Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Guidance on identification of alternatives to new POPs Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention Concept of “Substitution” under the Stockholm Convention • The substitution is a strategy promoted by the Stockholm Convention to reach its objectives • Parties that are still producing or using the new POPs listed in Annex A, will need to search and identify alternatives to replace them • In the case of PFOS and for the exemptions for uses allowed by the Convention, these group of chemicals will be eventually prohibited and Parties are therefore encouraged to find alternatives to substitute them 2 Availability of alternatives • Currently, some countries have phased out the use of some of the new POPs, and there are feasible alternatives available to replace them Alternatives Chemical Name Use Ethoprop, oxamyl Pesticide to control banana root borer Cyfluthrin, Imidacloprid Pesticide to control tobacco wireworms Azadirachtin, bifenthrin, boric acid, carbaryl, Pesticide to control capsaicin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, ants and/or deltamethrin, diazinon, dichlorvos, cockroaches esfenvalerate, imidacloprid, lamda-cyhalothrin, Chlordecone malathion, permethrin, piperonyl butoxide, pyrethrins, pyriproxyfen, resmethrin, s- bioallerthrin, tetramethrin Bacillus thuringiensis, cultural practices such Pest management as crop rotation, intercropping, and trap cropping; barrier methods, such as screens, and bagging of fruit; use of traps such as pheromone and light traps to attract and kill insects. 3 Alternatives Chemical Name Use Tris-chloropropyl-phosphate (TCPP), tris- ABS plastics chloroethyl-phosphate, and tris dichloropropyl phosphate (TDCPP), tetrabromobisphenol, triphenyl phosphate (TPP), tricresyl phosphate (TCP), resorcinol bis(diphenylphosphate) (RDP), and phosphonic acid (2- ((hydroxymethyl) carbamyl)ethyl)-dimethyl Hexabromo- ester (Pyrovatex®) biphenyl Aluminium trihydroxide, magnesium hydroxide Coatings and lacquers and zinc borate Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is commonly Polyurethane foams used in combination with Aluminium hydroxide and Melamine. Red phosphorus, polyglycol esters of methyl phosphoric acid, amino-methyl phosphonic acid are other alternatives 4 Alternatives Chemical Name Use Permethrin; Bioallethrin and piperonyl Pharmaceutical uses butoxide; Pyrethrin and piperonyl butoxide; Pyrethrum and piperonyl butoxide; Precipitatedisulphur 6% in petrolatum and Crotamiton 10% (Eurax); malathion; Flumethrin; Cypermethrin; Cabaryl; Stemona root extract and benzyl benzoate y Disulfiram Lindane with bezylbenzoate. Clothianidin, Thiamethoxam, Imidacloprid, Seed treatment Permethrin, Tefluthrin, Acetamiprid y Fipronil 5 Alternatives Chemical Name Use Melamine, tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) PUR foam phosphate (TDCPP) (or TCPP) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP). Non-chemical alternatives have also been identified, include barrier technologies, graphite impregnated foam and surface treatment. Bromine-free circuit boards, phosphorus-based Electronic equipment- Pentabromo- flame retardants for printed circuit boards, appliances flame resistant plastic, halogen-free materials diphenyl and low-voltage internal wires. ether Zinc borate, magnesium hydroxide or expandable graphite. Antimony tetrakishydroxy methyl phosphonium Textiles chloride, phosphonitrilic chloride, pyrovatex, proban, aluminium hydroxide, aluminium hydrate, ammonium compounds, nitrogen phosphonic acid salt, ziconium acetate, borax, melamine. 6 Alternatives Chemical Name Use Cr (III) Metal plating Perfluorooctane Non-PFOS-based fluoro-surfactants; Fire fighting foam sulfonic acid silicone based surfactants; hydrocarbon (PFOS) its sales based surfactants; fluorine-free fire and fighting foams; and other developing fire fighting foam technologies that avoid the perfluorooctane use of fluorine. sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS-F) S-methoprene and pyriproxifen Control of leaf-cutting ants 7 Alternatives Chemical Name Use Tetrabromobisphenol-A; 1,2- For ABS plastic bis(pentabromophenoxy) ethane; 1,2- bis(tribromophenoxy) ethane; triphenyl phosphate; resourcinol bis (diphenylphosphate) and brominated polystyrene. Octabromo- Reactive phosphorous constituents such Synthetic Textiles as polyglycol esters of methyl diphenyl ether phosphonic acid and hexabromocyclododecane Bis (tribromophenoxy) ethane and Thermoplastic tribromophenyl allyl ether elastomers Polypropylene-dibromostyrene, Polyolefins dibromostyrene, and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) 8 ProposedProposed stepssteps toto identifyidentify andand evaluateevaluate alternativesalternatives 1. Identify uses 2. Identify alternatives 3. Screen alternatives • Initial environmental health and safety analysis • Technical feasibility assessment • Economic feasibility assessment 4. Assess alternatives • Assessment of risk • Cost benefit analysis 9 Step 1. Identify use and gather relevant information a) Data of production and import b) Ways in which the chemical and products containing them are used in industrial processes or other practices c) Potential emission into the environment d) Major suppliers and producers of the chemical e) Derivatives, components and end products that incorporate the chemical or use the chemical as a feedstock, f) Major distributors, retailers, or customers of end product g) Functionality requirements of chemical or component or end-product h) Relevant stakeholders, including businesses, industry associations, environmental, public health, and labor organizations 10 Step 2. Identify alternatives This step implies to identify potential alternatives achieving the equivalent function to the new POPs – Alternatives should include: • Changes to manufacture process : When the process of manufacture or production is obsolete. Changes should be directed to the use of clean technologies • Material substitutes: There are two options a) change the use of raw material in the process or b) to use a substitute of the new POPs • Changes to component/product design: Technological changes or modifications to the product could be other option 11 Step 3. Screening of alternatives a) Initial environmental, health and safety analysis • To conduct an initial screen to determine if the alternatives identified are not persistent, bio-accumulative, toxic or probable human carcinogenic b) Technical feasibility assessment. • Longevity, which means useful life of component/end-product • Key performance requirements determined by chemical application as power requirements, accuracy, etc. • Key physical characteristics referred to physical properties as density, color or weight • Key quality parameters such as time of maintenance, mean time between failure, mean time to repair or mean cycles between failure 12 c) Economical feasibility assessment Alternative products and processes may incur in additional cost. Thus, the following items should be reviewed: – Initial purchase price for chemical/alternative – Initial purchase cost for end-product/component – Availability of component/end-product – Capital costs: Cost for additional equipment required for switch to alternative – Key manufacturing costs for component/end-product – Key operating costs during use of end-product – Replacement rate: It means product, shelf/storage life – Key end-of-product life costs: It implies disposal fee – Other intangible costs: Includes costs not directly part of the production as employee and consumer training costs, safety costs, insurance, etc. 13 Step 4. Assessment of alternatives a) Assessment of risks • It is essential to ensure that the alternative does not pose an equivalent or major risks or shift the problem to another area (water, consumers). For that it is necessary to carry out an assessment of risks in which the hazards are identified and exposure is determined. • The identification of POP criteria in this assessment should be a priority. 14 b) Cost-benefit analysis • A comparison between benefits and costs of the alternative should be assessed. If the benefits are estimated to be about the same as or greater than the costs, the alternative should be used. The benefits should be focused on: – A lower risk of injury to people or environmental damage – Less need for safety measures (protective measures) and special routines during production, use, waste management and transport – A reduction in the quantity of hazardous waste generated, leading to lower waste management costs 15 Promoting development and use of safer alternatives – Establishing the Substitution Principle as central to chemicals policy – Green Procurement – Financial incentives – Raise awareness of the hazards of toxic chemicals – Promote and invest in Green Chemistry Research and Development 16 Substitution is taking place There are multiple case studies that corroborate the feasibility of the substitution and the usefulness of methodologies established to identify and evaluate alternatives. The case studies described in this section clearly show that the substitution of the new POPs is a feasible task, both technically and economically 17 Case study 1 Replacement of lindane by pyrethroides as insecticides for wood preservation •The substitution took place in Europe in the eighties and nineties •Four key factors were identified in this case study: •Process integration. For consumers there is no change in application technology •Awareness. Very high awareness among consumers and the public was the main reason for substitution •Risk information. The persistency and the contamination of lindane with ultra-toxic dioxins declined the