IPEN is hosting a webinar, "Turning Bio-Monitoring Knowledge into Action: Training and Guidelines for IPEN POs in Southeast and East Asia and Beyond." Date: February 12, 2026 Time: 3:30–5:30 PM KST | 2:30–4:30 PM Manila Time RSVP here: tinyurl.com/BioMonitorin...

Albanian government and customs officials and steel company executives have been arrested for a long-running, toxic trade conspiracy. Read more here: conta.cc/3Zt4C66

The @genevaenvironmentnetwork.org is hosting ‘Chemicals and Waste Negotiations Briefing 2026’ on Thursday, February 12, from 10:00-12:00 CET. This event will take place in-person and online. Learn more and RSVP here: www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/events/chemi...

AFP: Plastic Treaty talks elect new Chair. Bjorn Beeler said: "The plastics treaty has escaped the consensus trap. Voting has finally enabled a breakthrough and breakout from the past's pitfalls. The road ahead is now open to tackle the global plastics crisis poisoning our planet and our bodies."

IPEN reflects on the close of negotiations on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP) and how little substantive discussion took place on either science or policy: ipen.org/news/science...

‘UN chemicals panel talks end with little progress as procedural skirmishes eclipse science’ Read the article by Michelle Langrand in Geneva Solutions: genevasolutions.news/climate-envi...

The IPEN delegation together for the Science to Policy panel meeting - see IPEN's Quick Views with notes on the meeting topics at ipen.org/conferences/...

The first plenary session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP) is happening now in Geneva. Please read our Quick Views for this meeting: ipen.org/documents/qu... This resource is available in English, French, and Spanish.

A recent study by the Centre for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) has revealed that millions of Nepalis are exposed to lead, a toxic heavy metal, through personal care products and cosmetics, like toothpaste and eyeliner: kathmandupost.com/health/2026/...

5 Industry can downplay or manipulate science to resist regulation. We need: ✅ to protect health & environment ✅ to ban toxics producers in regulatory processes ✅ conflict-of-interest rules ✅ lobby transparency ✅ independent science ✅ #ToxicFreePolitics corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/p...

3 Check out the briefing's 4 case studies: 🏭 Industry withholding knowledge - #PFAS 🏭 Industry undermining independent science - #BisphenolA 🏭 Industry establishing front groups - #Benzene 🏭 Industry combining disinformation strategies - #Pesticides corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/p...

2 Briefing looks at industry’s deceptive tactics to avoid regulation. These can include: ⚠️ Not sharing damaging knowledge ⚠️ Undermining independent science ⚠️ Pointing to other causes for harms ⚠️ Intimidation ⚠️ Developing PR campaigns ⚠️ Using front groups corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/p...

1 Check out new ‘The Pollution Playbook: how industry blocks regulation of toxic chemicals’ briefing by @ciel.org and @corporateeurope.org on the deceptive tactics used by chemicals industry to keep producing & using their toxic products. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/p...

Ecojustice reports that health and environmental groups are celebrating a major legal victory after a court upheld Canada’s plastic pollution regulations against industry challenges: ecojustice.ca/news/health-...

"Industry and oil-producing countries push chemical recycling [pyrolysis] to preserve plastic growth and fossil profits,” Lee Bell, technical and policy adviser at the NGO International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) told Voxeurop: voxeurop.eu/en/ghost-rec...

Plastic waste is not just a litter problem – it is fueling climate change, toxic pollution, and injustice. IPEN’s report, “Plastic Waste Management Hazards” reveals why incineration, chemical recycling, and plastic-to-fuel schemes worsen the crisis instead of solving it. ipen.org/documents/pl...

Plastic waste exports are far bigger—and more toxic—than official numbers show. IPEN’s report reveals how hidden trade in textiles, contaminated paper, e-waste, and rubber is fueling global pollution and harming communities: stoppoisonplastic.org/blog/portfol...

Leslie Sattler at The Cool Down reports on how the growing practice of burning waste, especially plastic-rich garbage, for fuel or energy is marketed as a climate and landfill reduction solution, but may actually swap one pollution problem for another: www.thecooldown.com/green-busine...

This IPEN report finds that while the EU and other countries have banned the use of lead chromates, they continue to allow production and export of this paint ingredient, putting children and families in recipient countries at risk from lead poisoning. Download the report: ipen.org/documents/ex...

Pressenza reports that laboratory tests found extremely high levels of toxic lead — far above the legal limit of 90 ppm — in three imported spray paints being sold in the Philippines, making them illegal under national law: www.pressenza.com/2026/01/labo...

Our recent study showed that Indigenous women in Peru and Nicaragua who live where small-scale gold mining takes place have high levels of mercury in their bodies. This has troubling consequences for them and their children. Download the report here: ipen.org/documents/me...

Download, 'Ending Threats from Toxic Plastics'. This Citizens’ Report provides an overview of IPEN’s 25 years of work to expose and end toxic threats from hazardous chemicals released throughout the plastics life cycle. View here: stoppoisonplastic.org/blog/portfol...

A recent report published by @healthandenv.bsky.social, a member of IPEN, details the evidence linking chemical pollution (including endocrine disrupting chemicals) to the growing men’s health crisis in Europe. EHN provides an overview: www.ehn.org/mens-health-...

The Geneva Environment Network is hosting a briefing on Wednesday, January 14, ahead of the first plenary session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution. 🔗 Learn more & register: tiny.cc/GEN14Jan26

For more than 20 years, IPEN and our global members have produced original science, country-based data, and policy proposals to end the health and environmental threats from plastics. We’ve produced more than 150 publications in more than 85 countries, visualized here: ipen-plastic-map.vercel.app

Inside Climate News reports that environmentalist Diane Wilson, together with nonprofits Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project, will sue chemical companies Dow and Union Carbide over chronic discharges of plastic pellets and other pollutants from a Texas petrochemical complex.

Reuters reports that toxic mining operations, including chemicals from unregulated “rare earths” mines and mercury from gold mining, are contaminating rivers across Southeast Asia, putting drinking water, fisheries, and community health at serious risk: www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

The Guardian reports that scientists are warning synthetic chemicals embedded in the food system, including phthalates, pesticides, and PFAS, are driving rising rates of cancer, neurodevelopmental harm, and infertility while undermining global agriculture. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The Manila Times reports that EcoWaste Coalition and IPEN are urging the Philippines to support listing lead chromates as hazardous chemicals under global trade controls, warning of their serious risks to human health and the environment. www.manilatimes.net/2026/01/03/b...

Sakshi Srivastava reports in The Week that a new UNICEF analysis warns plastic pollution is posing a growing threat to children’s health worldwide, from toxic chemical exposure to microplastics in air, water, food, and everyday products: www.theweek.in/news/health/...

The interactive article by Jake Spring in The Washington Post explains how everyday foods and the plastics they contact (from packaging to utensils) are contaminated with a mix of harmful chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and BPA that leach into what we eat. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Samuel Ogunsona reports in @mongabay.com that despite Nigeria banning 30 dangerous organochlorine pesticides in 2008, lab tests show residues of lindane, aldrin, heptachlor and other toxic compounds persist in soil, earthworms and vegetables on Nigerian farms: news.mongabay.com/2025/12/bann...

Priyanka Runwal reports in Chemical & Engineering News that a new study links PFAS contamination in drinking water to significantly higher risks of adverse birth outcomes, including preterm delivery, low birth weight, and infant mortality. cen.acs.org/environment/...

Reporting by AFP shares the deadly reality of informal plastic recycling villages in Vietnam, where workers face toxic air, contaminated water, and widespread cancer linked to dioxins, lead, and other hazardous pollutants. www.yahoo.com/news/article...

A recent study shows that free-range eggs from five continents contain some of the world’s highest levels of highly toxic chemicals, including substances banned globally and others under consideration for global regulations. Read more: ipen.org/news/new-stu...

EcoWaste Coalition and IPEN Urge PH to Join Other Countries in Nominating Lead Chromates for Listing as Hazardous Chemicals in Rotterdam Convention: www.pressenza.com/2025/12/ecow...

IPEN release a statement on UNEA-7 this week. Read here: ipen.org/news/environ... IPEN expressed disappointment with the outcomes of the UNEA-7 negotiations, which ended with a weak resolution. This quote was shared by IPEN Co-Chair @ismawati17.bsky.social.

Last year, IPEN published, The Global Threat from Highly Hazardous Pesticides. This report provides an overview on the global spread and dangers of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs). Download the report here: ipen.org/documents/gl...

Michelle Langrand at Geneva Solutions reports on the UNEA meeting in Nairobi and how the fate of stalled plastics treaty talks hangs over the meeting: genevasolutions.news/climate-envi... IPEN’s Björn Beeler shares that the Plastics Treaty “is a treaty about the future of fossil fuels…”

IPEN expressed disappointment with the outcomes of the UNEA-7 negotiations, which ended with a weak resolution that offers no policy actions to address environmental and human health threats posed by the mining sector. Read here: ipen.org/news/environ...

Mercury is used by miners in small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in a process called amalgamation. The ASGM sector is the primary source of mercury contamination globally, impacting millions of lives. IPEN Participating Organizations developed reports on ASGM in their countries: ipen.org/documents/me...

Rapport important sur les risques sanitaires et climatiques des combustibles dérivés des déchets (CSR). www.zerowastefrance.org/projet/mega-... @zerowastefrance.org @amisdelaterre.org @surfriderfrance.bsky.social @breakfreefromplastic.org @noplasticinmysea.bsky.social

Sean Mowbray in @mongabay.com reports that countries are increasingly promoting refuse-derived fuel (RDF), as a climate and waste solution, despite mounting evidence that burning it releases toxic chemicals and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions: news.mongabay.com/2025/12/boom...

Diese Woche findet die siebte Umweltversammlung der UN Statt (UNEA-7). Hier findet ihr das Briefing von IPEN in verschiedenen Sprachen, das ein Plastikabkommen fordert, das die Plastikkrise WIRKLICH ernst nimmt!

The Seventh United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-7) is happening this week. Download our UNEA Briefing: Defending the Integrity of the Plastics Treaty Negotiations. It is available in English, español (Spanish), русский (Russian), français (French), and العربية (Arabic).

This map highlights original science, country-based data, and policy proposals to end the health and environmental threats from plastics: ipen-plastic-map.vercel.app. There are more than 145 publications in more than 85 countries, which are visualized in the map.

A recent report from GRID-Arendal and IPEN finds that three major types of plastic waste that are mostly exempt from global transparency rules pose significant threats to the environment and human health. Learn more: stoppoisonplastic.org/blog/plastic...

The Seventh United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-7) takes place next week. IPEN has published our briefing for UNEA-7, clarifying the relationship between UNEA and the Plastics Treaty INC.: ipen.org/documents/un... It is available in English, español, русский, français, and العربية.

Judith Enck writes in TIME that plastic recycling was never designed to solve the pollution crisis, and the industry has known it: time.com/7337065/auto... Less than 6% of plastic waste in the US is recycled, while corporations continue to expand production and mislead the public with false claims.

ICYMI, last month, IPEN announced that Gohar Khojayan of Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE) has been elected Co-Chair, joining Yuyun Ismawati of Indonesia’s Nexus3 Foundation, as Pamela Miller of ACAT steps down after two impactful terms: ipen.org/news/ipen-ge...