122 Countries OK Pact Banning 12 Toxic Chemicals

After a week of negotiations culminating in all-night talks, U.N. officials announced Sunday that 122 countries have agreed on a treaty banning 12 highly toxic chemicals.

Greenpeace called the accord the “beginning of the end of toxic pollution,” and World Wildlife Fund official Clifton Curtis described it as “a real solid foundation for the future.”

Despite disagreements that kept negotiators awake most of Friday and Saturday nights, all welcomed the final text, said John Buccini, chairman of the summit organized by the U.N. Environment Program.

“The treaty enjoyed the broadest possible support,” he said. “People not only felt that we have a treaty but that we have a good treaty.”

PCBs, dioxin and other chemicals on the “dirty dozen” list are known as persistent organic pollutants, or POPs. They break down slowly, travel easily in the environment, and have been linked to cancer, birth defects and other genetic abnormalities.

Production and use of nine of the 12 chemicals will be banned as soon as the treaty takes effect, probably four to five years after the signing ceremony, set for May in Stockholm.