GMP2 Africa Region dataset contains information on POPs concentrations in ambient air, human tissue - breast milk and surface water; for water-soluble fluorinated POPs only (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride). The second global data collection that can be seen in this dataset was held during 2013–2014 and it contained information on 23 POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention when the second global data collection took place. The data were sampled between 2008 and 2014, however also older data were reported. The Africa Region is characterized by six different climatic zones that have influence on the movement and distribution of POPs. In addition, except for large deserts in Northern and Southern Africa, the regions face challenges associated with hot and humid climatic conditions that promote growth of a myriad of pests and disease vectors. POPs have therefore been used in many sectors including agriculture, industry and public health to control pests and diseases. The region collaborated with the following programmes and strategic partners to obtain data on core media: • the MONET-Africa project coordinated by the Centre of Excellence in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Brno, Czech Republic (RECETOX), • the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) programme coordinated by Environment Canada, • the World Health Organization (WHO) – Milk survey

Data from Asia and Pacific contains information on POPs concentrations in ambient air, human tissue - breast milk and surface water; for water-soluble fluorinated POPs only (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride). The data was mainly collected over the period between 2008 and 2014. However, some earlier data related to the historical importance were presented and briefly described. Asia-Pacific Region is located in tropical, sub-tropical temperate and sub-arctic climate area, with many countries under the strong influence of the monsoon climate. The region is characterized by huge agricultural and industrial activities to support large number of people, about 59% of the world population. In the Asia-Pacific Region, several international and national POPs monitoring programmes on air and human milk are available. For the air, passive sampling was conducted in Fiji in collaboration with RECETOX (Centre of Excellence in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Brno, Czech Republic). In POPs Monitoring Project in East Asian Countries which is initiated by Japan, sampling was operated in ten countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). In China and Japan, some ambient POPs air monitoring programmes are performed. For human milk, China (including Hong Kong SAR of China), Fiji, Kiribati, Philippines and Tonga have been involved in 3rd or 4th round WHO human milk survey. China, India and Japan also have some national POPs monitoring programmes on human milk and/or blood. In addition to data on core media, the monitoring data on non-core media, such as water, were also collected. The region collaborated with the following programmes and strategic partners to obtain data on core media: • Chemicals in Environment (Ministry of the Environment, Japan) • China National POPs Monitoring • Environmental Survey of Dioxins (Ministry of the Environment, Japan) • GMP UNEP - WHO Milk Survey • POPs Monitoring Project in East Asian Countries • UNU (United Nations University, Japan) • PFOS in water around Bangkok, data in paper of Boontanon et al. (2013) Monitoring report developed by the regional organization groups and global coordination group to support the periodic evaluations of the effectiveness of Convention can be find here: