Environmental toxicology. Treaty takes a POP at the dirty dozen.

Last month's talks to mitigate global warming may have flopped, but this week brought some consolation to those concerned about the planet's environmental health: the first-ever global agreement to abolish a class of dangerous industrial chemicals. The treaty, finalized by representatives of 122 countries meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, also spells out a process to determine the next chemicals to be proscribed.