invisible threats from persistent chemical pollutants...persistent chemical pollutants webinar...

Invisible Threats From Persistent Chemical Pollutantsand what we can do about it

@CHEMTrust

chemtrust.org

Wildlife and Countryside LINK webinar 25 September 2019

Dr Julie [email protected]

@JulieSCHEMTrust

@CHEMTrustchemtrust.org

About CHEM Trust

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• Working with scientists, technical processes and decision makers, in partnership with other civil society groups

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Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. Schneider

What will we be talking about?1. ‘Invisible’ – An overlooked issue with big impacts.

2. Synthetic chemicals – What are they? Surge in chemical production.

3. Pollutants – What are the adverse effects? What is the scale of the contamination?

4. Persistent chemicals – Why is persistence an issue?

5. PFAS – Emerging global contaminants of concern.

6. Synthesis – What can we do about it?

1. Invisible

Why I used the word ‘invisible’?


Invisible chemical pollution

Visible plastic pollution

Illustration: AMAP, 2018

Wildlife is impacted by multiple stressors

Chemical pollution is one of them


Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. SchneiderA driver of the biodiversity crisis

“It is suggested that at least 27% of total ecosystem losses are due to pollution by chemicals”. UNEP, Global Chemicals Outlook, 2013

2. Synthetic chemicals

Man-made chemicals, artificial, synthetic or industrial

chemicals:The ones not occurring in nature.


Oil/Gas

Value chain of Bisphenol A

Extraction raw material Final product

Chemical refining, processing and

product manufacturing


Propylene Isopropylbenzene(Cumene) Phenol Bisphenol A Polycarbonate

plasticReusable

water bottle

A plasticizer in plastic ; a flame retardant in a sofa, a computer ; a waterproof coating on a rain coat ; an emulsifier in a moisturizing cream ; a greaseproof coating on a pizza box ; an active compound in medicine etc.

Synthetic chemicals used

in everyday products



1950 20502000 2030

2,300 MT

X 57

1,200 MT

2017

4,600 MT

20 MT

Global chemical

production capacity

-in million

tonnes (MT)X 2

X 2

Source: UNEP, 2019,Global Chemicals Outlook II

“Globally, it is estimated that more 150,000 substances are in commercial use with potentially several thousand added every year” EEA, 2019

EU Chemical production in 2017292 MT (source: Eurostat)


hazardous to the environment81MT – 27.7%

hazardous to human health219MT – 75%

Harmful synthetic chemicals

• Not all synthetic chemicals are harmful.

• Not all harmful chemicals are lethal.

But … Severe chronic environmental hazard24MT – 8.2%

CMR(carcinogenic, mutagenic,reprotoxic)35.7MT – 12.2%

3. Pollutants

= matter out of place (contaminants) causing harmàWhat are the adverse effects?àThe scale of the contamination.


Illustration: Sanganyado et al., 2018


What sort of adverse effects on wildlife?

Impact on health à

Impact on behaviour à

EDCs: Endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicalsChemicals that can interfere with the endocrine or hormone system.

• Hormones in people and wildlife regulate bodily functions such as metabolism, sexual development and growth.

• Hormones are released into the blood by various glands including the thyroid, ovaries and testicles.

• The hormone system is connected to the nervous and immune systems.

à The most miniscule levels of hormones can have great effect.

à Exposures to very low levels of EDCs can play havoc with nature.

à Particularly during developmental stages before birth.


The case of EDCs

Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. SchneiderThe case of EDCs

àEDCs invoked as probable factor for :

• Loss of species. • Reduction in population numbers of: amphibians,

mammals, birds, reptiles, freshwater and marine fishes and invertebrates. UNEP/WHO, State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012, 2013

EDCs impact on wildlife include:• Feminizing of male fish• Preventing reproduction• Increasing susceptibility to infectious diseases• Developing hormone sensitive cancers

The principal causes of death of stranded harbour porpoises were infectious diseases.

UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, 2019

Biomagnification = concentration increases through the food chain

Bioaccumulation = concentration in an organism increases over time

Exposure comes from many routesPersistent chemical pollutants webinar

25/09/2019 – J. Schneider

àVia air, water, soilàVia manufactured productsàVia food

PFAS

BFR

PCBs

PAH

Exposed to a cocktail of synthetic chemicals

HCH

DEHP

SCCP

PCDD

DBP

NPE

TBBP-A PCPDBT

PFNAPFOA

PFOS

PFBS

PFHxS

PFBA

Hazardous chemicals are ubiquitous in the environment,

in peoples and wildlife’s blood

Monitoring and biomonitoring studies are our eyes and ears for chemical contamination


à The average human carries a footprint of several hundred of industrial chemicals

à Babies are born pre-polluteda study found > 200 industrial chemicals in newborn babies.Environmental Working Group, July 14, 2005

Biomonitoring studies have shown that:

Illustration: The Intercept, 30 April 2019

Hazardous chemicals are ubiquitous in the environment,

in peoples and wildlife’s blood


36 pesticides found in dead birds nests in Belgium (2019)Including DDT banned in the 70s

Source: Velt and Vogelbescherming, 2019

‘Canary in the coal mine’

4. Persistent chemicals

Chemicals degrading very slowly in nature.Will stick around for decades and could impact future generations.


What is persistence? Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. Schneider

Half-life = the time it takes for the degradation of 50% of a chemical in a specific environment

Non-persistent

Estimated half-lives of selected chemicals in water*

Half-life in water - years

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 a century

BPA 4.5 days

DDT Up to 12 years

PCBs Average at 56 years

PFOS Over 92 years

*note that quantifying half-lives is not straightforward and these values have to be taken with caution

Why is persistence an issue?Persistent chemical pollutants webinar


à Because it leads to global contamination

Because they will remain intact for an incredibly long period of time once released into the environment:àThis allows long distance transport via oceanic and atmospheric currents, sometimes hitching on

dust particles or microplastics.àThis leads to distributing persistent chemicals far from their source.

Final sinks are usually:The ocean floor And the ice and snow of the polar regions

Toxic anthropogenic pollutants reach the deepest ocean on Earth

Dasgupta et al., 2018

Mariana trench



à Because cleaning up is extremely challenging/impossible

à Once they are around, they stick around!

Clean up/remediation is feasible only for a limited number of contaminated hot spots.Impossible when it comes to the deep ocean floor!

“The removal and remediation of contaminated sediments on a large scale is regarded as being technically infeasible.”

UK Marine Strategy, 2019 Not possible for chemicals

In the UK Marine waters, sediments and biota, the levels of some persistent pollutants will remain above safe levels for many years to come.UK Marine strategy



à Because this leads to build up in the environment

à Accumulation means that levels at which adverse effects are triggered can be exceeded over time

With continuous emission, persistent chemicals will accumulate in various environmental compartment :Soil, air, groundwater, rivers, drinking water, sea, snow, ice, sediments

Time

Chemical concentration

Level at which adverse effect appears



à Because it creates a persistent legacy, one impacting future generations

*quotes from Rebecca Altman in: Time-bombing the future, Jan 2019, Aeon

‘A strange new form of inheritance’*

Banned flame retardants and PCBs are detected in the umbilical cord blood of newborn children.Environmental Working Group, July 14, 2005

Example of PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls):• Phased out in the 80s, banned globally under the Stockholm Convention in 2001.• Yet, decades after production stopped, PCBs still deeply affect wildlife and human health.à Also true for some flame retardants and pesticides.

Enduring poisons from the pastPersistent chemical pollutants webinar


à Legacy persistent chemicals, the ones which have been phased out decades ago

In South Wales’ rivers à persistent pollutants are holding back biological recoveryWindsor et al., 2019.


Enduring poisons from the pastHindering the recovery of Britain’s rivers


Enduring poisons from the past

The story of LuluLulu the orca washed up on the Scottish coast in 2016. Lulu carried the highest burden of PCBs ever recorded in a whale.Lulu was at least 20 years old and she had never reproduced.

Photo: John Bowler, RSPB TireeThreatening the survival of the world’s Orca populations

• PCBs are responsible for low to zero rates of female orca fecundity.

• Orcas in the UK haven’t had a calf in 25 years.• Current PCB levels could lead to the disappearance of

half of the world's population of orcas in the most contaminated areas within 30-50 years.

Desforges et al., 2018


Enduring poisons from the pastThreatening the survival of Cetaceans

“Dolphins in English Channel are latest pollution victims with some infected by chemicals banned 40 years ago”The London Economic, 2 September 2019


Enduring poisons from the pastPoisoning the circular economy

Turner, A., 2018. Black plastics: Linear and circular economies, hazardous additives and marine pollution. The Guardian, 9 March 2017

Recycled electronics

Flame retardants

Heavymetals

Consumer goods

Enduring poisons from the pastPersistent chemical pollutants webinar


Resurfacing as the ice melts

Geospace, 31 July 2019. Decades-old pollutants

melting out of Himalayan glaciers.

Models forecast up to a 4 fold increase of banned persistent organic pollutants in the ocean waters due to melting of the ice driven by climate change.Wöhrnschimmel et al. 2013


Because of the potential for long range transport and global contamination of persistent chemicals:àglobal bans needed

à Urgent action is needed to stop the flow on ALL ‘new’ persistent chemicals

Other persistent chemicals of concern among: Flame retardants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, fluorinated chemicals etc.

Enduring poisons from the past

Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. SchneiderOnly the tip of the Iceberg

àThe Stockholm Convention covers 29 substances and groups of substances but up to 1,200 are recognised as persistent + bioaccumulative. Scheringer et al., 2012

àThe number of persistent chemicals is certainly much higher: for instance there are > 4,730 PFAS - highly fluorinated and extremely persistent chemicals. UNEP, 2018

5. PFAS

the ‘Forever Chemicals’Emerging contaminants of global concern



PFAS – the ‘Forever Chemicals’

“these are the most persistent chemicals we are facing today”*Dr. Zhanyun Wang, ETH Zurich, leading scientist in the field.

*Quote from: Tainted water: the scientists tracing thousands of fluorinated chemicals in our environment. Nature news features, 06 February 2019.

PFAS: Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (formerly known as PFCs)

à A family of over 4,730 chemicals!!!

Half-life of some PFAS in soil > 1,000 years

Carbon-Fluorine bond =one of the strongest bond known in nature

Fluorine

Carbon

Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. SchneiderPFAS – the ‘Forever Chemicals’

PFAS are tough: à Broken down at temperature >1,100°CàUsed in Fire-fighting foams (e.g. fire involving petroleum)

PFAS can repel grease and water: à used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products



PFAS transfer from the mother to the baby

à via placenta and breastfeedingà In humans and wildlife

e.g. Morgensen et al., 2015. Breastfeeding as an Exposure Pathway for Perfluorinated Alkylates

Some PFAS are Bioaccumulatives:àBond to proteinàAccumulate in protein rich compartments:e.g. blood, liver, kidney and bones



à Found in drinking water, rivers, soil, and ocean all around the globe

à Found in peoples and wildlife’s blood up to the Arcticà 99% of US population has PFAS in its blood (Calafat et

al., 2007.)

à And it’s rising!

They are also ‘Everywhere Chemicals’!

Northern gannet Morus bassanusSentinel for marine contamination (top predator)

PFAS concentration in eggs

Source: Walker et al., 2015.

à Found in increasing concentration in wildlife

Bass Rock colonyNorth Sea

Ailsa Craig colonySW Scotland



1975

1975

2015

2015

1995

1995

PFA

SPF

AS



What do we know about their toxicity?

Many of the thousands of PFAS in use are lacking toxicological data

Some PFAS have been proven to be:• Possible carcinogen (e.g. kidney, testes)• EDCs (e.g. thyroid disease)• Reprotoxic (e.g. reduced birthweight and

sperm quality, delayed puberty, early menopause)

• Immunotoxic (e.g. reduce response of children to vaccine)

à new data published every yearChronic PFAS exposure in bottlenose dolphins: à effects on immune, blood, kidney, and liver functions. Fair et al., 2013

Photo: Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures


Some PFAS are extremely mobile in water

Soil à Groundwater à Drinking water

à Pose a threat to drinking water

Sewage system à River à Sea

No equivalent PFAS monitoring data exists in the EU Figure: Worldbeyondwar.org

Water treatment plants currently ineffective in removing PFAS

from drinking water


PFAS in water

Source: Reuters, March 2019

PFAS in water treatment plant sludge

PFAS contaminated sludge spread on field

PFAS move into the grass

The cow eat PFAS contaminated grass

PFAS contaminates the milk

High mobility in water à migrate into plants and vegetables


PFAS in biodegradable food containers can leach into compost

Figure: ScienceNews, 4 June 2019 / Data: Choi et al., 2019.

PFAS in compost from facilities that do and don’t accept biodegradable food containers

150 ng/kg bw/dayTolerable daily intake (TDI) of PFOSEFSA, 2008

Estimated daily exposure of UK babies to PFOS through breastfeedingCOT, 2014

Max 59 ng/kg bw/day

Min 8.6 ng/kg bw/day

PFO

S da

ily in

take


Based on state of knowledge in 2008

150 ng/kg bw/dayTolerable daily intake (TDI) of PFOSEFSA, 2008

1.86 ng/kg bw/day

Revised TDIof PFOSEFSA, 2018

Estimated daily exposure of UK babies to PFOS through breastfeedingCOT, 2014

Max 59 ng/kg bw/day

Min 8.6 ng/kg bw/day

PFO

S da

ily in

take




New evidence on:• Rise in

cholesterol • Reduced

birthweights• Suppressed

immune response

• Liver damage

> 4,730 PFASà Toxicological data lacking for many of themà All extremely persistent à Only two banned globally (PFOS in 2009 and PFOA in 2019)


PFAS – the ‘Forever Chemicals’Current regulatory system is inadequate, and not protective enough

à Leads to regrettable substitution

à When a regulated chemical is being replaced with a currently unregulated one, potentially as problematic as the one it replaces

à Chemical regulation is a never ending story

6. Synthesis

àWhat we can do about it


Synthesis

Persistent chemicals are building up in the environment putting future generations at risk


> 100,000 synthetic chemical substances on the market

28% hazardous to the environment - 75% to the human health (in volume in the EU)

Wildlife populations are collapsing, biodiversity is in crisis

Human Health issues linked to environmental cause are on the rise

Persistent toxic chemicals from the past are poisoning the present and will poison the future

Thousands of persistent chemicals are in use despite lacking toxicological data

> 2.3 billion tonnes produced every year – x3 by 2050

Maybe it’s time to stop using the ‘world as a laboratory’


à We need to reduce the burden of toxic chemicals on humans, wildlife and the ecosystems.

Cut the source Clean up the mess

Chemicals of concern in products

Chemicals of concern in the environment

à Very challengingà Often technically infeasibleà Limited to hot spotà Extremely costly

àChallenge in the context of the circular economy (Avoid putting it back in the loop via recycling)

àNeed to detoxify the circular economy

à REACH is currently the best chemical regulation in the world.

à But still many flaws in the current system.

Where do we act? Persistent chemical pollutants webinar25/09/2019 – J. Schneider

Identify stocks Identify products in use

Destroy

Identify the hot spot

Clean up

Ban chemicals of concernLimit uses in certain application

Chemical regulation

EU: REACHGlobal: Stockholm ConventionUK post Brexit: ?


Some limits of the current system‘If you don’t look, you don’t find’

àMajor gaps in monitoring and biomonitoring programs, not suited to detect emerging contaminants of concern in time.

‘No data, No problem’

àThere are many things we don’t know (eg. Toxicity of thousands of chemicals) àAnd limits to our understanding (eg. Cocktail effect, ecosystem impact)àThe current system is not protective enough

Too slow!àOnly 0.1% of industrial chemicals regulated by global treatyàNeed to accelerate!

àReplace current approach regulating ‘chemical by chemical’ by an approach regulating ‘groups of chemicals’


à Need to enhance the regulatory frameworks for persistent chemicals

à Need to adopt a grouping approach for chemical regulation

à Persistence alone should be a criteria for stringent regulation

How to accelerate / have a more protective system

à The aim is to make it impossible for persistent chemicals to build up in the environment

àPoliticians and regulators need a sense of urgency to start addressing the issueàThey need public pressureà Industry needs regulatory pressure

à This is what we need the most: to raise the profile of the issue of persistent chemical pollution in the public debate


“Many Europeans believe the risk from contaminants is lower today than a couple of decades ago.”European Environmental Agency, 2018

Make it visible!


The UK government is working on a new Chemical Strategy(call for evidence planed for spring 2020):àUs as NGO we need to coordinate how we respond to that.àWe can use it as an opportunity to raise the profile of the issue of chemical pollution, including

from persistent chemicals.àCould write a join letter to the environment minister ahead of the new strategy to prioritise the

issue of persistent chemicals. Would you be interested?àWould you be interested in participating in a workshop on the issue of persistent chemicals to

discuss solutions and actions?

Actions proposed

Raising awareness:àHow could we help your organization raising awareness on the issue of chemical pollution?àWhat sort of story your members would be interested with?

UpcomingCHEM Trust

briefing

à Sign up to our Newsletter and follow us on Facebook for public facing stories on chemicals.

Thank you for your attention


Additional resources

CHEM Trust, 2008. Effects of Pollutants on the Reproductive Health of Male Vertebrate Wildlife – Males Under Threat. https://www.chemtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Male-Wildlife-Under-Threat-2008-full-report.pdf

CHEM Trust, 2013. Persistent organic pollutants and indicators of otter health: other factors at play? https://www.chemtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Otter-Health-Pollutants-V8-DesignedV4-FINAL.pdf

IPEN, 2018. Ocean pollutants guide. https://ipen.org/news/new-release-ipen-ocean-pollutants-guide-now-available

IPEN, 2018. Toxic Loophole: Recycling Hazardous Waste Into New Products. https://ipen.org/documents/toxic-loophole-recycling-hazardous-waste-new-products

Rebecca Altman, 2019. Time-bombing the future. https://aeon.co/essays/how-20th-century-synthetics-altered-the-very-fabric-of-us-all

à All references used in this presentation are listed in the comment box of each slide

Here are some extra resources:

https://www.chemtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Male-Wildlife-Under-Threat-2008-full-report.pdf

https://www.chemtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Otter-Health-Pollutants-V8-DesignedV4-FINAL.pdf

https://ipen.org/news/new-release-ipen-ocean-pollutants-guide-now-available

https://ipen.org/documents/toxic-loophole-recycling-hazardous-waste-new-products

https://aeon.co/essays/how-20th-century-synthetics-altered-the-very-fabric-of-us-all

invisible threats from persistent chemical pollutants...persistent chemical pollutants webinar...

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