Global occurrence, chemical properties, and ecological impacts of e-wastes (IUPAC technical report)

The waste stream of obsolete electronic equipment grows exponentially, creating a worldwide pollution and resource problem. Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) comprises a heterogeneous mix of glass, plastics (including flame retardants and other additives), metals (including rare earth elements) and metalloids. The e-waste issue is complex and multi-faceted. In examining the different aspects of e-waste, informal recycling in developing countries has been identified as a primary concern due to widespread illegal shipments, weak environmental as well as health and safety regulations, lack of technology and inadequate waste treatment structure. For example, Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan and China have all been identified as hotspots for the disposal of e-waste. This article presents a critical examination on the chemical nature of e-waste and the resulting environmental impacts on, for example, microbial biodiversity, flora and fauna in e-waste recycling sites around the world. It highlights the different types of risk assessment approaches required when evaluating the ecological impact of e-waste. Additionally, it presents examples of chemistry playing a role in potential solutions. The information presented here will be informative to relevant stakeholders to devise integrated management strategies to tackle this global environmental concern

The NORMAN Association and the European Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC): let’s cooperate! [Commentary]

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

The NORMAN Association and the European Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC): let’s cooperate! [Commentary]

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

The NORMAN Suspect List Exchange (NORMAN-SLE): facilitating European and worldwide collaboration on suspect screening in high resolution mass spectrometry

Background: The NORMAN Association (https://www.norman-.network.com/) initiated the NORMAN Suspect List Exchange (NORMAN-SLE; https://www.norman-.network.com/nds/SLE/) in 2015, following the NORMAN collaborative trial on non-target screening of environmental water samples by mass spectrometry. Since then, this exchange of information on chemicals that are expected to occur in the environment, along with the accompanying expert knowledge and references, has become a valuable knowledge base for "suspect screening" lists. The NORMAN-SLE now serves as a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) chemical information resource worldwide.Results: The NORMAN-SLE contains 99 separate suspect list collections (as of May 2022) from over 70 contributors around the world, totalling over 100,000 unique substances. The substance classes include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, natural toxins, high production volume substances covered under the European REACH regulation (EC: 1272/2008), priority contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and regulatory lists from NORMAN partners. Several lists focus on transformation products (TPs) and complex features detected in the environment with various levels of provenance and structural information. Each list is available for separate download. The merged, curated collection is also available as the NORMAN Substance Database (NORMAN SusDat). Both the NORMAN-SLE and NORMAN SusDat are integrated within the NORMAN Database System (NDS). The individual NORMAN-SLE lists receive digital object identifiers (DOIs) and traceable versioning via a Zenodo community (https:// zenodo.org/communities/norman-.sle), with a total of > 40,000 unique views, > 50,000 unique downloads and 40 citations (May 2022). NORMAN-SLE content is progressively integrated into large open chemical databases such as PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and the US EPA's CompTox Chemicals Dashboard (https://comptox. epa.gov/dashboard/), enabling further access to these lists, along with the additional functionality and calculated properties these resources offer. PubChem has also integrated significant annotation content from the NORMAN-SLE, including a classification browser (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/classification/#hid=101).Conclusions: The NORMAN-SLE offers a specialized service for hosting suspect screening lists of relevance for the environmental community in an open, FAIR manner that allows integration with other major chemical resources. These efforts foster the exchange of information between scientists and regulators, supporting the paradigm shift to the "one substance, one assessment" approach. New submissions are welcome via the contacts provided on the NORMAN-SLE website (https://www.norman-.network.com/nds/SLE/)

Modifizierung und Erprobung eines Verfahrens zur Bestimmung von extrahierbarem Chrom(VI) neben Chrom(III) in Boeden

Chromium occurs in soils in the oxidation numbers III and VI. While Cr(III) is an essential nutrient, Cr(VI) is cancerogen. Starting with a photometrically DIN-method for the determination of Cr(VI)in water and waste water, a method for the determination of soluble Cr(VI) in soils was developed and optimized. The soil is extracted with phosphate-buffered aluminium sulfate solution. For the prevention of interfering redox reactions oxidizing compounds are reduced using sulfite and reducing compounds are oxidized by hypochlorite. The determination of Cr(VI) at 550 nm is performed after reaction with 1,5-diphenylcarbazide. Cr(VI)-concentrations of 0,2-25 mg/kg in soils are detectable. With the optimized method soils were investigated which contained different amounts of Cr(III) and Cr(VI). While anthropogenically chromium-contaminated soils showed relatively high amounts of Cr(VI), only traces of Cr(VI) were detectable in soils with geogenic chromium. In the frame of this R and D-project a interlaboratory comparison test was performed for the evaluation of the method in different laboratories. The result proves the reproducibility of the method and forms the base for a standardization of the procedure. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(97-035) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekUmweltbundesamt, Berlin (Germany); Bundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Untersuchungen zur Klassifizierung von Gefahrgut nach Gefahrgutrecht. Klassifizierung von Mineraloelprodukten

After including the item 'aquatic pollutant' into dangerous good class 9 of the classification scheme for dangerous goods, all goods to be transported, which are not subject to other regulations, have to be investigated on whether they fulfill the respective criteria. The relevant regulation for transports of dangerous goods on roads in Germany is the Gefahrgutverordnung Strasse (GGVS, German equivalent to the European transport regulation ADR for international transports on roads). A major group of substances to be assessed are the mineral oil (petroleum) products. Approx. 510 of these substances are listed in Annex I of the Commission Regulation on Existing Substances (793/93/EEC). The basis for a classification is the set of available data. Therefore, in a first step, various sources were investigated to clarify whether the data required for a classification of 'aquatic pollutants' according to GGVS/ADR are available for mineral oil products. The data search revealed that relevant data on bioaccumulation, biodegradation and aquatic toxicity are frequently lacking. To make an assessment of mineral oil products possible despite the unsufficient data base, a proposal for classification has been developed. In the so-called 'scoring system' scores are assigned to certain substance properties, starting with 'problematic ingredients', 'dissipation criteria' and 'water solubility'. In case the assigned scores are below a critical score number, the mineral oil product is considered 'not an aquatic pollutant'. If the critical score number is exceeded, the criteria 'aquatic toxicity' and 'biodegradability/bioaccumulation' are considered additionally to confirm or exclude a potential for an environmental hazard. The parameters considered in the classification system are basically the same as the criteria of the GGVS/ADR scheme, with the exception of the toxicity threshold, which is set 100 mg/L (comparable to the protection level in the German Federal Water Act). As a result of the project various data banks are available now including data on approx. 260 liquid and 20 solid mineral oil products. On the basis of the scoring system for each mineral oil product, for which at least an information about the state of aggregation was available, a recommendation was given on whether or not the product should be classified as 'aquatic pollutant'. (orig.)In die Gefahrgutklasse 9 des Gefahrgutklassifikationssystems wurde das Gefaehrdungsmerkmal 'wasserverunreinigend' aufgenommen. Alle zu transportierenden Stoffe sind deshalb daraufhin zu ueberpruefen, ob sie - sofern sie nicht anderen Bestimmungen unterliegen - die entsprechenden Kriterien erfuellen. Hierfuer gibt die Gefahrgutverordnung Strasse (GGVS/ADR) ein Bewertungsschema vor. Eine grosse Gruppe von zu bewertenden Stoffen stellen die Mineraloelprodukte dar, von denen z.B. im Anhang I der EU-Altstoff-Verordnung ca. 510 aufgelistet sind. Grundlage einer Klassifizierung sind die verfuegbaren Daten. Deshalb wurden zunaechst verschiedene Quellen daraufhin untersucht, ob die gemaess GGVS/ADR fuer eine Klassifizierung hinsichtlich der Eigenschaft 'wasserverunreinigend' notwendigen Daten fuer die Mineraloelprodukte zu erhalten sind. Die Datenrecherche zeigte, dass haeufig relevante Daten zur Bioakkumulation, zum Bioabbau und zur aquatischen Toxizitaet fehlen. Um trotz dieser Datenluecken Mineraloelprodukte bewerten zu koennen, wurde ein Klassifizierungsvorschlag entwickelt. Dabei handelt es sich um ein sogenanntes 'Scoring-System', bei dem bestimmten Eigenschaften Punkte zugeordnet werden. Bei der Klassifizierung werden zunaechst 'problematische Inhaltsstoffe', 'Ausbreitungskriterien' und 'Wasserloeslichkeit' abgefragt und mit Punkten bewertet. Unterhalb einer kritischen Punktzahl wird das Mineraloelprodukt als 'nicht wasserverunreinigend' angesehen. Nur falls die kritische Punktzahl erreicht wird, werden die 'Aquatische Toxizitaet' und die 'Bioabbaubarkeit/Bioakkumulation' betrachtet, um den Verdacht, das Produkt sei 'wasserverunreinigend' zu bestaetigen oder zu entkraeften. Die hier abgefragten Parameter entsprechen im Prinzip den Kriterien des GGVS/ADR-Schemas mit dem Unterschied, dass die Toxizitaetsschwelle bei 100 mg/L angesetzt wird (vergleichbar dem Schutzlevel im Wasserhaushaltsgesetz). Als Ergebnis dieses Projekts stehen mehrere Datenbanken zur Verfuegung, in denen Daten zu ca. 260 fluessigen und ca. 20 festen Mineraloelproduten vorliegen. Mit Hilfe des Scoring-Systems wurde fuer jedes Mineraloelprodukt, fuer das zumindest eine Angabe ueber den Aggregatzustand vorlag, eine Empfehlung abgeleitet, ob eine Klassifizierung als 'wasserverunreinigend' erfolgen sollte oder nicht. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(98-067) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEUmweltbundesamt, Berlin (Germany); Bundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

The NORMAN network's special view on prioritisation of biocides as emerging contaminants

NORMAN promotes the use of innovative monitoring and assessment tools for identifying the substances of emerging concern most in need of future regulation. The network maintains various databases (e.g. EMPODAT) and has developed a prioritisation scheme specifically designed to deal with “problematic” substances for which knowledge gaps are identified. These tools have been significantly improved in recent years (expansion of EMPODAT database from 1 million to more than 6 million records; a new “ecotox“ module to allow systematic collection of ecotoxicity test data from online databases worldwide, plus existing regulatory EQS/PNEC values). The NORMAN list of “frequently discussed” emerging substances contains 862 compounds: among them, 253 are “new“ substances which have been added to the previous list from 2013, whereas 100 substances are now labelled as “former NORMAN” emerging substances. As regards biocides, the list contains 151 active substances of emerging concern that are still in use, under review or formerly used and 12 compounds (e.g., cybutryne, cypermetryne, dichlorvos, etc.) that are still listed for data collection but labelled as “former NORMAN” compounds. The NORMAN prioritisation scheme helps to identify some compounds which evidently need control / mitigation measures (e.g., deltamethrine, terbutryn, imidaclopride, carbendazim, triclosan). Moreover, it is possible to cite substances for which additional monitoring data would be needed,such as e.g., fenoxycarb and tolylfluanid with a potential risk of exceedance of the PNEC. Cyfluthrin and permethrin were identified as substances for which analytical performance should be improved (target: achieve LOQ < PNEC) and N,N-diethyltoluamide and propiconazole appear as substances already sufficiently monitored and for which no evidence of risk was identified. Biocides are active substances emitted into our environment which are definitely to be regarded as substances of emerging concern. EMPODAT confirms that biocides are still insufficiently covered in monitoring programmes: data are available for 70% of the compounds that are also used as plant protection products, but only 15% of the compounds used solely as biocides have monitoring data in the database. Access to the latest information on emerging pollutants, with an overview of benchmark values on their occurrence across Europe would certainly be of a major importance for risk assessors