China is staging a renewed battle against chemical pollution after the National People’s Congress (NPC) passed two amendments to an international environmental treaty. Included in the amendments are 10 polluting substances to be restricted or banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The convention, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of organic pollutants including DDT. 179 countries and regions had signed the convention by May 2013. Of the 10 newly-added environment-threatening chemicals, China still produces and uses chemicals related to perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF) and endosulfan. PFOS is a fluorosurfactant created by U.S. company 3M in 1952 that is used in coatings. According to a study by the Environmental Directorate of the Organization for European Economic Development, “PFOS is persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic to mammalian species”. Though 3M announced the phase-out of its production in 2000, PFOS and PFOSF-related products are still made in China. Endosulfan was extensively used as an agri-chemical to control insect pests. It later became controversial due to its acute toxicity, its potential for bio-accumulation and its role as an endocrine disruptor. Second to India, China produces around a quarter of the world’s endosulfan even though it has about 70 substitutes that can be used as pesticides. The use and production of the chemicals will now be strictly controlled.