REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
PURSUANT TO REGULATION (EC) No 850/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 29 APRIL 2004 ON PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (POPs)
ANNEX
Format for the submission of data and information under Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants
A- Annual report ONCONTROL ON PRODUCTION, PLACING ON THE MARKET (Article 12(2))
SECTION I: GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Member State: LITHUANIA
2. Name and title of contact officer: Marija Teriosina
3. Full name of the institution: Ministry of Environment
4. Mailing address: A. Jaksto St. 4/9, LT-01105, Vilnius, LITHUANIA
5. Telephone number: +370 5 266 3501
6. Fax number: +370 5 266 3502
7. E-mail address:
8. Date of the report: 05/11/2007
SECTION II: CONTROL ON PRODUCTION, PLACING ON THE MARKET
1. Production of substances listed under Annex I or II to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 (hereinafter "Annex I or II")
1.1. Year of the report: 2004-2006
1.2. Has any of the chemicals listed in Annex I or II been produced in your Member State during the period covered by this report? (Yes/No)
1.2.1 If the answer to question 1.2 is "Yes", please specify the name of the substance(s) and the corresponding volume(s) produced (in kg).
2. Placing on the market of substances listed under Annex I or II
2.1. Year of the report: 2005-2006
2.2. Has any of the chemicals listed in Annex I or II been placed on the market in your Member State or exported from your Member State during the period covered by this report? (Placing on the market - Yes/Export - No)
2.2.1 If the answer to question 2.2 is "Yes", please specify the name of the substance(s) and the corresponding volume(s) exported and/or placed on the market (in kg). In case of export or import, please specify the exporting or importing country(ies).
In accordance with the requirements of the Law on toxic chemicals the State Public Health Service under the Ministry of Health issued the permissions to obtain, sell or transfer in other way such toxic chemicals:
In the year 2005 -
Lindan (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-hexachlorcyclohexan), CAS No 58-89-9; 0,00025 kg.
DDT (1, 1, 1-trichlor-2, 2-bis-(4-chlorphenyl)-ethan), CAS No 50-29-3; 0,0001 kg.
In the year 2006 -
Aldrin, CAS No 309-00-2; 0,00025 kg.
Dieldrin, CAS No 60-57-1; 0,0001 kg.
Hexachlorbenzene, CAS No 118-74-1; 0,00025 kg.
Endrin, CAS No 72-20-8; 0,00025 kg.
These chemicals have been transported from Germany with the aim to use them as standard chemicals in laboratory.
B- TRIAnnual report on the application of Regulation(EC) No 850/2004 (Articles 12(1) and 12(3)).
SECTION I: GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Member State: LITHUANIA
2. Name and title of contact officer: Marija Teriosina
3. Full name of the institution: Ministry of Environment
4. Mailing address: A. Jaksto St. 4/9, LT-01105, Vilnius, LITHUANIA
5. Telephone number: +370 5 266 3501
6. Fax number: +370 5 266 3502
7. E-mail address:
8. Date of the report: 05/11/2007
SECTION II: STOCKPILES
1. Are there in your Member State any notified stockpiles of any substance listed in Annex I or II and the use of which is permitted?(Yes/No)
1.1.If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please, specify the name of the substance(s). For each specified substance, specify for each stock the year in which it was identified, its nature, its content (% or mg/kg), its volume (kg), its location and the measures taken to manage it.
According to the requirements of the Rules on PCB/PCT Management, adopted on 26 September 2003 by the Order No 473 of the Minister of Environment, holders of equipment containing PCBs shall compile inventory of equipment where PCB content exceeds 5 dm3 and equipment containing PCBs from 0.05% to 0.005% by fluid weight. The updated inventory reports are submitted to the Regional Environmental Protection Departments annually.
The major part of the equipment identified in Lithuania is still in operation. A substantial quantity of equipment containing PCBs is used in water supply/treatment, energy production/distribution, petroleum processing, metal processing companies and other sectors of industry. In summary of the results of the all inventories and conducted research, the total amount of PCB-containing equipment in Lithuania could be estimated at 1100–1300 tonnes containing around 380–450 tonnes of PCBs.
According to the Rules on PCB/PCT Management, PCB-containing equipment must be decontaminated and/or disposed by the end of 2010 at the latest.
2. Are there in your Member State any notified stockpiles of any substance listed in Annex I or II and the use of which is not permitted?(Yes/No)
2.1 If the answer to question 2 is "Yes", please, specify the name of the substance(s). For each specified substance, specify for each stock the year in which it was identified, its nature, its content (% or mg/kg), its volume (kg), its location and the measures taken to manage it.
Regional environmental protection departments receive progress information on obsolete pesticides, their re-packaging, sorting, identification and disposal from contractors, collect information on storage – depots of obsolete pesticides in different municipalities, types of stored pesticides, management of obsolete pesticides and state of storage – depots.
The pesticide waste included in the Government pesticide waste management programme has been disposed. In total during the period of 2002-2005 year 3280 tons of old pesticides have been disposed.
According to Ministry of Environment there are still stockpiles of pesticide waste which have not been included in the Government pesticide waste management programme. This amounts to 945 tons of pesticide waste. According to the Project on old pesticides management in Lithuania starting in 2007 waste landfill (840 tons), as well as remaining pesticides disposed in 2 pesticides sites after fire (105 tons) will be managed. 119,4 tons of old pesticide wastes (POPs amount is unknown) are still accumulated in one private company pending for final disposal thereof. According to the Lithuanian law the waste possessors are liable for waste management, and in the event if the possessor is not identified, the respective municipality shall bear the responsibility for management thereof.
SECTION III: RELEASE REDUCTION, MINIMISATION AND ELIMINATION
1. Has your Member State developed an action plan on the substances listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004(hereinafter “Annex III”?(Yes/No)
1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please, specify why.
1.2. If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please, specify the name of the substance(s) for which you have release data. For each specified substance, specify for which compartment (i.e., air, water, land) you have release data. For each specified compartment, give the release in g TEQ/year (WHO-TEF1 2005) or in kg/year.
Information on the releases of dioxins and furans to the environment in Lithuania may be obtained from available reports based on theoretical approximation and estimation of dioxin and furan releases to the environment according to the emission factors identified for each source of pollution:
- “Inventory of Dioxin and Furan releases in Lithuania”, Final report prepared by the COWI A/S, Denmark, dk-TEKNIK Energy and Environment, Denmark, COWI Baltic, Lithuania 2002;
- “Dioxin emissions in Candidate countries”, Interim report prepared by the TNO, Netherlands, 2004.
- Annual Report of the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania based on the data provided by the Institute of Physics and in accordance with the requirements of UN Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (EMEP/CORINAIR Emission Inventory Guidebook - Third edition);
Potential releases of dioxins/furans into air, water, land according to source category (from abovementioned Inventory of Dioxin and Furan releases in Lithuania):
Source category / Annual releases (gTEQ/y)Air / Water / Land / Product / Residue
Waste incineration / 20,22 / 1,14
Metal production / 0,09 / 0,24
Power generating and heating / 2,60 / 0,88
Production of mineral products / 0,38 / 0,06
Transportation / 0,07
Uncontrolled combustion processes / 14,00 / 0,30 / 13,00
Production of chemicals and consumer goods / 0,42
Miscellaneous / 0,08 / 0,21
Disposal/landfilling / 0,10 / 0,02 / 3,10
TOTAL / 37,44 / 0,10 / 0,30 / 0,44 / 18,63
Releases of substances listed in Annex III into air (from abovementioned Annual Report according to the requirements of UN Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution):
Chemical / Source category / 2004 / 2005Dioxins/furans / Public electricity and Heat production / 0,82 / 0,84
Manufacturing industries and construction / 0,55 / 0,57
Road transportation / 0,21 / 0,2
National navigation / 0,02 / 0,03
Commercial/institutional / 0,12 / 0,12
Residential / 9,03 / 9,08
Agriculture / 0,03 / 0,03
Mineral products / 0,02
Total / 10,80 gTEQ/y / 10,87 gTEQ/y
HCB / Total / NA / NA
PCB / Total / 23,80 kg/y / 25,06 kg/y
PAH / Total / 15430 kg/y / 15560 kg/y
The assessment of the released (emitted) dioxins and furans in all abovementioned reports is based on the same methodology prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme; however, the reports show different results. That can be explained by different interpretation of the available information by the experts carrying out the studies.
Substances – HCB and PAH are included into the List of priority dangerous chemical substances. Releases of HCB and PAH into water are regulated by the Procedure on Permits of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC permits).
2. Has your Member State developed measures in order to identify sources of substances listed in Annex III? (Yes/No)
2.1. If the answer to question 2 is "Yes", please, describe the measures developed.
The procedure for submission of information on sources of pollution and basic pollutants emitted (released) from them, determined by the Order of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania - requires the enterprises to provide information on the emission of pollutants, including dioxins, furans and HCB, to Regional Environment Protection Departments of Lithuania.
3. Has your Member State developed measures in order to characterisesources of substances listed in Annex III? (Yes/No)
3.1. If the answer to question 3 is "Yes", please, describe the measures developed.
Order of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania On regulations for the Issuance, Renewal and Repeal of Permits of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, based on Directive 96/61/EC - obliges enterprises to get IPPC permit. Therefore locations on industrial pollution sources could be determined.
4. Has your Member State developed measures in order to minimisesources of substances listed in Annex III? (Yes/No)
4.1. If the answer to question 4 is "Yes", please, describe the measures developed.
Lithuania has developed an Action programme as part of National Implementation Plan called for in Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention, Article 8 of the Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on persistent organic pollutants.
There are the measures in order to minimise sources of pollutants, to reduce the emission to the environment of unintentional POP determined in Action Programme:
-To manage obsolete pesticides including POPs pesticide, to collect, store, decontaminate and/or dispose of PCB containing oil and equipment;
-In order to solve the problem to reduce the emission to the environment of unintentional POPs – to develop the public municipal waste management system, which allows the collection and handling of more waste and thus the amount of waste incinerated in households will be reduced;
-Aiming at lower releases of dioxins and furans into the environment the most important measure – related to the awareness raising inter alias to educate the society and other interested parties regarding sorting of waste, to disseminate knowledge on POPs, to disseminate information material on the environmental and human health impact of POPs and prevention of their formation.
Order of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania On Environmental Protection Requirements for Waste Incineration – defines conditions of operation, limit values of released pollutants, including dioxins and furans and technical requirements for all enterprises operating or planning the operation of waste incineration and co-incineration plants attributed to main generation sources of POPs from unintentional production.
The problem concerning one of the potential POPs sources, i.e. incineration of medical wastes, is being solved. The programme of Medical Waste Management in Health Service Establishments for 2006-2008 was developed and approved, which includes measures enabling to reduce risk related to inadequate management of medical waste.
The Rules on management of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCB/PCT) approved by Order of the Minister of Environment - obliges the possessors of equipment with PCB volumes of more than 5dm3 to ensure that this equipment without any delay and not later than December 31, 2010, will be decontaminated and/or disposed. The possessors of equipment must provide the respective Regional Environmental Protection Departments with upgraded inventory reports of equipment with PCB specifying decontaminated or disposed, used PCB or equipment containing PCB.
Reduction of POPs from unintentional releases in Lithuania is mostly motivated by IPPC permits developed, issued, renewed and repealed in accordance with the rules for the Issuance, renewal and repeal of Permits of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) (based on Directive 96/61/EC) determined by the Order of the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania.
SECTION IV: IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
1. Has your Member State developed a National Implementation Plan (NIP) in accordance with Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants? (Yes/No)
1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please explain why.
1.2. If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please, indicate the date(s) on which it has been communicated to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention, to the Commission and to the other Member States.
Communicated (as per paragraph 1.2 of this section questionnaire) on 06/04/2007
1.2.1. Did you give the public early and effective opportunities to participate in the development of your NIP? (Yes/No)
1.2.1.1. If the answer to question 1.2.1 is "No", please explain why.
1.2.1.2. If the answer to question 1.2.1 is "Yes", please describe briefly how.
During the process of development of NIP the survey on the public opinion and knowledge level concerning POPs was conducted. The aim of the survey was to take the gauge on views and knowledge level by different groups in the society concerning POPs, as well as requirements of the Stockholm Convention, to identify the gaps and needs of information as well as methods for disseminating such information. The following target groups were questioned: farmers, heads of rural communities, representatives of academic institutions, representatives of enterprises possessing PCB containing equipment or potentially emitting dioxins and furans, representatives of healthcare establishments, women’s and children’s organizations and other NGOs.
In the process of development of NIP the POPs information campaign directed towards the society and the interested groups was conducted. During this campaign the seminars on POPs related implications were organized to the public, on PCBs – to the enterprises. Several publications were prepared (brochures for enterprises, academic institutions, healthcare establishments, society, posters, flyers, stickers), TV and radio programs on the impact of POPs on health and environment took place, the cycle of articles in the newspapers appeared in the national mass media.
SECTION V: MONITORING
1. Has your Member State established a monitoring programme on the presence of dioxins, furans and PCBs in the environment? (Yes/No)
1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please explain why.
1.2.If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please specify the name of the substance(s) for which you have monitoring data. For each specified substance and each monitoring programme, specify the period and objectives of the monitoring programme, the type of sampling point (e.g., hot spots, accidents, background situation), the geographical location, the analytical method applied, the compartments in which the substance was sampled, the values found (mean, median, maximum, minimum, number of samples) and how to access these data.
State environmental monitoring programme for surface water on the presence of PCBs was established.
PCBs were monitored in water and sediments during the period of investigation 1996-2004. In 2005 the new monitoring programme was developed and approved. In accordance with the requirements of the new programme in the case when concentration of hazardous substances (POPs included too) are < DOL, monitoring obligatory should be performed each three years, thus the next in intended monitor PCBs in 2008 as well.
Our Environmental monitoring programme (established in 2005) for surface water included PCBs and 6 pesticides (aldrin, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, HCB, HCH) in water and sediments. In 2008 we expanded our monitoring programme into the big list with pesticides (chlordane, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene), controlled by Regulation (EC) No 850/2004.
Since 2008 PCBs monitoring is planned to be performed in the Baltic Sea (13 stations for determining the concentrations in the water; 13 stations for the concentrations in the bottom sediments) and Curonian Lagoon (11 stations for the concentrations in the water; 8 stations for the concentrations in the bottom sediments) once per year (in the summer period). The stations are located to assess hot spots and background situation in the Lithuanian part of the Baltic Sea and Curonian Lagoon. The following analysis methods (LST EN ISO 6468:2000 en. Water quality – Determination of certain organochlorine insecticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorobenzenes – Gas chromatographic method after liquid-liquid extraction (ISO 6468:1996) and ISO 10382:2002(E). Soil quality – Determination of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls – gas chromatographic method with electron capture detection) will be implemented and applied.
For the development of the monitoring network for POPs Lithuania participated inthe Pilot study on the presence of POPs in the ambient air: “Application of passive sampler for monitoring of POPs in ambient air”( Part II: Pilot study for the development of the monitoring network in the Central and Eastern Europe (MONET_CEEC, 2006)).
In the frame of this study PCBs, DDT and HCB in the ambient air were investigated in 5 sites 2006. The results allow to conclude that Lithuania (as well as the other Baltic states – Latvia and Estonia) has few POPs sources with low emission rate and ambient air is mainly affected by long range transport given that monitoring of POPs should be carried out in only 1 or 2 background monitoring stations. Monitoring for POPs in ambient air could be carried out in 2009 (programme should be established in 2008). This is compatible with our technical and financial capabilities and enable carry out in 2009.
Detail information from the results of the Pilot study for development of the monitoring network in the Central and Eastern Europe (MONET_CEEC), 2006:
There were two sampling sites in Lithuania in the western and three in the eastern part. Their selection included the industrial part of Vilnius city, the rest of the sites were backgrounds. With prevailing southern and south-western wind directions in Lithuania some transport from other countries (mainly from Poland, Czech Republic, Russia – Kaliningrad region and Germany) is possible.
Preila (LT-01) – latitude 55.350000 and longitude 21.066667 – is a background environmental research station of Lithuanian Institute of Physics on the sandy cost of the Baltic Sea. It is located on the 70 km long and 2-3 km wide Curonian Spit separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The main local sources of pollution are small villages and the road traffic in the neighbourhood.