22nd Meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to the Stockholm Convention (POPRC-22)

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) relies heavily on scientific input. The POPs Review Committee (POPRC) is the body that supplies that input. A government nominates a chemical when it is concerned that the substance behaves like a POP, meaning the substance persists in the environment, travels long distances, builds up in living tissue, and causes harm. As the world grapples with the many problems posed by plastics, there are questions if some chemicals used in plastics have these POP characteristics.

Once a chemical is nominated, the Committee works through a staged review. The Committee first checks the nomination against the screening criteria in Annex D of the Convention. If the chemical meets those criteria, the review moves to the Annex E stage, where the Committee develops a risk profile to confirm whether global action is warranted. The review then moves to Annex F, where the Committee considers risk management options. At the end of this process, the Committee recommends to the Conference of the Parties (COP) whether the chemical should be restricted or prohibited, including any narrow allowances for continued short-term use.

At its twenty-second meeting (POPRC-22), the Committee will take up two brominated flame retardants widely used in plastics. Norway has proposed listing decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE) and its related substances. The European Union has proposed listing bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (TBPH). Because these are first-time nominations, the Committee will screen them against the Annex D criteria, which ask if there is initial evidence of POPs characteristics. The Committee will not make any final judgment about the fate of these two chemicals at POPRC-22. It’s task to decide whether to draft a fuller risk profile.

Alongside these two new nominations, the Committee will continue work that began at POPRC-21 in 2025. At that meeting, the Committee considered a draft risk profile for polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and mixed polybrominated/chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans. This group of chemicals is not manufactured on purpose. Instead, the chemicals arise as by-products of processes such as waste incineration and metallurgical operations. At POPRC-21, Committee members wanted more evidence before making a decision, particularly on the link between long-range environmental transport and effects on human health. The Committee deferred its decision and asked Parties and observers to submit further information. At POPRC-22, the Committee will consider a revised draft risk profile that reflects the additional input to determine whether the chemicals meet the criteria for global action.

POPRC-22 will also carry out a substantial amount of other technical work, including:

• evaluating the continued need for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts, and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF) for acceptable purposes and specific exemptions;
• reviewing the specific exemption for using perfluorooctyl iodide (PFOI) to produce perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) for pharmaceutical products;
• reviewing the indicative lists of substances covered by the listings of long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and their salts and related compounds, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its salts and related compounds, and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and its salts and related compounds; and
• following up on the report on POPs in stockpiles, products and articles in use, and in wastes, and considering ways to improve the submission of Annex F information.

POPRC-22 will take place at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy, from 21 to 25 September 2026. The meeting will be held back-to-back with the twenty-second meeting of the Chemical Review Committee of the Rotterdam Convention.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writer for this meeting is Jennifer Allan, Ph.D. The Digital Editor is Diego Noguera. The Editor is Pamela Chasek, Ph.D.