Strengthening scientific synergies among global chemical agreements, Stockholm Convention’s POPs Review Committee held its ninth meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, 14–18 October 2013, and its first joint meeting with the Rotterdam Convention’s Chemical Review Committee on 20 October 2013

Geneva and Rome, 21 October 2013 -The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, a subsidiary body of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), recommended the inclusion of two additional chemicals under the Convention, polychlorinated napththalenes (PCN) and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), thus lining them up for eventual phase-out. PCN and HCBD are both industrial chemicals used widely for many years in various applications including wood preservation, paint and insulation (PCN) and industrial processes (HCBD). HCBD was also used as a fumigant in pest control. Both chemicals have been recommended for listing in Annexes A and C to the Convention, thus targeting their intentional production, as well as unintentional releases of the chemicals.

The recommendations will be sent to the Parties to the Stockholm Convention for consideration at the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, scheduled to be held from 4 to 15 May 2015 in Geneva.

The Committee adopted a total of nine decisions, including on a chemical newly proposed for listing, decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE). The Committee decided that decaBDE fulfilled the screening criteria in Annex D and agreed to prepare a draft risk profile for decaBDE as a next step in the review process. On dicofol, the Committee could not reach agreement and thus agreed to consider the proposal to list the chemical in Annexes A, B and/or C of the Convention further at its next meeting.

On pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters, the Committee adopted a risk profile and decided to move the chemical to the next review stage, the development of a risk management evaluation.

“Drawing upon its wealth of experience in tackling complex safety issues, the POPs Review Committee has recommended actions that will protect human lives and the environment against some of the world’s most dangerous toxic chemicals,” said Jim Willis, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions.

The meeting of the POPs Review Committee was followed by a joint meeting between the Committee and the Rotterdam Convention’s Chemical Review Committee on Sunday, 20 October 2013. The Committee exchanged information on their respective review processes, and discussed ways to strengthen scientific synergies and enhance collaboration and cooperation among the committees. The Committee agreed upon a number of steps to make use of experiences gained through the work of the committees and established an intersessional working group to develop further guidance to assist parties to the Rotterdam Convention and the Chemical Review Committee in their work when a chemical under consideration is a POP listed under the Stockholm Convention.

The ninth meeting of the Chemical Review Committee will be held from 22 to 25 October 2013, at the same venue.

Note for Editors:

The Stockholm Convention on POPs regulates chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, and evaporate and travel long distances through the air and through water, to protect human health and the environment globally. Article 8 of the Convention entails the reviewing process of new chemicals and Annex D, Annex E and Annex F specify the information and criteria required for the review.

The POPs Review Committee consists of thirty-one scientific experts appointed by the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention charged with undertaking scientific review of chemicals proposed for listing.

Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN) were used for decades for wood preservation, as an additive to paints and engine oils, and for cable insulation and in capacitors. Until the 1970s, PCNs were high volume chemicals.

Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) was a widely used fumigant used to control pests and as an industrial solvent. HCBD also occurs as a by-product during production of other chlorinated solvents.

Decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) is widely used as an additive flame retardant in textiles and plastics. It is a synthetic mixture of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, with the main component being the decaBDE congener.

Dicofol is pesticide and acaricide used in many countries around the world on a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, ornamental and field crops. It is chemically related to DDT, a substance listed in Annex B of the Convention.

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an organochlorine compound used as a pesticide and a disinfectant. A wealth of data on the adverse effects of pentachlorophenol in mammals show developmental, immunotoxic and neurotoxic effects. Human survivors of toxic exposures may suffer permanent visual and central nervous system damage.

The tenth meeting of the POPs Review Committee will be held in Rome, Italy, from 27 to 31 October 2014 back-to-back with the Chemical Review Committee of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, tentatively scheduled for 20 to 24 October 2014.

The following twelve persistent organic pollutants had been recommended previously to the Conference of the Parties by the POPs Review Committee and have now been added to the Convention:

• Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane
• Beta hexachlorocyclohexane
• Chlordecone
• Hexabromobiphenyl
• Hexabromocyclododecane
• Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether (commercial octabromodiphenyl ether)
• Endosulfan
• Lindane
• Pentachlorobenzene
• Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride
• Technical endosulfan and its related isomers
• Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether (commercial pentabromodiphenyl ether)

The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade contributes to the environmentally sound use of chemicals by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics. It provides for a national decision-making process on their import and export and disseminates these decisions to Parties through the Convention’s Prior Informed Consent, or PIC, procedure.

Contact:

Kei OHNO WOODALL, Programme Officer, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), Geneva, +41-79-233-3218, kei.ohno-woodall@brsmeas.org

Michael S. JONES, Public Information Officer, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), mobile/text message: +41-79-730-4495, michael.jones@brsmeas.org

For more information, see www.pops.int and wwww.pic.int.

Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions’ scientific review committees hold the ninth meetings back-to-back and their first joint meeting in Rome, 14–25 October 2013.

Geneva and Rome, 11 October 2013 – The first joint meeting of the Rotterdam Convention’s Chemical Review Committee and the Stockholm Convention’s Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Review Committee will be held on Sunday, 20 October 2013, at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, Italy. The purpose of the joint meeting is to promote the exchange of scientific information between the two Committees.

The joint meeting of the two global chemical conventions’ scientific committees will be preceded by the ninth meeting of the POPs Review Committee (POPRC-9) from 14 to 18 October 2013, and be followed by the ninth meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC-9), from 22 to 25 October 2013, at the same venue.

At its ninth meeting, the POPs Review Committee will have before it proposals for listing decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE) and dicofol in Annexes A, B and/or C to the Stockholm Convention. The Committee will also review, among other things, the draft risk management evaluation on chlorinated naphthalenes and hexachlorobutadiene and the draft risk profile on pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters.

The Chemical Review Committee will review five chemicals (cyhexatin, lead arsenate, lead carbonate, methamidophos, pentachlorobenzene) and one severely hazardous pesticide formulation (fenthion 640 ULV).  

The Committees make recommendations to their respective conferences of the parties for listing additional chemicals in their instruments.

Contact:

Kei OHNO WOODALL, Programme Officer, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), Geneva, +41-79-233-3218, kei.ohno-woodall@brsmeas.org

Elisabetta TAGLIATI, Programme Officer, Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention (FAO), + 39-06-5705-6420, elisabetta.tagliati@fao.org

Erwin NORTHOFF, Media Relations Officer (FAO), +39-06-5705-3105, erwin.northoff@fao.org

Michael S. JONES, Public Information Officer, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), mobile/text message: +41-79-730-4495, michael.jones@brsmeas.org

For more information, see www.pops.int (Stockholm Convention) or www.pic.int  (Rotterdam Convention).

 

Schedule and registration

Date and Time (Geneva time: UTC/GMT+2 hours)	Please register a few days in advance of the webinar. To register, please use the following link:
14 October 2013, at  12:30	Audio Recording

When you register, you will be given additional information regarding the system requirements and instructions on how to log in to the webinar.

Presentations

The presentations at the side event on HBCD alternatives were given by producers and users of HBCD alternatives.

Presenter	Title	Download
Secretariat	Side Event Programme
Peter Dawson, POPRC Chair HBCD WG	Alternatives to HBCD - state of play
Marshall Moore, Great Lakes	Emerald Innovation 3000 - Polymeric flame retardant for polystyrene foams
ICL-IP	ICL IP - Commercial availiability of sustainable polymeric flame retardant
Sabrina Zambotti, Green Chemicals	GC SAM - Alternative to HBCD for XPS
Stephen Long, INEOS	HCBD - A European Perspective
Marco ten Bruggencate, Dow Building Solution	Working with a new Flame Retardant
Marcin Cebulski, Synthos	Transitionning from HCBD to alternative FR for PS building and construction products
Alessia Spaliviero, Isochemicals	Polymeric flame retardant masterbatch for extruded polystyrene foam
Kaneka Corporation Japan	From HBCD to the alternative flame retardant - KANEKA Japan’s example
Kurt Münder, Knauf insulation	HBCD Replacement by Brominated Butadiene-Styrene Polymer (BrBDS)
Flint Hills Resources	Flint Hills Resources will manufacture expandable polystyrene with new flame retardant technology
Canada	Proposed HBCD Risk Management Measure in Canada
Sylvain Bintein, EU	Authorization Process in the EU

Background

The ninth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee will be held from 14 to 18 October 2013 in Rome. On Monday 14, October 2013, a lunch time side event entitled “Alternatives to HBCD – state of play”, organized by the previous working group on HBCD, will take place. The side event will be broadcasted through this webinar.

In May, 2013, the Conference of the Parties, by its decision SC-6/13, decided to list hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention with specific exemptions for production and use in expanded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene (EPS and XPS) in buildings.

Objective

The objective of the side event is to share the updated information on availability, feasibility and properties of the alternative chemical flame retardants to replace HBCD on the market.

Contents

1.       1.  Introductions

2.       2.  HBCD substitution – polymeric alternatives

1. Supplier/licensee comments (EHS profile, global notifications, licensing/intellectual property obligations, supply picture
2. User comments (Europe, North America and Asia) (factors in identifying, assessing and commercializing a non-HBCD PS insulation product

3.       3.  HBCD substitution- non-polymeric alternatives

1. Supplier comments (EHS profile, global notifications, licensing/intellectual property, supply picture)
2. User comments (factors in identifying, assessing and commercializing a non-HBCD PS insulation product)

4.       4.  Implementing a HBCD phase out

1. Voluntary phase out by Japanese PS foam producers
2. Proposed Risk Management Measure in Canada
3. Authorization Process in the EU
4. US EPA alternatives assessment

Target group

Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions national focal points, official contact points, Designated National Authorities, permanent missions and interested stakeholders, POPRC members, CRC members and members of the Basel Convention Small Intersessional Working Group (SIWG) on POPs guidelines.

 

The global workshop on updating national implementation plans, including updating and revising PCDD/PCDF inventories plans to address the persistent organic pollutants listed in 2009 and 2011 and it will be held from 26 to 29 August 2013 at the Basel and Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity Building and the Transfer of Technology in Asia and the Pacific in China. It will target national officials of different countries in the world, who have started the process of reviewing and updating the national implementation plans (NIPs).

Representatives of Regional Centres, UNEP Regional Offices representatives and GEF implementing Agencies will also be invited. The workshop is jointly organized by the Regional Centre and the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention.

Announcement
Information for Participants