Connect to share and comment The International Conference on
Chemicals Management wants to make sure you do. GENEVA — While
worrying about swine flu, you might be overlooking dangers
lurking in your own living room, according to the International
Conference on Chemicals Management, meeting in Geneva this week.
A wide range of new threats, ranging from experimental nano
technologies to exotic chemicals used in the microprocessors in
cellphones and laptop computers can be lethal. “They are in
everything around us,” said Matthew Gubb, a coordinator at the
secretariat of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals
Management (SAICM), which is hosting the Geneva conference. Some
200 international conventions concerning chemical use have been
signed since the early 20th century. This week’s meeting, which
is being attended by 140 governments, 60 NGOs, 20 international
organizations, and the CEOs of eight major chemical companies,
intends to start the process of setting universal standards.
This is particularl