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Öberg, T.
Background facts Regional and Environment Statistics 2009:4.
Statistics Sweden, 2009.

Abstract
Statistics on import, manufacture, and export of chemicals can be an important information source to follow up the results of environmental policy and management decisions. In this pilot study we evaluate the use of the official trade and manufacture statistics for the purpose of screening for bioaccumulating and persistent compounds of a particular environmental relevance. An impact index to measure these properties is applied to chemical groupings in the trade statistics. Furthermore, data from the trade statistics for selected chemicals is compared to corresponding data from the Swedish Products Register, at the Swedish Chemical Agency.

The results show that the level of detail in the trade statistics does not permit estimation on the impact index using a compound specific index for environmental impact. In the trade statistics, a substantial number of chemicals with different properties are often grouped with the same identifier. However, this study shows that it is possible to use the same index to identify the groups containing the most problematic chemicals.

The 100 chemicals identified to rank highest with regard to the potential environmental impact index belong to several groups, but 94 of these were halogenated. The two dominating groups in the trade statistics were halogenated aromatics and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), with 25 and 20 members, respectively.

A more detailed study of the trade statistics for these high-impact groups revealed substantial deviations between data from Statistics Sweden and Swedish Chemical Agency. Anomalies and an outlier were also observed and some misclassifications discovered. The self-reported statistics thus seems to need further validation to improve their usability for chemical policy purposes. Suggestions are made for further comparisons of databases, but tracing back to primary sources may also prove necessary to ensure relevance and good quality.

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