Top of the POPs

I was delighted to have the opportunity to give the opening address to the 28th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which is being held in Birmingham this week.  My colleague, Bob Watson, Chief Scientist at Defra, was due to give the speech but had to pull out at the last minute, so it was a case of Bob's loss and my gain.  After talking to an audience of more than 800 people in the International Convention Centre, it turned out I was the warm-up act for the Heart of England Chamber Orchestra . They were due to play everything from Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance to Flowers in the Rain by the Moody Blues.  Given the abysmal weather, the Moody Blues was more apt than ELO's Mr Blue Sky...

Back to the science, and as the title suggests, the problem with POPs is their persistence in the environment and consequently their potential to affect wildlife and human health.  The FSA and Defra are supporting this conference because of our respective interests in protecting the environment and human health.  The good news is that significant progress has been made in reducing exposure of the UK population to some POPs, such as dioxins, where a fall of 70% in dietary intakes has been recorded between 1990 and 2005.  That's excellent news, and testimony to all the hard work gone into identifying and controlling industrial emissions of this pollutant.  But there is much more to do and I will look forward to receiving reports from colleagues on the science and debate that took place at this important conference.

Incidentally, dioxins may well turn up as an issue at the BA Festival of Science, which the Agency is taking part in for the first time in September. By way of a plug, yours truly will be launching my annual report on science in the Agency, when I, with colleagues, will lead an interactive session on science and food. Do come along if you're down Liverpool way, or take part via the live webcast.