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Chile Tries to Mend Ozone Hole |
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By Gustavo González*
The environmental authorities in Chile have launched an offensive to eliminate the use of pesticides containing methyl bromide, a substance that depletes the ozone layer and is harmful to human health.
SANTIAGO - The Chilean government is working to eliminate methyl bromide-based pesticides because they contribute to the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. The use of these agro-chemicals has skyrocketed in the nation's farming communities in the last three years.
Methyl bromide is used in eight of the country's 13 regions to kill the insects and rodents that damage fruit crops. It is extremely toxic for humans and it depletes the layer of ozone that surrounds the planet and protects plant and animal life from harmful solar radiation.
"Imports of methyl bromide shot up from 380 tons a year in the late 1990s to 550 tons in 2001," Jorge Leiva, coordinator of the Ozone Protection Program at Chile's National Environmental Commission (CONAMA), told Tierramérica.
The plan for eliminating the use of this substance has a price tag of 800,000 dollars, and is being financed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The deterioration of the Earth's ozone layer, first detected by scientists in 1974, is caused by the accumulation of certain gases, such as refrigerants and industrial propellants known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons (used in fire extinguishing equipment) and methyl bromide, among other substances.
The ozone hole -- which is really an extreme thinning of the layer of ozone gas -- reaches its extreme in September and October, just as the Southern Hemisphere summer gets under way, and it primarily affects Chile and Argentina.
CONAMA has carried out a program over the last nine years to comply with the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances. Chile ratified this international treaty in 1990.
As a developing country, Chile has until 2010 to completely eradicate CFCs and halons, and until 2015 to eliminate methyl bromide.
With the backing of the United Nations, 32 technological reconversion projects were launched to replace CFCs and halons with safer substances. Imports of CFCs have been slashed by 500 tons.
* Gustavo González is an IPS correspondent.
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