Dioxin, PCB and Waste Working Group

Transcription

1 Dioxin, PCB and Waste Working Group c/o Arnika, Chlumova 17, CZ Prague 3, Czech Republic tel. + fax: , [email protected], IPEN Proposals for limits on Low POP content Wastes In the Stockholm Convention and Basel Conventions There are two sets of provisional definitions included in the currently approved General technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) 1. These provisional definitions set limits for Low POPS Content of waste as called for by the Stockholm Convention the Basel Conventions: 28. 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. 29. 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 2 ; (b) PCDDs and PCDFs: 15 µg TEQ/kg3; and (c) Aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, HCB, mirex and toxaphene: 50 mg/kg for each of these POPs 4. Footnotes: 2 Determined according to national or international methods and standards. 3 TEQ as referred to in Annex C, Part IV, paragraph 2 of the Stockholm Convention, excluding co-planar PCB. 4 Determined according to national or international methods and standards 1 Footer Ref : K

2 Provisional levels were also set for emissions to air: The following provisional definition for levels of destruction and irreversible transformation, based upon absolute levels (i.e., waste output streams of treatment processes) should be applied: (a) Atmospheric emissions: PCDDs and PCDFs: 0.14 ng TEQ/Nm 3 ; 5 All other POPs: pertinent national legislation and international rules, standards and guidelines, examples of pertinent national legislation can be found in annex II; Footnote 5: Toxic equivalents as referred to in Annex C, Part IV, paragraph 2 of the Stockholm Convention, excluding co-planar PCB. Nm3 refers to dry gas, kpa and K. standardization at 11 per cent O2 IPEN do not consider that these provisional limits are acceptable. The proposals for each of the limits are too high to protect public health and the environment and, given the vital importance of these levels to the effectiveness of both conventions we consider that significantly lower limits should be established in each case. Linked to the concerns about the high emission levels and low destruction of POPS is the decision taken by Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention on the levels of destruction and irreversible transformation. IPEN is particularly concerned that this decision is incompatible with the Stockholm Convention definition and requirements in its article 6. Levels of destruction and irreversible transformation should be established to ensure that the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants as specified in paragraph 1 of Annex D are not exhibited; The Basel Convention technical guidelines redefined levels of destruction and irreversible transformation instead and we consider that this decision should be reviewed. Considering now the provisional levels for emission to air. Provisional Atmospheric Emission Levels of PCDD and PCDFs No reference is given for the source of the provisional emission level of 0.14 ng TEQ/Nm 3 based on a reference oxygen concentration of 11%. The oxygen concentration at which standards are reported is clearly very important when comparisons need to be made with other international standards. The

3 reference oxygen level used in the United States is normally 7% whilst in Europe 11% is commonly used 6. It seems most likely that the level has been taken from the now very widely used and supported European standard such as is included in the Waste Incineration Directive ( 2000/76/EC) of 0.1 ng TEQ/ Nm 3 but that the standard has been converted to a reference level of 7% oxygen and then a typo has slipped into the guideline and the standard is incorrectly reported as being based upon an oxygen level of 11% in footnote 14,page 12. If so then it should be a straightforward matter to correct the error and this would address the concerns of IPEN. It is recommended that the limit would be more clear and consistent, however, if the emission level was reported as 0.1 ng TEQ/ Nm 3 as in the Waste Incineration Directive. Other possible sources for the 0.14 ng TEQ/Nm 3 are 7 that it has been derived from North American standards. It is understood, for example, that this is the emission level set in the Ontario Guideline A-7 limits is 0.14 ng TEQ/Nm 3 but it is not clear what reference oxygen level this is based on. It may also be an attempt to convert the old US MACT standard of 13 ng/dscm of PCDDD/PCDF into a TEQ based standard. In either case these levels cannot be considered appropriate for an atmospheric release level in the 21 st Century when lower levels have been standard in Europe where a 0.1 ng/m3 standard has been widely adopted as indicative of a minimum level to be achieved for more than a decade. We note, for example, that the Dutch Guidelines on Incineration of MSW and related processes introduced an atmospheric emission standard of 0.1 ng/m3 in August Existing incinerators had to meet this standard by January (Buckley-Golder, Coleman et al. 1999) The German 17.BImSchV (Seventeenth Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Emission Control Act) came into force in 1990 and set a limit value of 0.1 ng I-TEQ/m3 for dioxin emissions from waste incinerators. In 1995 the Federal 6 To convert a concentration as measured to a concentration at reference oxygen level, multiply the concentration by F O, the correction factor for oxygen, given by: F O = (21 O 2% reference)/ (21 O 2% measured) 7 We note that this was also the upper limit for the performance of existing UK incinerators in the Interim IPPC guidance note Sector Guidance Note IPPC S5.01 Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) & Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) Interim Sector Guidance for the incineration of waste and fuel manufactured from or including waste. That cannot be considered an appropriate level, however, as all the plant considered will be obliged to meet the requirements of the Waste Incineration Directive to operate lawfully.

4 Environmental Agency applied this value as a target for emissions of dioxins and furans from industrial installations. The same value was applied to crematoria in 1997 by the 27. BImSch (Buckley-Golder, Coleman et al. 1999) There is now wide experience of the use of as 0.1 ng TEQ/ Nm 3 at 11% oxygen as an emission standard and it is strongly recommended that this is the appropriate minimum standard that should be adopted for any emissions to air. LOW POPS Levels: POPs Levels called for by Stockholm Convention, established and/or to be considered by Basel Convention can be illustrated as follows: Destruction/irreversible transformation Other methods of environmentally sound disposal Low POPs Content Levels (called for by Stockholm Convention and provisionally established in Basel Convention POPs waste guidelines) No treatment required de minimis levels (not yet established by Basel Convention) We should note that the European Commission is currently engaged in establishing maximum POPs content limits proposed for use in the EC regulation on POPs. The draft European levels should not be directly compared with those being discussed for the Stockholm and Basel conventions as maximum POPs content limits are functionally equivalent to the low POPs content levels called for in the Stockholm Convention and provisionally established by the Basel Convention, while the low POPs content limits are functionally equivalent to the de minimis levels that have not yet been established by the Basel Convention 8. 8 We note the lower priority given to this task and the comments on the definition of a De Minimis Level outlined in UNEP/POPS/INC.4/4 of 30 December 1999 Fourth session, Bonn, March 2000 Item 4 of the provisional agenda* ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS: REPORT BY THE SECRETARIAT ON INTER-SESSIONAL WORK REQUESTED BY THE COMMITTEE Analysis of the terms "de minimis contaminant", "constituent of article" and "closed-system intermediate"

5 IPEN consider, in any case, that the limit values recommended by consultants to the European Commission (BIPRO 2005) are not be sufficiently protective of human health and the environment and propose that, following the necessary revisions of the key terms and the availability of the full draft report, that the limit values are reassessed and revised so that they support the objective of the Stockholm Convention and are also at least as stringent as the provisional low POPs content levels established in the Basel guidelines for POPs wastes. A submission supported by more than 100 European NGOs has been made by IPEN to this effect to the European Commission. The provisional levels proposed for the Basel Convention are PCBs: 50 ppm : 15 ppb TEQ POP pesticides: 50 ppm Proposed Approach to Establishing Low POPS content levels for No draft methodology has been proposed for the establishment of Low POPS content. It is therefore suggested that the most appropriate starting place is to examine real examples of the relationships between POPS waste and human exposure through the food chain. Whilst it is clearly possible to model exposure routes there are significant uncertainties associated with uptakes and exposures through current models and real data is to be preferred where available. There are different pathways and exposure routes by which humans and domestic animals can be exposed to the POPS content in waste. IPEN has recently investigated concerns about the question of whether free-range chicken eggs could contain U-POPs that present a risk to health if collected near waste incinerators, cement kilns, the metallurgical industry, waste dumps, and chemical production facilities involving chlorine. These types of sites have been investigated in five continents in the following countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Kenya, Mexico, Mozambique, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, Tanzania, Turkey, Uruguay and USA. The study (Petrlik and DiGangi 2005) focused mainly on locations in developing countries and countries with economies in transition since POPs data in these countries are often lacking. As part of this project IPEN has also reviewed reported examples of PCB and PCDD/DF levels in different wastes and/or contaminated soils and their comparison with levels of food contamination associated with exposure to these levels.

6 It can be seen from the table below that there is clear evidence that much lower levels of POPs in soils/wastes than those proposed as "low POPs content limits" have resulted in serious contamination of food. These are by no means worst case exposures as wild birds and animals can source the majority of their food and water supplies from a small area of high contamination and would be expected to be affected more significantly by bio-concentration and accumulation. The effects of, for example, bioconcentration through fish to birds are well documented but there are also examples of wildlife being contaminated from pollution around specific sites such as game birds around the Coalite plant (ENDS 2000). POP PCBs (7 markers) PCBs (in TEQ) PCBs (in TEQ) Place (country) Maincy (France) Maincy (France) Maincy (France) Newcastle, St. Anthony's (UK) Newcastle, Hulne Terrace (UK) Maincy (France) Maincy (France) Libis (Czech Republic) near aluminium plant (Switzerland) Rheinfelden (Germany) level in soil/waste level in food limit for food ppm ppm 0.2 ppm ppb ppt (2) ppt proposal ppb ppt (2) ppt proposal 0.02 ppb 27 ppt 3 ppt ppb 31 ppt 3 ppt ppb ppt 3 ppt ppb ppt 3 ppt ppb 23 ppt 3 ppt ppb ppt 3 ppt ppb ppt 3 ppt Poultry meat Substance place (country) Libis (Czech Republic) level in soil/waste level in food limit for food ppb 29 ppt 2 ppt

7 The Newcastle, UK, examples are particularly illuminating. The regulatory authority responsible for ensuring the correct handling of the POPS contaminated wastes, in this case incinerator residues, is the British Environment Agency. This organization has claimed to be the foremost environmental protection agency in Europe. Furthermore the pollution control regime in the UK has been established for more than a century. As a member of the European Union the requirements of the Waste Framework Directive 75/442/EC (as amended), which dates from 1975, have been implemented into the domestic legal framework. This includes the verbatim transposition of the requirements of Article 4 which are that: Member states shall take the necessary measures to ensure that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment, and in particular: without risk to water, air, soil and plants and animals; It is therefore reasonable to assume that the standards of environmental protection in the UK could be expected to match or better those in most countries in the world. In spite of these powerful advantages it is clear that users of allotments in Newcastle were exposed by dioxin contaminated incinerator residues being allowed to be spread directly onto their food producing gardens and in the pens where there hens were kept. The result was levels of food contamination more than ten times higher than regulatory limits which arose from contamination levels of around 6% of the provisional Low POPS limits. If this could happen in the UK then it could probably happen in most countries in the world and the provisional limits are seen to be far too high. The UK experiences indicate that PCDD/DF concentrations would need to be about 10% of those which resulted in this contamination i.e c 0.1 ppb. It is, of course, important to consider what the background level of dioxins is to avoid proposing unrealistically low levels which would require significant clean up of background site. It is clear, however, that this is not an issue as a 0.1ppb low POPS threshold would still be between 25 and 100 times greater than background levels. See, for example, Rogowski (Rogowski and Yake 2005): Knowing the typical levels of dioxin in soils is important to set regulatory levels, to prevent further contamination, and for setting cleanup levels. A random sample (n=54) of agricultural lands within Washington state revealed a typical concentration of "dioxin" of 0.14 ng/kg (toxicity equivalents, TEQ). For a comparison, residential urban areas, forested, and open areas were also investigated on a smaller scale (n=14, 8, and 8, respectively) with typical dioxin values of 4.1, 2.3, and 1.0 ng/kg (TEQs), respectively This is consistent with Schmid (Schmid, Gujer et al. 2005) who discusses the

8 requirements of the Swiss ordinance relating to impacts on soils: "the guide value of 5 ng I-TEQ/kg set by the Swiss ordinance relating to impacts on the soil (OIS); concentrations for the remaining four samples were below the trigger value (20 ng I- TEQ/kg)." These Swiss guide values of 5 ng I-TEQ/kg are proposed as appropriate de minimis levels for the Basel Convention. The trigger values in the Swiss ordinance are based on the BLAG for the German Lander (BLAG 1992, Fiedler 1998) which requires: For preventive reasons and on a long-term objective the dioxin concentrations of soil used for agricultural purposes should be reduced to below 5 ng TEQ per kg. Cultivation of foodstuffs is not restricted in the case the soil contains 5-40 ng per kg. However, critical land uses, for example grazing management, should be avoided if increased dioxin levels were found in foodstuffs grown on such soils. Limitations on the cultivation of certain feedstuffs and foodstuffs might be necessary if the dioxin contamination were above 40 ng TEQ per kg soil. However, unlimited cultivation is allowed for plants with minimum dioxin transfer, e.g. corn. Guideline values were established for measures to be taken on children playgrounds and in residential areas (Table 4): Remediation of contaminated soil is required in playgrounds if the soil contains more than 100 ng TEQ per kg. Remediation means sealing, decontamination or exchange of soil. In residential areas, such action should be taken if the soil is contaminated with more than 1,000 ng TEQ per kg. In industrial areas, the limit value was set to 10,000 ng TEQ per kg. Fiedler reports that the recommendations have been translated into governmental decrees in a number of Länder (Federal States in Germany) (Fiedler 1998). The Swiss Ordinance Requires (SAEFL 2005): "Art. 9 Cantonal measures where trigger values are exceeded (art. 34 para. 1 LPE) 1If in a given region the trigger value has been exceeded, the cantons shall determine whether the impact on the soil presents a hazard to humans, animals or plants. 2If this is the case, the cantons shall restrict soil use as far as is necessary to eliminate the hazard.

9 The Swiss "clean up" values for dioxin, in ppt, which are more analagous to Low POPS levels, are: Clean-up values ppt TEQ Children s playgrounds 100 Home and family gardening 100 Agriculture and horticulture 1,000 These clean up values are analagous to the Stockholm Low POPS limits with the trigger levels being above the de minimis levels, as proposed above, as can be seen from this diagram (SAEFL 2005): Given that even the best regulatory systems cannot ensure that POPS contaminated wastes (even from obvious sources like incinerators) do not end up being spread directly onto home and family gardens, like the Newcastle allotments, then the Swiss standards would confirm the appropriateness of a 0.1 ppb threshold for Low POPS content waste. We further note that Austrian law similarly requires that if the limit for (100 ng I-TEQ/kg) in the waste incineration residues is exceeded, then the residues must be treated in order to reduce this value below the limit. Further, according to the Austrian law, formation and dispersion of dust from these wastes must be prevented during transport and intermediate storage (Bundesgesetzblatt 2002).

10 In conclusion IPEN recommend a 0.1 ppb Low POPS content threshold for PCDD/DF contaminated wastes with a 5 ppt de minimis level. References: BIPRO, B. f. i. P. (2005). Study to facilitate the implementation of certain waste related provisions of the Regulation on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) for the European Commission, Brussels FINAL REPORT. BLAG (1992). Umweltpolitik: Bericht der Bund/Länder-Arbeitsgruppe DIOXINE. Rechtsnormen, Richtwerte, Handlungsempfehlungen, Meßprogramme, Meßwerte und Forschungsprogramme. Bundesminister für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (Hrsg.), Bonn,. Buckley-Golder, D. P. M., P. Coleman, et al. (1999). Compilation of EU Dioxin Exposure and Health Data Report for European Commission, DG Environment and UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), AEA Technology. Bundeskanzleramt (2002) Verordnung: Abfallverbrennung Sammelverordnung. Bundesgesetzblatt fuer die Republik Oesterreich. Jahrgang 2002, Ausgegeben am 25. Oktober 2002, Teil II. ENDS, A. (2000). "Coalite dioxins enter human food chain via game birds." ENDS 300: pp Fiedler, D. H. (1998). Dioxin Case Study from Germany Subregional Awareness Raising Workshop on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs),, Puerto Iguazú. Petrlik, J., MSc Arnika Association, Czech Republic and J. DiGangi, PhD Environmental Health Fund, USA (2005). The Egg Report - Contamination of chicken eggs from 17 countries by dioxins, PCBs and hexachlorobenzene, Keep the Promise, Eliminate POPs! Campaign and Dioxin, PCBs and Waste Working Group of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) Rogowski, D. L. and W. Yake (2005). "Typical dioxin concentrations in agriculture soils of Washington state and potential sources." Environ Sci Technol 39(14): SAEFL, L. D. (2005). Commentary on the Ordinance of 1 July 1998 relating to impacts on the soil (OIS), Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL): 43. Schmid, P., E. Gujer, et al. (2005). "Correlation of PCDD/F and PCB concentrations in soil samples from the Swiss soil monitoring network (NABO) to specific parameters of the observation sites." Chemosphere 58(3):