EMEP Contribution to the Preparatory Work for the Review of the CLRTAP Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants

MSC-E Information Note 5/2004

E. Mantseva, S. Dutchak, O. Rozovskaya, V. Shatalov

ABSTRACT

Environmental pollution by Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) is one of the global problems, which is drawing attention at national and international level. In the framework of the UN ECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (hereinafter Convention) the Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (hereinafter the Protocol on POPs) was signed by thirty-six Parties to the Convention in 1998. In October 2003 it entered into force.

The Protocol on POPs defined the main objectives of the Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission for Air Pollutants in Europe (hereinafter EMEP). As indicated in Article 9 of the Protocol, each Party within the geographical scope of EMEP shall report to EMEP, on a periodic basis, information on the levels of emissions of POPs. In compliance with the Protocol "in good time before each annual session of the Executive Body, EMEP shall provide information on the long-range transport and deposition of persistent organic pollutants" (Article 9) [ECE/EB.AIR/66].

Following the entry into force of the Protocol on POPs, the Executive Body for the Convention established the Task Force on POPs in December 2003. The Task Force set up under the Working Group on Strategies and Review addresses the technical needs of the review and reassessment required by the Protocol on POPs. According to the 2004 Work-Plan on the Implementation of the Convention [ECE/EB.AIR/79/Add.2] "EMEP will support the preparatory work on the review of the Protocol on POPs, in particular the work of the proposed Task Force on POPs".

At it's second meeting "the POPs Task Force requests EMEP to prepare a synthesis document on the best available country-submitted emissions data, including 1990 and more recent years". In addition the Task Force agreed that "a small team led by Canada, and including Norway and EMEP/MSC-E will carry out work on gathering best available scientific information on effects of deposition of POPs". To support this activity of the Task Force on POPs, MSC-E prepared this Information Note containing a detailed description of official data and expert estimates on emissions of POPs included into the Protocol. Besides, in this note the information on POP measurements and modeling data on atmospheric transport, depositions and contamination levels of the environmental media obtained under EMEP are included.

The main objective of this work is to reveal the main tendencies in the dynamics of environmental pollution by selected POPs in Europe within the period from 1990 to 2001. According to the available emission data the most part of pesticides included into the Protocol on POPs are no longer known to be produced or used in the UN ECE region during the last decade (e.g. aldrin, chlordecone, dieldrin, endrin, etc.). Therefore the main emphasis in this note is put on the evaluation of the environmental pollution by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), g-hexachlorocyclohexane (g-HCH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB).

Emissions

The official data on POP emissions (PAHs, PCDD/Fs, PCBs, HCB and g-HCH) for the period from 1990 to 2001 (at least for one year) were submitted by 32 Parties to the Convention. Data on other pollutants (Aldrin, Chlordane, Chlordecone, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Hexabromobiphenyl, Mirex, Toxaphene, DDT, PCP and SCCP) were reported by 16 countries. It should be pointed out that in recent years the number of countries that submit official information on POP emissions and their spatial distribution is increasing.

According to the official data and expert estimates the emissions of all the pollutants of concern tend to decrease from 1990 to 2001. For example, emissions of PAHs (B[a]P and B[b]F) decreased by 25% and emissions of PCDD/Fs - more than 2 times.

Monitoring

At present thirteen EMEP monitoring sites perform the measurements of POP concentrations in the atmosphere and/or precipitation. Five of them submitted data on POP concentrations in both media. Most of these sites are located in Northern Europe. There is only one site in Central Europe located in the Czech Republic. In the southern and eastern parts of Europe there are no POP monitoring sites. To improve the spatial distribution of monitoring sites in Europe the new EMEP monitoring strategy is under development. In accordance with the strategy it is expected to have about 20 sites evenly distributed over the EMEP region to measure POPs in both the atmosphere and precipitation.

Available measurement data on g-HCH and HCB show that the general trends of their atmospheric concentrations decreased within the period from 1991 to 2000.

Modelling

A wide spectrum of model results obtained under EMEP includes the information on long-term trends of POP contents in different environmental compartments; spatial distribution of depositions and concentrations in these media; transboundary transport in the European region and intercontinental transport in the Northern Hemisphere. Evaluation of environmental pollution dynamics due to emission reduction in accordance with different scenarios; assessment of long-range transport potential and overall persistence of new substances and country-specific information on the level of environmental contamination are also presented.

Long-term trends of contents of PCDD/Fs, PAHs, g-HCH, PCBs and HCB in different environmental compartments are analyzed. According to the model estimates during the period from 1990 to 2001 contents of all considered pollutants in the air, seawater and soil of Europe decreased to a different extent due to the emissions reduction. For example, PCDD/Fs emissions and air and seawater contents reduced approximately two times. At that their content in soil decreased only by 7 %. During the considered period, g-HCH emissions and air content reduced 12 and 10 times, respectively. At that seawater and soil content of this pollutant decreased approximately 3 and 2 times.

Changes in the spatial distribution of depositions and air concentrations in the European region within the period from 1990 to 2001 are presented. The information on POP depositions to different countries, particular regions, marginal seas and so-called "hot spots" (the most polluted cells of EMEP grid) in 1990 and 2001 is also included.

Model estimates of transboundary transport of PCDD/Fs and B[a]P for the European region as a whole and for the particular country performed on the basis "country-to-country" matrices are made. In the European countries the contribution of transboundary transport to air concentrations and depositions of PCDD/Fs and B[a]P was significant varying from 20 to 60% in 2001.

To evaluate the long-range transport ability of PAHs, PCDD/Fs, PCBs, g-HCH and HCB, the amount of each of these pollutants emitted in Europe and transported outside the EMEP region (outflow) was estimated. For the considered POPs the percentage ratio of outflow to annual emissions range from 20% to 80%. Model assessment of intercontinental transport on the hemispheric scale was carried out for HCB, g-HCH and PCBs.

For the pollutant being considered the main media-accumulators were identified (soil for PAHs, PCDD/Fs, PCBs and seawater for g-HCH and HCB). Preliminary model results on POP depositions to various types of the underlying surface and spatial distribution of POP contamination in various environmental media are presented. The obtained results may be of interest for the development of the effect-based/risk assessment approach aiming at the evaluation of POP impact on different ecosystems and human health.

A possibility to use model calculations to evaluate the results of different scenarios of emission reduction is demonstrated by the example of three conventional scenarios for PCBs and PCDD/Fs.

Results of evaluating new substances that may be candidates for inclusion in the Protocol on POPs by means of the model assessments of their long-range transport potential and persistence are presented. This assessment was made for hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), pentachlorophenol (PCP), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN-47 congener), dicofol, a- and b- endosulfans and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (BDE-28, BDE-47 and BDE-99). These model estimates may be of interest for the activities of the Task Force on POPs devoted to the technical review of dossiers of new substances that may be proposed by Parties for inclusion into annexes to the Protocol.

More detailed modelling data on levels of POP environmental pollution are available for each particular country of the EMEP region. The country-specific information obtained in 2003 is presented in EMEP/MSC-E notes "Transboundary pollution by HM and POPs" published for all European countries in 2003. It is planned to refine and supplement available data with models estimates obtained in 2004.

This Information Note contains the official data and expert estimates on POP emissions, data on measurements as well as modelling results available under EMEP and gathered from scientific and technical reports of the EMEP Centers.