A/HRC/15/22 substances, including toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, beryllium and mercury, hazardous chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants, and other toxic plastic additives. Furthermore, unusable parts are usually disposed of in landfills or burned, causing widespread and long-lasting contamination of soil, air and surface and groundwater resources. 32. The Special Rapporteur has considered on a number of occasions the adverse effects that the unsound management and disposal of e-waste may have on the enjoyment of human rights (see most recently A/HRC/15/22/Add.3). In particular, he has documented the practice of circumventing the application of the Basel Convention by means of the label “used” for the export of second-hand electrical and electronic products that have almost reached their end of life to developing countries. In many cases brought to his attention, developing countries received large quantities of products that were either not working or ceased to work shortly after their arrival at destination under the guise of donations or to address the “digital divide”. 33. The Special Rapporteur wishes to acknowledge the efforts undertaken under the umbrella of the Basel Convention to promote the environmentally sound management and disposal of e-waste, which include the launching of the Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative,18 the adoption of the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration on the environmentally sound management of e-waste19 and the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE).20 Nevertheless, he is of the view that the gaps and ambiguities in the existing international legal framework, and in particular the lack of a common definition and classification of e-waste, will not allow any significant improvement in the reduction of the adverse human rights impact of the transboundary movement of e-waste, and would therefore continue to require the attention of the mandate holder. Hazardous chemicals, including pesticides 34. Chemicals have become an integral part of people’s everyday lives around the world. Virtually every man-made product, from air fresheners to electrical appliances, from cosmetics to children’s toys, contains chemical substances. When produced and used in an environmentally sound way, chemicals bring great benefits to modern societies. They contribute to the eradication of poverty and diseases, the improvement of human health, the protection of the environment and the elevation of standards of living in countries at all levels of development. However, chemicals can also have a significant adverse impact on human health and the environment when their production and use are not managed responsibly. 35. Hazardous chemicals constitute a serious threat to human health and the environment. According to the World Bank, 355,000 people worldwide die each year from acute pesticide poisoning.21 Nevertheless, the problems posed by pesticides are more acute in developing countries, due to the large number of persons employed in the agricultural sector, weak or non-existent regulatory regimes and little public awareness of the potential health and environmental harm caused by pesticide exposure. It is reported that as many as 25 million agricultural workers suffer serious or irreversible work-related diseases, including several forms of cancer, endocrine system disruption and reproductive and 18 19 20 21 GE.10-14907 UNEP/CHW.6/40, Decision VI/31. UNEP/CHW.8/16, Annex IV. UNEP/CHW.9/39, Decision IX/9. World Bank, World Development Report: Agriculture for Development 2008, p. 10. 11