1. Chemicals of concern
Session 3 – looking across product sectors to track and manage chemicals of concerns. A thought starter
Sandra Averous and Jacqueline Alvarez – 16 January – Project Inception workshop, Geneva

2. INPUTS: energy, water, materials, chemicals, land
Lifecycle thinking
End of life
Consumer use
Distribution and retail
Production
Raw materials
INPUTS: energy, water, materials, chemicals, land
OUTPUTS: greenhouse gases, emissions, effluent, solid waste
RESULT: climate change, resource depletion, air, water and soil pollution
LCA transforms data on products and processes into insights and enables businesses to implement the most profitable and high impact sustainability initiatives. 2

3. A value chain approach for each sector
HC = Hazardous chemicals,
CoC = Chemicals of concern
HC / CoC impact on workers
HC / CoC impact on environment overall
HC / CoC impact on consumers
HC/CoC impact on informal sector, and in particular women and children. 3

4. Chemicals of Concern
Chemicals that are mutagenic, carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction, endocrine disrupters (EDCs), neurotoxic, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) may have serious and often irreversible effects on human health and the environment.
Toxic contaminants in products can also be a barrier to a shift towards a circular economy, as shown by the example of plastic from products containing brominated flame retardants being recycled into toys, resulting in high levels (up to 1194ppm) of the new POPs PBDE and/or HBCD being detected in some cases. In 2017, the UN Environment Assembly proposed a science-based approach to prioritize harmful ‘hard-hitting’ pollutants. These chemicals of concern (CoC) are grouped into three categories according to the level of scientific evidence to justify interventions 18 (Table 1).
The first category are globally recognized hazardous chemicals for which international multilateral environmental agreements exist, including POPs, mercury and ozone depleting substances. The second category are chemicals for which scientific evidence is well established, and includes heavy metals and SAICM EPIs including lead paint, perfluorinated compounds such as PFOS, and environmentally persistent pharmaceutical products (EPPP). Many of these chemicals are known to be highly problematic and have been banned or regulated in many countries/ regions, even where a global ban is not yet in place or proposed. The third category is chemicals for which scientific evidence is still emerging such as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Chemicals in this third category may be restricted in more developed countries/regions and by pioneering global brands, but are not widely regulated on a global level. Existing restrictions are based on hazard-based lists such as the SIN list19, the Clean Production Action’s GreenScreen List Translator, US state lists of chemicals hazardous for children20, the EU REACH annexes, the Endocrine Disruption Exchange list of potential EDC, the Green Science Policy Institute ‘six classes’ approach. 4

5. Sub-categories of focus:
Buildings:
insulation materials,
coatings,
carpets,
furniture
lights?
Electronics: TBD
Toys: Plastics toys, Textiles Toys, Electronic toys.... 5

6. Root causes and barriers to manage Chemicals of Concern
Lack of transparency in supply chains
Lack of economic and market based incentives for producers to track and manage hazardous chemicals in their products and supply chains
Lack of regulatory drivers for increased transparency
Lack of quantitative sustainability assessment of hazardous chemicals and their alternatives, leading to ‘regrettable substitutions’ - 1( 1- 6

7. Discussion What are the criteria for selecting CoC?
What should be the products/material in focus, for each of the 3 sectors?
Which additional Chemicals of Concerns (CoCs) in the 3 sectors do we need to consider: Buildings, Electronics and Toys?
Are there identified alternative substances to the identified CoCs?
Are there alternative business models and value chains, that would soundly manage these chemicals of concern? 7

8. Thank you www.unenvironment.org
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All in Roboto Regular 9pt..