Information on unintentional trace contaminants and low POPs content for waste
July 2012
DisclaimerThe views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention (SSC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations (UN) or other contributory organizations. SSC, UNEP, UNIDO, UNITAR or the UN do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly, through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this paper.
1. Unintentional trace contaminants
Excerpt from “Updated compilation of information related to quantities of a chemical occurring as unintentional trace contaminants in products and articles”[1]
EU: The European Commission has amended its POPs regulations (see 3.) to define the concept of unintentional trace contaminants in substances, preparations or articles. The European Union is the only party to the Convention to have provided information with regard to setting specific threshold limits for the newly listed persistent organic pollutants. A substance is considered to be an unintentional trace contaminant if it is present in quantities equal to or below a fixed threshold set in the POPs Regulation. The thresholds were set to correspond to a level below which the substance cannot be meaningfully used and above detection limit of existing detection methods to enable control and enforcement.
Japan: When Class I Specified Chemical Substances are contained in other chemical substances as by-products in trace amounts, the by-products are not treated as Class I Specified Chemical Substances, if the level of the byproducts has no potential to be hazardous to human health and does not impair the life or growth of flora or fauna through environmental pollution, and the content of the by-products is reduced to the lowest possible technically and economically feasible level.
2. EU new POPs regulation [2]
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 757/2010 of 24 August 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants as regards Annexes I and III
Annex:
Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and (Pentabromodiphenyl ether, Hexabromodiphenyl ether, Heptabromodiphenyl ether)
Exemptions:
1. For the purposes of this entry, Article 4(1)(b) shall apply to concentrations of Tetrabromodiphenyl ether equal to or below 10 mg/kg (0.,001 % by weight) when it occurs in substances, preparations, articles or as constituents of the flame-retarded parts of articles.
2. By way of derogation, the production, placing on the market and use of the following shall be allowed:
(a) without prejudice to subparagraph (b), articles and preparations containing concentrations below 0.1 % of tetrabromodiphenyl ether by weight when produced partially or fully from recycled materials or materials from waste prepared for re-use;
(b) electrical and electronic equipment within the scope of Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and Council (*).
3. Use of articles already in use in the Union before 25 August 2010 containing Tetrabromodiphenyl ether as a constituent of such articles shall be allowed. Article 4(2), third and fourth subparagraphs shall apply in relation to such article
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives (PFOS) C 8 F 17 SO 2 X (X = OH, Metal salt (O-M + ), halide, amide, and other derivatives including polymers)
Exemptions:
1. For the purposes of this entry, Article 4(1)(b) shall apply to concentrations of PFOS equal to or below 10 mg/kg (0.001 % by weight) when it occurs in substances or in preparations.
2. For the purposes of this entry, Article 4(1) (b) shall apply to concentrations of PFOS in semi-finished products or articles, or parts thereof, if the concentration of PFOS is lower than 0.1 % by weight calculated with reference to the mass of structurally or micro-structurally distinct parts that contain PFOS or, for textiles or other coated materials, if the amount of PFOS is lower than 1 μg/m 2 of the coated material.
5. If the quantity released into the environment is minimised, production and placing on the market is allowed for the following specific uses provided that Member States report to the Commission every four years on progress made to eliminate PFOS:
(a) until 26 August 2015, wetting agents for use in controlled electroplating systems;
(b) photoresists or anti reflective coatings for photolithography processes;
(c) photographic coatings applied to films, papers, or printing plates;
(d) mist suppressants for non- decorative hard chromium (VI) plating in closed loop systems; (e) hydraulic fluids for aviation.
6. Once standards are adopted by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) they shall be used as the analytical test methods for demonstrating the conformity of substances, preparations and articles to paragraphs 1 and 2.
3. EU ROHS directive [3]
DIRECTIVE 2011/65/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 8 June 2011 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment
Article 4
Prevention
1. Member States shall ensure that EEE placed on the market, including cables and spare parts for its repair, its reuse, updating of its functionalities or upgrading of its capacity, does not contain the substances listed in Annex II.
2. For the purposes of this Directive, no more than the maximum concentration value by weight in homogeneous materials as specified in Annex II shall be tolerated. The Commission shall adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 21 and 22, detailed rules for complying with these maximum concentration values taking into account, inter alia, surface coatings.
ANNEX II
Restricted substances referred to in Article 4(1) and maximum concentration values tolerated by weight in homogeneous materials
Lead (0.1 %)
Mercury (0.1 %)
Cadmium (0.01 %)
Hexavalent chromium (0.1 %)
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) (0.1 %)
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) (0.1 %)
4. Low POPs content [4]
The “Updated general technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs)” contain for the old listed POPs that were intentionally produced – aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, HCB, mirex, PCB and toxaphene – a provisional low POPs content of 50 mg/kg.
Provisional low POPs content for the newly listed POPs are under consideration by the Basel Convention.
Part III, A Low POP content
As stated in article 6, paragraph 2 (c), of the Stockholm Convention, the Stockholm Conference of the Parties shall cooperate closely with the appropriate bodies of the Basel Convention to “work to establish, as appropriate, the concentration levels of the chemicals listed in Annexes A, B and C in order to define the low persistent organic pollutant content referred to in paragraph 1 (d) (ii).” Wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with POPs above the low POP content should, in accordance with article 6, paragraph 1 (d) (ii), be disposed of in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally sound manner when destruction or irreversible transformation does not represent the environmentally preferable option.
Recognizing the following considerations:
(a)Disposal of wastes with a high POP content, including waste stockpiles, should be a priority;
(b)Availability of treatment capacity;
(c)Limit values within national legislation are relevant;
(d)Availability of analytical methods; and
(e) Lack of knowledge and data; the following provisional definitions for low POP content should be applied:
(a)PCBs: 50 mg/kg;
(b)PCDDs and PCDFs: 15 g TEQ/kg;
(c)Aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, HCB, mirex and toxaphene: 50 mg/kg for each.
5. Cut-off levels for chemicals in mixtures and impurities in chemicals from the GHS
The GHS requests that for mixtures or alloys, the label should include the chemical identities of all ingredients or alloying elements that contribute to acute toxicity, skin corrosion or serious eye damage, germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, skin or respiratory sensitization, or specific target organ toxicity (STOT), when these hazards appear on the label. Where impurities, additives or individual constituents of a substance or mixture have been identified and are themselves classified, they should be taken into account during classification if they exceed the cut-off value/concentration limit for a given hazard class. When classifying an untested mixture based on the hazards of its ingredients, generic cut-off values or concentration limits for the classified ingredients of the mixture are used for several hazard classes/categories in the GHS. Generic cut-off values are normally ≥ 1.0% with ≥ 0.1% for the more severe effects like sensitisation, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity and acute /chronic Category 1 hazardous for the aquatic environment. For highly toxic acute/chronic Category 1 Environmental Hazard ingredients the cut-off value can be reduced by a factor of M which is determined by a very low experimental value of L(E)C50 (50 % lethal/effect concentration) value for acute and by the NOEC (no observed effect concentration) for chronic.
If the classifier has information that the hazard of an ingredient will be evident below the generic cut-off values/concentration limits, the mixture containing that ingredient should be classified accordingly. Adequate documentation supporting the use of any values other than the generic cut-off values/concentration limits should be retained and made available for review on request.
For many chemicals including certain newly listed POPs and DDT the European Union has published the classification and labelling according to the GHS as implemented in the EU[5].
GHS cut-off values for some POPs in mixtures as applied by the European Union
POPcut-off value (%)/(ppm)
chlordecone0.1 / 1000
DDT0.1 / 1000
endosulfan0.1 / 1000
lindane0.01 / 100 (M factor of 10)
octaBDE0.1 / 1000
pentaBDE0.1 / 1000
pentachlorobenzene0.1 / 1000
PFOS and its salts0.1 / 1000
The cut-off values are for most POPs 0.1 % by weight or 1000 ppm based mainly on the carcinogenic and/or reproductive health hazards and/or the acute/chronic Category 1 environmental hazard of the POPs. For lindane due to its very low aquatic toxicity an additional factor M=10 was applied and the resulting cut-off value is 0.01 % or 100 ppm. That means that in principle these POPs in mixtures have to be identified in the EU on the label if they are in the mixture in concentrations greater or equal than the cut-off value.
It has to be noted though that chlordecone, DDT, endosulfan, lindane, octaBDE, pentaBDE and pentachlorobenzene are totally banned in the EU.
6. Summary of the limits available
EU POPs regulation
Tetrabromodiphenyl ether 10 mg/kg = 10 ppm
Pentabromodiphenyl ether 10 mg/kg = 10 ppm
Hexabromodiphenyl ether 10 mg/kg = 10 ppm
Heptabromodiphenyl ether 10 mg/kg = 10 ppm
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its 10 mg/kg = 10 ppm
derivatives (PFOS) C 8 F 17 SO 2 X
(X = OH, Metal salt (O-M + ), halide,
amide, and other derivatives
including polymers)
for textiles or other coated materials 1 μg/m 2 of the coated material.
EU ROHS directive
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) (0.1 %)1000 ppm
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) (0.1 %)1000 ppm
Basel Convention low POPs content „Updated general technical guidelines for POPs“
aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin,
heptachlor, HCB, mirex, PCB and toxaphene: 50 mg/kg50 ppm
GHS cut-off values for some POPs as applied by the European Union
POPcut-off value (%) / (ppm)
chlordecone0.1 / 1000
DDT0.1 / 1000
endosulfan0.1 / 1000
lindane0.01 / 100 (M factor of 10)
octaBDE0.1 / 1000
pentaBDE0.1 / 1000
pentachlorobenzene0.1 / 1000
PFOS and its salts0.1 / 1000
8. Criteria used to determine limit value
EU POPs regulation
The level for unintentionally trace contamination is set:
- to correspond to a level below which the substance cannot be meaningfully used
- to be above the detection limit of existing detection methods to enable control and enforcement.
Japan
The level for unintentionally trace contamination is set considering:
- the level of the by products should have no potential to be hazardous to human health and does not impair the life or growth of flora or fauna through environmental pollution
- and the content of the by-products is reduced to the lowest possible technically and economically feasible level.
[1] UNEP/POPS/COP.5/INF/10
[2]
[3]
[4]Updated general technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
or
[5] Annex W, GHS classification and labelling of chlordecone, DDT, endosulfan, lindane, octaBDE, pentaBDE, pentachlorobenzene, PFOS and its salts by the European Community