Strategies for eliminating and reducing persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances: common approaches, emerging trends, and level of success.

This paper reviews nine of the best-known strategies for eliminatine and reducing substances in the category known as "persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances" (PBTSs). The nine strategies are as follows: 1) Ontario's Candidate Substances List for Bans and Phase-outs (1992), 2) Canada's ARET Program (1994), 3) Canada's Toxic Substances Management Policy (1995), 4) the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's Sound Management of Chemicals Initiative (1995), 5) the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy (1997), 6) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA's) draft National PBT Strategy (1998), 7) U.S. EPA's Waste Minimization Program (1998), 8) the U.N. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001), and 9) Washington State's Rule on Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (2006). The review describes the commonalities among the strategies, including their goals and principles, design approaches, and other common elements. It also discusses several emerging trends, such as the increasing importance of economic considerations, human health information, and nonregulatory management approaches. The paper concludes with a discussion of how effective the strategies have been at achieving their goals of elimination and reduction of persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances.