Announcement
Tracing Pollutants From Agrochemical Use: Focus on EDC Pollution

On 15-16 April 2002, the United Nations University (UNU) will hold an international symposium in Hanoi on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs): 'Tracing Pollutants From Agrochemical Use: Focus on EDC Pollution'. This symposium is jointly organized by the UNU and the Center for Environmental Chemistry, Hanoi. The symposium is the fourth in a series under a UNU programme focusing on Environmental Pollution and Governance in the East Asian "Coastal Hydrosphere" - the region's freshwater and seawater coastal environments and the natural living resources contained in them. Speakers from the region and invited experts from other parts of the world will discuss the role of various land-based emission sources in EDC pollution in the coastal areas, particularly highlighting agrochemical usage and its effects.

EDCs encompass a broad range of chemicals that can interfere with the normal functioning of metabolic, growth and reproductive hormones in humans and animals. Because EDC pollutants are resistant to natural degradation processes, they persist and accumulate in the environment in increasing levels through the food chain. East Asian coastal ecosystems are at risk due to EDC pollution from a wide variety of land-based sources, including domestic and industrial wastes and pesticides in agricultural runoff. In its 2001 Symposium, held in Seoul, Korea, the UNU addressed the issue of industrially generated EDC pollution, but the agrochemical sources of EDC pollution remain comparatively underestimated. Increased agricultural reliance on chemicals is introducing serious levels of EDC's to coastal and freshwater systems in the region, and the populations that depend on them.

In addition to Vietnamese leaders in EDC research, experts from Europe, Canada and the United States will present their most recent research on the subject. Researchers from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam will present the status of coastal pollution in their respective countries - a monitoring effort that is part of the UNU Coastal Hydrosphere project. This monitoring project has been undertaken with support from the Shimadzu Corporation of Kyoto, Japan. The symposium, which will be conducted in English, is open to the public; admission is free, although advance registration is required (please contact the address below). Media representatives are cordially invited to attend.

Contact:
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, Vietnam
Tel.: + 84 4 858 79 64
Fax.: + 84 4 858 81 52
E-mail: cetasd@fpt.vn