Öberg, T., Sörme, L.
Presentation at the 12th EuCheMS
International Conference on Chemistry and the Environment in Stockholm, June 14-17,
2009
Abstract
Detailed information on the use of chemicals, like the Swedish Products Registry, is not available in most
countries. Commercial confidentiality also
severely limits the use of such information. Yet another source of information
is the official trade and manufacture statistics based on the Combined
Nomenclature eight digit codes (CN) of the European Union. The CN consists of
the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) nomenclature with
further subdivisions. Each CN code for chemicals is linked to one or several
Chemical Abstract (CAS) registry numbers, which provide unique identifiers for
the specific compound in question. Here we have screened the trade statistics
for compounds with PBT-properties by applying two QSARs for baseline toxicity
and atmospheric persistence, respectively [1-3]. 10 578 compounds matching the
applicability domain for both QSARs were ranked, and the 100 compounds with
highest ranking were selected for further study. Many of these environmentally
relevant compounds belong to the same groups of chemicals, where halogenated
derivatives of aromatic hydrocarbons was the largest with 25 members, followed
by halogenated derivatives of methane, ethane or propane (halogenated only with
fluorine and chlorine, i.e. HCFCs) with 20 members. The net use of chemicals
(import and manufacture minus export) in each group of chemicals was followed in
the trade statistics (1998-2005). Additional data was also requested from the
Products Register of the Swedish Chemicals Agency (2000-2005). The results were
ambiguous and thus difficult to interpret. One data source indicated a declining
import of compounds classified as halogenated aromatics while the other
indicates an increase. Similar problems with the data evaluation also occur with
the statistics for HCFCs. A preliminary conclusion from this study is that the
statistics may need further validation. Some possible measures to improve its
usability - for evaluating the accomplishment of the environmental objectives at
a more detailed level - are discussed. For compounds and compound groups of
particular environmental relevance it also seems necessary to trace the
statistics back to the primary source to further examine the accuracy of the
data.
See also the report: Chemicals in Statistics - Method Development
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