Guidance for the inventory of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and related chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention on POPs

Scope

The objective of this document is to provide step-by-step guidance that enables Parties to establish an inventory of products and articles containing PFOS and related chemicals and industrial processes using these chemicals. The guidance includes methods for estimating the amount of such chemicals in products and articles in cases where accurate data is lacking. The inventory should provide Parties with baseline data on the presence of PFOS at the national level. Such data would serve as a basis for Parties to develop strategies/action plans for meeting their obligations under the Convention in relation to PFOS.

Main target audience

The focal point responsible for coordinating the process of updating the NIP, staff responsible for planning the inventory, and technical staff responsible for conducting the inventory of PFOS.

Latest version of the Guidance (Draft revised January 2017)

Decision SC-7/10 requested parties and others to provide comments to the Secretariat based on their experience in using the most up-to-date versions of guidance documents to assist parties in developing, reviewing and updating their national implementation plans, as listed in part A of the annex  to the present decision, on how to improve their usefulness, and requests the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources, to update the guidance documents listed in part A of the annex, as appropriate. The Secretariat has revised the draft guidance (March 2015 version) based on the comments received. The revised January 2017 version of the draft guidance for the inventory of PFOS is given below.

Review of the Guidance

The process for review of the guidance has been initiated by decision SC-6/12 on the draft guidance for the inventory of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and related chemicals. The request for information pursuant to decision SC-6/12 can be accessed here. The comments received in response on the draft guidance are available here. The draft revised guidance according to the comments received as of 31 March 2014 is available below in English only. The document is posted as a clean version, and a track changes version can be obtained on request from the Secretariat. Following the same process COP 7 by its decision SC-7/10 invited the Parties and others to provide comments to the draft guidance, based on their experience of using it, to be submitted to the Secretariat by prior to 31 March 2016. The list of comments received with the responses on this guidance is available here.

COP-6 requested the Secretariat to forward the waste-related content of the draft inventory guidance documents to the appropriate bodies of the Basel Convention. The comments received are available here.

Draft revised guidance (as of March 2015)

Draft revised guidance for the inventory of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and related chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention (March 2015)
List of comments and responses on the draft guidance for the inventory of PFOS and related chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention
Draft revised guidance for the inventory of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and related chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention (31 March 2014)

Version for COP-6 (as of July 2012)

 

TitleDownload
Items: 1Files: 2
Guidance for the inventory of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and related chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants1.63 MB1.96 MB

Other relevant documents

Recommendations on the elimination of brominated diphenyl ethers from the waste stream and on risk reduction for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid(PFOS) and its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF)

Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and related chemical products – OECD webportal

Draft guidance document on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonate and its derivatives, POPRC

Guidance on considerations related to alternatives and substitutes forlisted persistent organic pollutants and candidate chemicals 2009(UNEP/POPS/POPRC.5/10/Add.1)

Supporting documents

Case studies

The Case Study – Inventory of Fire-Fighting Foams in Norway

Some articles and papers

Perfluorinated compounds –occurrence and uses in products

Survey, screening andanalyses of PFCs in consumer products

Perfluorocarboxylic Acid Content in 116 Articles of Commerce

Survey andenvironmental/health assessment of fluorinated substances in impregnated consumer products and impregnating agents

The inventory of sources, environmental releases and risk assessment for perfluorooctanesulfonate in China

Emission Inventory for PFOSin China:Review of Past Methodologies and Suggestions