by United Nations News Centre

A software “toolkit” released today will help governments take inventory of the hazardous chemicals known as PCBs and assess the risks they pose, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

The Secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous and Other Wastes, which is administered by UNEP, developed the toolkit through experience gathered from PCB-related country projects in Asia and Africa.

In addition to inventory support, the software -- known as the PCB Inventory and Management Decision Supportive Tool (DST) -- will assist government officers and field managers in managing equipment that contains PCBs. It will also help national or provincial authorities to collect and organize PCB data, and support planning for PCB disposal and trans-boundary movement.

PCBs – or polychlorinated biphenyls – are chemical compounds used in industry as heat exchange fluids, in electric transformers and capacitors, and as additives in paint, carbonless copy paper, sealants and plastics. They can pose risks to the nervous, reproductive and immune systems as well as the liver. In addition to falling under the scope of the Basel Convention, PCBs are to be phased out by 2025 under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

The Secretariat of the Basel Convention, together with the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention and the UNEP chemical unit, will be distributing English, French and Spanish versions of the software to any requesting party to the convention, free of charge.