisions: toy safety policies are now being incorporated in existing national strategies such as the Strategic Approach for Integrated Chemical Man- agement (SAICM) and the Children Environment and Health Action Plan in Europe (CEHAPE). Toy safety standards in the EU were amended in July 2013. Nine- teen elements will now be banned instead of the cur- rent 8, including Chromium and Cobalt as proposed in the study. The longer term impacts which the project aspires to are that: • responsible policies on chemical safety of consum- er products are developed; • health risks to children from toxic metals in con- sumer products are reduced; and • toxic substances are entirely banned in children’s products in the 6 pilot countries, and the practice is extended to the whole EECCA region. 94. http://www.grida.no/publications/toxic-metals/ 95. The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-11), the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-6), the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-6) and the second simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the three conferences of the parties to the three conventions (ExCOPs-2) http://synergies.pops. int/2013COPsExCOPs/Overview/tabid/2914/mctl/ViewDetails/ EventModID/9163/EventID/297/xmid/9411/language/en-US/ Default.aspx

Surveying residents for the use of mercury-containing devices in households.

Sampling for mercury in the industrial waste site in Tajikistan.

The second project with IPEN was entitled ’Improvement of the environmental policy of Tajikistan in order to reduce mercury pollution and improve human health’. The Foun- dation for the Support of Civil Initiatives, Tajikistan, was a third partner in this project. 96 The project undertook a laboratary evaluation of the sources of mercury emissions in the mining industry in the Sogd province of Tajikistan, provided technical assis- tance to 5 hospitals and capacity building for 130 staff in the cities of Dushanbe and Vahdat. It also set up collec- tion points for mercury waste from households, organized the exchange of conventional mercury lamps for energy saving ones, and instructed 250 people on the collection of the hazardous waste. A national conference ‘Strengthening environmental pol- icies to reduce mercury pollution and human health in Tajikistan’ was held on 18 June 2013 in Dushanbe, where the outcomes of the project were discussed at national

96. The total project budget was USD 55,000

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