Issue 16: May 2002

Symposium explores agrochemicals
link with coastal EDC pollution

Experts from East Asia and around the world convened in Hanoi April 15-16 to discuss the role of agrochemical use in East Asian coastal pollution by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

The symposium Tracking Pollutants from Agrochemical Use: Focus on EDC Pollution, organized by UN University and Hanoi's Center for Environmental Chemistry, was the fourth in a series of symposiums under a UNU programme focusing on Environmental Pollution and Governance in East Asian coastal ecosystems.

Joining Vietnamese leaders in EDC research, experts from Europe, Canada and the United States presented their most recent findings. Researchers from China, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand gave status reports on coastal pollution in their countries – a monitoring effort that is part of the UNU Coastal Hydrosphere project.

EDCs encompass a broad range of chemicals that can interfere with the normal functioning of metabolic, growth and reproductive hormones in humans and animals. They do not degrade naturally and accumulate in the environment at increasing levels through the food chain.

For more information:
Dr. Pham Hung Viet,
Research Center for Environmental Technology and Sustainable Development,
Hanoi University of Science, VNU Hanoi, T3 Building,
334 Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan Dist., Hanoi, Viet Nam. 
Tel.: + 84 4 858 79 64. Fax: + 84 4 858 81 52. E-mail: cetasd@fpt.vn

Home

Copyright © 2002  United Nations University. All rights reserved.