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This report summarises the results of a set of initiatives taken to identify opportunities and obstacles for the vision to enable a safe, green and sustainable chemical industry, and ultimately reduce the exposure of humans and ecosystems to hazardous chemicals. It represents a mid-term result in the Swedish research programme Mistra SafeChem’s work to present vision and agenda for green chemistry in Sweden. The target group for this report is internal (Mistra SafeChem programme partners) as well as external for all parties interested in the transition to a safe, green and sustainable chemistry. The report is based on the results of several activities/components: an overview of existing concepts for “Green Chemistry”, industry initiatives and the EU Chemical Strategy for Sustainability; a previously published mapping of the Swedish chemical industry; a compilation and analysis of data on import, production and use of selected chemical groups from the Swedish products register and the results of interviews with representatives of chemical industries in Sweden are summarised. Based on the results of these activities a number of obstacles and opportunities have been formulated along with general conclusions and recommendations for the enabling of the transition to a safe, green and sustainable chemistry. The main conclusions can be summarised as: The EU Chemical strategy for sustainability and associated industry initiatives as well as current and planned research initiatives provide a strong framework for coordinated action towards a vision of safe, sustainable and green chemistry. Chemical value chains are complex, international/global and include all societal sectors. Mapping chemical production and use with the purpose of analysing risks and prioritising areas for action/development is thus difficult and involves many actors. The chemical industry is also a heterogenous group of companies with activities ranging from small scale production of e.g. speciality c, Denna rapport sammanfattar resultaten av en rad initiativ som tagits för att identifiera möjligheter och hinder för visionen att möjliggöra en säker, grön och hållbar kemiindustri, och i slutändan minska exponeringen av människor och ekosystem för farliga kemikalier. Det representerar ett stegvis resultat i forskningsprogrammet Mistra SafeChems arbete med att presentera vision och agenda för grön kemi i Sverige. Målgruppen för denna rapport är interna (Mistra SafeChem-programpartners) såväl som externa för alla parter som är intresserade av omställningen till en säker, grön och hållbar kemi. Rapporten bygger på resultaten från flera aktiviteter/komponenter: en översikt över befintliga koncept för ”Grön kemi”, industriinitiativ och EU:s kemikaliestrategi för hållbarhet; en tidigare publicerad kartläggning av den svenska kemiska industrin; en sammanställning och analys av data om import, produktion och användning av utvalda kemikaliegrupper från det svenska produktregistret samt resultaten av intervjuer med företrädare för kemisk industri i Sverige sammanfattas. Baserat på resultaten av dessa aktiviteter har ett antal hinder och möjligheter formulerats tillsammans med allmänna slutsatser och rekommendationer för att möjliggöra omställningen till en säker, grön och hållbar kemi. De viktigaste slutsatserna kan sammanfattas som: EU:s kemikaliestrategi för hållbarhet och tillhörande industriinitiativ samt aktuella och planerade forskningsinitiativ ger en stark ram för samordnade åtgärder mot en vision om säker, hållbar och grön kemi. Kemiska värdekedjor är komplexa, internationella/globala och omfattar alla samhällssektorer. Att kartlägga kemikalieproduktion och användning i syfte att analysera risker och prioritera åtgärds-/utvecklingsområden är således svårt och involverar många aktörer. Kemiindustrin är också en heterogen grupp av företag med verksamhet som sträcker sig från småskalig produktion av t.ex. specialkemikalier och läkemedel till storskalig produktion av bas

Knowledge of exposure to a wide range of chemicals, and the spatio-temporal variability thereof, is urgently needed in the context of protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems. This paper discusses a computational material flow analysis to predict the occurrence of thousands of man-made organic chemicals on a European scale, based on a novel temporally and spatially resolved modelling framework. The goal was to increase understanding of pressures by emerging chemicals and to complement surface water monitoring data. The ambition was to provide a first step towards a real-life mixture exposure situation accounting for as many chemicals as possible. Comparison of simulated concentrations and chemical monitoring data for 226 substance/basin combinations showed that the simulated concentrations were accurate on average. For 65% and 90% of substance/basin combinations the error was within one and two orders of magnitude respectively. An analysis of the relative importance of uncertainties revealed that inaccuracies in use volume or use type information contributed most to the error for individual substances. To resolve this, we suggest better registration of use types of industrial chemicals, investigation of presence/absence of industrial chemicals in wastewater and runoff samples and more scientific information exchange.

The Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC) is currently under development as a joint research and innovation programme to strengthen the scientific basis for chemical risk assessment in the EU. The plan is to bring chemical risk assessors and managers together with scientists to accelerate method development and the production of necessary data and knowledge, and to facilitate the transition to next-generation evidence-based risk assessment, a non-toxic environment and the European Green Deal. The NORMAN Network is an independent, well-established and competent network of more than 80 organisations in the field of emerging substances and has enormous potential to contribute to the implementation of the PARC partnership. NORMAN stands ready to provide expert advice to PARC, drawing on its long experience in the development, harmonisation and testing of advanced tools in relation to chemicals of emerging concern and in support of a European Early Warning System to unravel the risks of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and close the gap between research and innovation and regulatory processes. In this commentary we highlight the tools developed by NORMAN that we consider most relevant to supporting the PARC initiative: (i) joint data space and cutting-edge research tools for risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern; (ii) collaborative European framework to improve data quality and comparability; (iii) advanced data analysis tools for a European early warning system and (iv) support to national and European chemical risk assessment thanks to harnessing, combining and sharing evidence and expertise on CECs. By combining the extensive knowledge and experience of the NORMAN network with the financial and policy-related strengths of the PARC initiative, a large step towards the goal of a non-toxic environment can be taken.

Contains fulltext : 208630.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)

Contains fulltext : 208618.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)

Current prioritisation procedures under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) do not account for risks from chemical mixtures. SOLUTIONS proposes a multiple-lines-of-evidence approach to tackle the problem effectively. The approach merges all available evidence from co-exposure modelling, chemical monitoring, effect-based monitoring, and ecological monitoring. Full implementation of the proposed methodology requires changes in the legal text in adaptation to scientific progress.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can be used as chemical sentinels for the assessment of anthropogenic influences on Arctic environmental change. We present an overview of studies on PCBs in the Arctic and combine these with the findings from ArcRisk-a major European Union-funded project aimed at examining the effects of climate change on the transport of contaminants to and their behaviour of in the Arctic-to provide a case study on the behaviour and impact of PCBs over time in the Arctic. PCBs in the Arctic have shown declining trends in the environment over the last few decades. Atmospheric long-range transport from secondary and primary sources is the major input of PCBs to the Arctic region. Modelling of the atmospheric PCB composition and behaviour showed some increases in environmental concentrations in a warmer Arctic, but the general decline in PCB levels is still the most prominent feature. 'Within-Arctic' processing of PCBs will be affected by climate change-related processes such as changing wet deposition. These in turn will influence biological exposure and uptake of PCBs. The pan-Arctic rivers draining large Arctic/sub-Arctic catchments provide a significant source of PCBs to the Arctic Ocean, although changes in hydrology/sediment transport combined with a changing marine environment remain areas of uncertainty with regard to PCB fate. Indirect effects of climate change on human exposure, such as a changing diet will influence and possibly reduce PCB exposure for indigenous peoples. Body burdens of PCBs have declined since the 1980s and are predicted to decline further.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can be used as chemical sentinels for the assessment of anthropogenic influences on Arctic environmental change. We present an overview of studies on PCBs in the Arctic and combine these with the findings from ArcRisk—a major European Union-funded project aimed at examining the effects of climate change on the transport of contaminants to and their behaviour of in the Arctic—to provide a case study on the behaviour and impact of PCBs over time in the Arctic. PCBs in the Arctic have shown declining trends in the environment over the last few decades. Atmospheric long-range transport from secondary and primary sources is the major input of PCBs to the Arctic region. Modelling of the atmospheric PCB composition and behaviour showed some increases in environmental concentrations in a warmer Arctic, but the general decline in PCB levels is still the most prominent feature. ‘Within-Arctic’ processing of PCBs will be affected by climate change-related processes such as changing wet deposition. These in turn will influence biological exposure and uptake of PCBs. The pan-Arctic rivers draining large Arctic/sub-Arctic catchments provide a significant source of PCBs to the Arctic Ocean, although changes in hydrology/sediment transport combined with a changing marine environment remain areas of uncertainty with regard to PCB fate. Indirect effects of climate change on human exposure, such as a changing diet will influence and possibly reduce PCB exposure for indigenous peoples. Body burdens of PCBs have declined since the 1980s and are predicted to decline further.

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Water is a vital resource for natural ecosystems and human life, and assuring a high quality of water and protecting it from chemical contamination is a major societal goal in the European Union. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) and its daughter directives are the major body of legislation for the protection and sustainable use of European freshwater resources. The practical implementation of the WFD with regard to chemical pollution has faced some challenges. In support of the upcoming WFD review in 2019 the research project SOLUTIONS and the European monitoring network NORMAN has analyzed these challenges, evaluated the state-of-the-art of the science and suggested possible solutions. We give 10 recommendations to improve monitoring and to strengthen comprehensive prioritization, to foster consistent assessment and to support solution-oriented management of surface waters. The integration of effect-based tools, the application of passive sampling for bioaccumulative chemicals and an integrated strategy for prioritization of contaminants, accounting for knowledge gaps, are seen as important approaches to advance monitoring. Including all relevant chemical contaminants in more holistic chemical status assessment, using effect-based trigger values to address priority mixtures of chemicals, to better consider historical burdens accumulated in sediments and to use models to fill data gaps are recommended for a consistent assessment of contamination. Solution-oriented management should apply a tiered approach in investigative monitoring, to identify toxicity drivers, strengthen consistent legislative frameworks and apply solutions-oriented approaches that explore risk reduction scenarios before and along with risk assessment.