Along with the economic development, Vietnam has been facing
pollution problems arising from agricultural and industrial production
activities. In particular, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are
halogenated organic compounds that are environmentally toxic and
stable compounds. They are capable of bioaccumulation through the
food chain and stored for long periods of time with potential adverse
impacts on human health and the environment. Due to the hazardous
potential of these compounds, 92 countries signed the Convention on
May 22, 2001 in Stockholm (Sweden), commonly known as the
Stockholm Convention to place a global ban on these particularly
harmful and toxic compounds. Initially, the Stockholm convention
was designed to reduce and eliminate the 12 most dangerous POPs
out of human life. Among of the 12 POPs in the Stockholm
Convention, up to 8 types of POPs-pesticides include Aldrin,
chlordane, DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Hetachlor, Mirex and Toxaphene.
Then, at the sixth meeting (May 2013), the convention added a list of
POPs up to the total 28 of persistent organic pollutants.