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China has been making significant strides in addressing environmental pollution, particularly with the emergence of new pollutants, including persistent organic pollutants, endocrine disruptors and antibiotics controlled by international conventions, which come from production and use of toxic, hazardous chemicals in most cases.
List of new pollutant
According to the Standard System Framework for Monitoring New Pollutants in Ecological Environment (Draft), the new pollutants mainly include the following:
In May, 2022, the State Council issued the Action Plan for New Pollutant Treatment, which required chemical inspection and monitoring to evaluate environmental risks and accurately identify new high-risk pollutants. The plan has set up a goal that by 2025, hazard screening of environmental risk on high-concern and high-yield chemicals will have be completed and the environmental risk assessment on a batch of chemicals will have be finished.
To support the need for environmental risk and control of chemicals, the plan aims to build a robust technical standard system for risk assessment and control. This initiative is lead by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), in collaboration with various other ministries to formulate a wide array standards on risk assessment, eco-social impact analysis, hazard testing, etc. It is then culminated in the Framework for the Technical Standards System of Chemical Substance Environmental Risk Assessment and Management (Draft), which was released on July 9, 2024 by MEE for public consultation.
Under the framework, the standard system will be constructed based on a stepwise principle of “screening, assessment and control”. It is consist of three sub-systems:
Technical standard sub-system for environmental risk screening of chemical substances
Technical standard sub-system for environmental risk assessment of chemical substances
Technical standard sub-system for environmental risk control of new pollutant
Screening
Given the production and use of a vast array of toxic chemicals by industries daily, it is essential to identify and prioritize key chemicals based on their potential health hazards, environmental risks, and exposure levels.
A technical guidance for the screening of priority chemical substances will be instrumental in formalizing the principle, procedure, and technical requirements during priority assessment. To this end, an industrial standard HJ 1229-2021 Guidelines for Screening of Priority Assessment Chemical Substances has been published to serve as a scientific screening approach.
The formulation of a consistent technical specification on environmental statistics of chemical substances and chemical nomenclature is also highlighted in the sub-system. Certain technical standards on nomenclature, such as HJ/T 420-2008 Guidelines for the Generic Name of New Chemical Substances and HJ 1357-2024 Technical Specification for Nomenclature of Chemicals for Environmental Management have already been formulated and published.
Assessment
The prioritization informs which chemical should undergo detailed assessment, that is to determine the level of environmental and health hazard associated with the chemical.
Guided by the Framework Guidelines on Technology Methods of Environmental Risk Assessment for Chemical Substances (Trial), the assessment sub-system will create a comprehensive suite of standards on environmental and health hazard assessment, environmental and health exposure assessment, environmental and health risk characterization with supporting technical guidance.
Existing technical standards or guidelines in this regard include:
Technical Guidelines for Environmental and Health Hazard Assessment of Chemical Substances (Trial)
Technical Guidelines for Environmental and Health Exposure Assessment of Chemical Substances (Trial)
Standard System Framework for Monitoring New Pollutants in Ecological Environment (Draft)
The development and revision of technical standards for ecotoxicology testing and environmental risk exposure assessment will be given priority, which are currently in urgent needs. In the field of hazard testing, there are certain hazard endpoints that are challenging for industries to perform tests on, such as aquatic toxicity and fish acute toxicity. In reflective of this issue, MEE will work with other ministries to formulate relevant testing standards. Additionally, the ministry will enhance the current testing standards to improve their accuracy and effectiveness.
Control
The sub-system for environmental risk control is devised based on the principle of “source prohibition and restriction, process emission reduction and end-of-pipe treatment”. It is still in infancy without any existing standard in place.
According to the framework, the authority shall formulate standards on the limited use of toxic and hazardous chemical substances in products with supportive testing standards.
In addition to restriction of use, the innovative approach for alternatives is also encouraged and backed by the framework. Relevant technical guidance for assessing the environmental friendliness of alternatives/technologies. For example, South China Institute of Environmental Science (SCIES) has developed a group standard T/CSES 151-2024 Technical Guidance for the Assessment of Green Alternatives in August 2024.
The formulation of technical guidance on the socio-economic impact of new pollutant environmental risk control is also under development.
Other technical standards or guidelines that are scheduled for development include:
Normative technical guidance for environmental impact assessment of new pollutant
Technical guidance for best industrial practices on emission reduction of new pollutant
Technical specification for environmental pollution control of new pollutant
Emission limit standards and supportive analytical testing methods
