Kenya signed the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants on 17 May 2004 and ratified it on 23rd December 2004. The objective of this convention is to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants. The convention was established to regulate the use of organic chemicals known to cause toxic reaction, persist for long periods in the environment, travel many kilometers and cause long-term consequences both to humans and environment which were never intended. The most popular of these chemicals are those popularly referred to as persistent organic pollutants include:

1. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls),
2. Dioxins and furans (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins or PCDDs, and polychlorinated dibenzofurans or PCDFs)
3. Nine pesticides (Aldrin, Chlordane, DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Mirex, Hexachlorobenzene, and Toxaphene) .