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On December 22, 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the HJ 1229-2021 Guidelines for Screening of Priority Assessment Chemical Substances (hereinafter referred to as Guideline), and it will take effect on January 1, 2022. The Guideline stipulates the scope of chemical substances subject to the screening for priority assessment, screening principles and procedures, technical requirements for screening, and requirements for report preparation, etc. Compared with the draft version published on April 29, 2021 (ChemLinked news), there are some minor changes in the final version.
Terms and Definitions
The definitions of ‘chemical substance’ and ‘priority assessment chemical substances’ in the final version of the Guideline are different from the draft version.
Chemical substance
In the final version, ‘chemical substance’ just refers to simple substance or compound derived from nature or produced by processing for commercial purposes. However, in the draft version, it also refers to the mixture - a substance composed of two or more chemical substances that do not react.
Priority assessment chemical substances
In the final version, ‘priority assessment chemical substances’ refers to chemical substances that have potential environmental risks and require priority environmental risk assessment to determine priority control or not. In the draft version, it refers to chemical substances which have high hazards and high potential of environmental exposure and for which environmental risk assessment shall be prioritized to determine whether priority control shall be imposed.
Besides, the final version includes the definition of ‘environmental risk’.
Report Preparation
The final version of the Guideline newly stipulates that the process and results of screening of priority assessment chemical substances shall be recorded in the form of a report. The content of the report is required to at least include screening objectives, the data content and sources, the basis of data assessment, methods of data selection, screening conditions, screening results description, etc.
According to the Guideline, the screening objectives are summarized as follows:
Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances (PBT), or very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances (vPvB) identified according to GB/T 24782 Decision method of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances, and very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances.
Chemical substances classified as category 1A or 1B for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity or reproductive toxicity according to GB 30000.22 Rules for classification and labelling of chemicals - Part 22: Germ cell mutagenicity, GB 30000.23 Rules for classification and labelling of chemicals - Part 23: Carcinogenicity, and GB 30000.24 Rules for classification and labelling of chemicals - Part 24: Reproductive toxicity.
Chemical substances possess both bioaccumulation and toxicity. The said bioaccumulation meets provisions in GB/T 24782, and the said toxicity refers to carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, or long-term hazards to the aquatic environment.
Other highly hazardous chemical substances, e.g. endocrine disruptors, highly suspected PBT or vPvB substances, highly suspected carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxic substances, etc.
Chemical substances that have been detected in environmental media or have been detected in organisms, which were caused by environmental exposure.
Chemical substances with potential environmental exposure, such as large annual production and wide usages in scattered places or in the daily life of the public.
The original version of the Guideline can be accessed here. English version is available as well, please click here.
