INTERNATIONAL TRENDS IN THE REGULATION OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES: RISKS AND THREATS TO THE INTERESTS OF THE DOMESTIC INDUSTRY

The article provides an overview of the current activities of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management Forum and an analysis of the statements made by the leaders of ministries and international organizations at the Berlin Forum. On the basis of the voiced priorities, development trends in the field of regulation of the circulation of chemicals are identified. At the same time, the analysis showed that a number of statements contain potential risks and threats to the interests of the domestic industry (new coordinated tax). Proposals for proactive measures are presented.

A novel survey of raptor collections in Europe and their potential to provide samples for pan-European contaminant monitoring

This paper provides a novel survey of current collections of frozen raptor carcasses and tissue samples in natural history museums (NHMs), environmental specimen banks (ESBs) and other research collections (ORCs e.g. at universities and research institutes) across Europe and assesses the extent to which collections might support pan-European raptor biomonitoring through the provision of samples for contaminant analyses. The paper is based on questionnaire responses received in late 2018 and early 2019 from 116 institutions. Issues covered include the number of raptor carcasses and diversity of raptor species arriving annually at collections, the number of carcasses stored in freezers, the extent to which collections retain frozen tissue samples, what records are kept of carcasses and tissue samples, constraints to expanding collections of frozen carcasses and tissues and the extent to which collections currently engage in ecotoxicological research and monitoring. Our findings show that collections in Europe receive well over 5000 raptor carcasses per annum, and that NHMs are the key recipients of raptor carcasses for most countries. Collections in Europe probably hold well over 10,000 raptor carcasses in their freezers, offering a substantial resource of frozen raptor carcasses and tissues from recent years. Moreover, these carcasses include good specimen numbers for species that have been prioritized for pan-European contaminant monitoring. Collections are becoming digitized aiding access to samples. However, freezer capacity is a key constraint to retention of carcasses, and contaminant biomonitoring is novel for most NHMs. Our findings on the repository and availability of frozen raptor carcasses and tissues held by collections in Europe can enable greater use of these specimens for pan-European contaminant monitoring in support of better chemicals management. We highlight opportunities to further optimize raptor collections for pan-European contaminant monitoring.

Quantification and evaluation of chemical footprint of woollen textiles

The chemical pollutants discharged in the production processes of textile products cause severe impact on the environment. The chemical footprint (ChF) methodology provides a new way to quantify the toxicity impacts caused by chemical pollutants. ChF does well in identifying priority chemical pollutants and helping enterprises to select greener chemicals to reduce the environment impacts. In this study, the ChF of woollen yarn were assessed with the data that collected from the production processes. The results showed that the ChF of dyeing process (4.10E+06 l) accounted for the largest proportion, because a large number of auxiliaries were used in the dyeing process to prevent uneven dyeing and colour difference, followed by scouring (7.79E+05 l) and finishing (8.11E+03 l). Among all the discharged chemical pollutants, polyoxyethylene nonyl phenyl ether (1.37E+06 l) caused the most ecotoxicity severe impact on the environment due to its high bioaccumulation and high toxicity to ecosystem, followed by sulfuric acid (1.03E+06 l). Sodium chloride and hydrogen peroxide were the two substances that caused the least environmental load. The overall uncertainty caused by toxicity prediction data accounting for 20.2% of the total ChF, and the uncertainty of the scouring process was the most. The results are referable for wool textiles producers to enhance the textile chemicals management.

Understanding Chemicals in Products

The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) has published a policy brief that addresses chemicals of concern in products such as textiles, toys, building materials, and electronics, and efforts to minimize their adverse effects on human health and the environment. The policy brief titled, “Understanding Chemicals in Products,” is a contribution from the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded project on “Global Best Practices on Emerging Chemical Policy Issues of Concern under SAICM.”

Priorities for improving chemicals management in the WHO European Region—stakeholders’ views

Background Prevention of the impact of chemicals on human health and the environment is an increasing focus of public health polices and policy makers. The World Health Organization European Centre for Environment and Health wanted to know what were stakeholders’ priorities for improving chemicals management and prevention. Methods Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 18 diverse stakeholders to answer this question. The interview questionnaire was developed using current WHO chemical meeting reports, the Evidence Implementation Model for Public Health Systems and categories of the theory of diffusion. Stakeholder views were attained on three main questions within the questionnaire. (i) What priority actions should be undertaken to minimize the negative impact of chemicals? (ii) Who needs to be more involved and what roles should they have? (iii) How can science and knowledge on chemicals and health be translated into policies more effectively and what are the greatest barriers to overcome? Results Cross cutting issues, such as legislation strengthening and enforcement, further collection of information, capacity building, education and awareness raising were considered priorities. The responders had the same vision on roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. The greatest barrier to adoption, implementation and enforcement of evidence-based policies reported was leadership and political commitment to chemical safety. Conclusions Priorities raised differed depending on knowledge, professional background and type of stakeholder. Factors influencing priority identification at the national level include international and global context, availability of information, knowledge of the current situation and evidence-based good practice, and risks and priorities identified through national assessments.