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On Oct 9th 2017, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) issued an internal notice regarding a draft of the Catalogue of Priority Chemicals (1st Batch) and sought opinions from various governmental branches and academic institutes, including the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Chinese Society of Toxicology, etc.
The draft catalogue contains 36 types of chemicals with 59 CAS numbers, a relatively small amount compared with 2828 chemicals in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals and the 45,000+ chemicals in the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC). The 36 chemicals are identified as priority chemicals based on their risks, which is determined by both their inherent hazards and exposure scenarios:
1. On the consideration of the inherent hazards:
Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals, which are identified by the national standard, Identification Method of Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Substances, and Very Persistent and Very Bioaccumulative Substances (GB/T 24782-2009);
Carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction (CMR) chemicals and chemicals with high aquatic environment toxicity, which are identified by the national standard, Rules for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GB 3000-2013).
2. On the consideration of the exposure:
The draft also focuses on the chemicals which are manufactured or used in huge quantities in China.
3. Other considerations:
Chemicals in the international conventions, including Stockholm Convention, Minamata Convention, etc.
The chemicals listed in the Catalogue will be subject to certain risk control measures, including:
1. Regulated under the pollutants emission permits system:
The Catalogue is a reference for the List of Toxic and Hazardous Atmospheric Pollutants and the List of Toxic and Hazardous Water Pollutants. So the enterprises with emission of the chemicals in the Catalogue have to obtain the pollutants emission permits and pay corresponding emission fees.
2. Restriction and phase out:
These chemicals will be included into compulsory national standards and restricted from being used in some products, or even banned from usage.
These chemicals will be required to be phased out in products. Enterprises are encouraged to replace them with more environmentally friendly alternatives.
3. Cleaner Production Inspection:
Enterprises that use these chemicals as raw materials, or discharge these chemicals during production are subject to the “Cleaner Production Inspections”. The result should be reported to the local environmental protection authorities. And the relative information shall be open to public supervision, including the names, quantities and uses of the chemicals as raw materials, and the names, quantities and concentrations of the discharged chemicals.
The consultation of the Catalogue ends on Nov 3rd. Because the information is from an internal notice of MEP and is not open to public, please contact Chemlinked for the specific chemicals in the Catalogue if you need.
