Cutting Forever Short: The Impact and Limitations of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

Since their explosion in use during the mid-twentieth century, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have spread and lingered across the globe, creating lasting adverse effects for both human and environmental health. After decades of national-level regulations fell short of eradicating these chemicals, international governments gathered in 2001 to sign the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, aiming to phase out and eventually eliminate the production, use, and transport of these so-called “forever chemicals”. Stockholm’s ultimate goal is to “protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants,” a goal which has not yet been met, twenty-four years after original negotiations. This thesis will use a multidisciplinary approach to examine the original text of the treaty, its design and implementation, and its raw effects in the form of scientific analysis of POP concentration levels. While concentrations were found to be decreasing overall, this improvement is likely attributable to previous regulations more than the work of Stockholm, especially considering Stockholm’s failures of implementation for certain areas of the regime. The thesis will draw on examples (such as regulation of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT) and make comparisons (to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer) to illustrate these findings.