Vanuatu is a small island developing state, located in the South Pacific Ocean to the North East of Australia. Vanuatu is an archipelago formed of 83 islands, with a population of approximately 300,000 inhabitants.
In 2017, Vanuatu joined the GEF/UNEP Global Monitoring Plan project that provided capacity building assistance in the Pacific Islands region for monitoring persistent organic pollutant (POPs).
Vanuatu gained valuable knowledge on how to set up a POPs monitoring campaign: how to select and set up the sampling sites and how to collect and prepare the samples for the analysis. The results showed remarkably high concentrations of POPs in the three matrices air, water and human milk.
In 2018, PFASs in water samples were measured in much higher concentrations than in the other Pacific islands countries.
HBCD, a POP listed in Annex A since 2013 used widely as flame retardant additive on polystyrene materials in the 1980s in vehicles and buildings, is also found in much high concentration in the air in Vanuatu than in the other Pacific Islands countries.
In 2019, Dioxin like POPs were found in concentration 4 times higher in Vanuatu milk samples than in Ethiopia where the smallest concentration was measured.
The evidence of industrial POPs presence in the environment and in humans on the island where they are not produced reveals the need to better manage chemical pollution and waste. The Government of Vanuatu reacted strongly against chemical pollution. In June 2018, Vanuatu banned single use plastics to fight against plastic litters and plastics chemicals releases in the ocean.
Local communities are encouraged to separate rubbish by removing plastics and organic matters to minimize the releases of dioxins and furans, two unintentional POPs released when garbage is burned in open settings. Emitted during the incomplete combustion processes, the two POPs then make their way from the air into lakes and soil.
The photo shows an activity of vegetable growing from a group of women reusing the organic matter separated from rubbish to do composting.
Vanuatu is also collaborating with other UNEP initiatives, such as the Special programme, to strengthen sound management of chemicals and waste.
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