Risk Management Evaluation Endosulfan

Other considerations

Access to information and public education

213.Several Parties and observers have submitted information on the access to information and public education:

1. 
   Monitoring Network in the Alpine Region for Persistent and other Organic Pollutants: http://www.monarpop.at/;
   
2. 
   Environmental Agency Austria: http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/ummuki_symposium/;
   
3. 
   Information related to initiatives under the Canadian Environmental protection Act, 1999: http://www.ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/default.asp?lang=En&n=1FE509F3-1;
   
4. 
   Information on the assessment and management of substances in Canada: http://www.ec.gc.ca/toxiques-toxics/default.asp?lang=En&n=97324D33-1;
   
5. 
   Additional information on PFOA, its salts and its precursors is available from the Environment and Climate Change Canada website: http://www.ec.gc.ca/toxiques-toxics/Default.asp?lang=en&n=F68CBFF1-1 and concerning regulatory controls http://www.ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/default.asp?lang=En&n=3E603995-1;
   
6. 
   Norwegian Environment Agency: http://www.environment.no/;
   
7. 
   Access to data generated by FluoroCouncil members: https://fluorocouncil.com/Resources/Research;
   
8. 
   German Environment Agency: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/. The German Environment Agency has published a leaflet on the environmentally responsible use of fluorinated firefighting foams (German Environment Agency, 2013);
   
9. 
   Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: http://www.baua.de/de/Startseite.html;
   
10. 
    Swedish Chemicals Agency: www.kemi.se. Since PFAS contamination concerns many different stakeholders in the society and many authorities are involved in taking and developing various measures, a web based guide has been developed (in Swedish).
    

Status of control and monitoring capacity

214.PFOA has been measured in various media e.g. human blood and breast milk and in water, soil, sediment and biota including fish. Monitoring data from the database of the Environment Agency Austria (EAA) were provided (more details see Austria, 2016a).

215.In Canada, monitoring in environmental media and biota is used to evaluate the effectiveness of risk management controls and to measure progress towards eliminating PFOA in the Canadian environment. In addition, monitoring of PFOA is carried out as part of the Northern Contaminants Program which was established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated levels of contaminants in wildlife species that are important to the traditional diets of northern Indigenous people (NCP 2013).³⁰ Over the period of 2007-2015, mean PFAS concentrations (wet weight) in liver were consistently comprised mostly of PFOS and ΣPFCAs (low levels of PFOA but mostly C₉, C₁₀ and C₁₁ PFCAs). PFOS was consistently higher than ΣPFCAs, and it was consistently at ppm levels but at greater levels in southern Hudson Bay bears versus western Hudson Bay bears. There was no obvious increasing or decreasing trends for ΣPFCAs and PFOS for both.³¹

216.PFASs including PFOA are part of the Danish monitoring of the aquatic environment. In the period from 2008-2013 PFASs have been included in monitoring of point sources as well as streams, lakes and marine areas. PFOS and PFOA are the most frequently detected PFASs in streams and one of the most frequently detected compounds in wastewater treatment plant effluents. Both in streams and effluents, they are detected in highest concentrations. (Denmark, 2016).

217.PFASs, including PFOA, are included in the Swedish Environmental Surveillance Program³² and the Swedish health related monitoring program³³ (Sweden Comments on 2^nd draft RME). PFOA and other perfluorinated compounds are also monitored in humans in Canada, for example under the Northern Contaminants Program, Canadian Health Measures Survey and Canadian Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals.

218.PFAS including PFOA are monitored in human blood samples and urine from children and young adults. In the German Environmental Survey (GerES V) data are generated for the period from 2014-2017, PFAS is only one part of the study. The study also examines sources of pollutants such as indoor air and drinking water.³⁴

219.Many countries do not have the capacity to determine the products and wastes containing PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds, as well as to identify their presence in different environmental matrices. This needs to be considered regarding the compliance with the obligations established by the Convention because such lack of capacity prevents to establish inventories, to identify relevant wastes and to carry out the respective monitoring. For this reason it is recommended to carry out pilot projects that allow demonstrating which measures should be taken to achieve effective compliance (Colombia Comments on 2^nd draft RME).

220.According to the Annex F submission of IPEN many countries do not have the required infrastructure to adequately monitor production and use of PFOA (IPEN, 2016).

Synthesis of information

Summary of risk profile information

221.PFOA is persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic to animals, including humans. There is widespread occurrence of PFOA and a number of PFOA-related compounds in environmental compartments and in biota and humans. Therefore, it is concluded that PFOA, its salts and related compounds that degrade to PFOA are likely, as a result of their long-range environmental transport, to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects such that global action is warranted (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/11/Add.2).

222.It is difficult to predict confidently which specific uses and related releases contribute most to the risk, especially as there is such a diverse range of potential sources, and detailed information about most of them is lacking. Important potential sources of PFOA are considered to be the use of

side-chain fluorinated polymers in general, and specifically their use in the textile sector, and in manufacturing of fluoropolymers. Other important sources appear to be coatings and firefighting foam. Based on the available information, it is not possible to definitively identify specific uses of PFOA-related substances that will not contribute to PFOA emissions.

223. Annex E related submissions are compiled in a background document to the risk management evaluation (see UNEP/POPS/POPRC.13/INF/6). Other available data on production, uses and releases are compiled in the risk profile (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/11/Add.2).