Toxicity, bioaccumulation

The Danish List of Undesirable Substances is a list of chemicals of concern that the government believes should be avoided to the extent feasible in commerce. Using a systematic analysis, substances are selected automatically if they meet some clear and defined criteria, for example, problematic classifications, because they are imder suspicion for being PBT/vPvB (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic/very Persistent, very Bio accumulative) or endocrine-disrupting. 

Amot JA, Mackay D (2008) Policies for chemical hazard and risk priority setting can persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and quantity information be combined Environ Sci Technol 42(13) 4648 1654... 

Berthet, B., J.C. Amiard, C. Amiard-Triquet, M. Martoja, and A.Y. Jeantet. 1992. Bioaccumulation, toxicity and physico-chemical speciation of silver in bivalve molluscs ecotoxicological and health consequences. Sci. Total Environ. 125 97-122. 

Persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs) Pollutants that have slow degradation rates and high bioaccumulahon factors. 

It is not possible to achieve "adequate control" of the risks of persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals. The fact that traditional risk assessment cannot reasonably be applied to such chemicals, and that a revised PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic) assessment is necessary, is explicitly recognised in the EU s Technical Guidance Document for risk assessment. Their intrinsic properties mean that there is a high risk of exposure at sometime during the lifecycle of the chemical or the article that contains it. Even small releases, if they are continuous, can result in significant exposures. This is why we see significant and, in some cases, escalating levels of brominated flame retardants, nonylphenols and other persistent chemicals in breast milk, umbilical cord blood and human tissue. 

The hazardous waste identification regulations that define the characteristics of toxicity, ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and the tests for these characteristics, differ from state to state. In addition, concentration limits may be set out by a state for selected persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances that commonly occur in hazardous substances. For example, the California Hazardous Waste Control Act requires the California State Department of Health Services (CDHS) to develop and adopt by regulation criteria and guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes and extremely hazardous wastes. 

The US EPA lists chlordane as a persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemical. In 1978, the EPA cancelled use of chlordane on food crops and by 1988 all use was banned. 

The partition coefficient Kq of an organic compound in the 1-octanol/water system is used to assess the bioaccumulation potential and the distribution pattern of drugs and pollutants. The partition coefficient of imidazole and ILs strongly depends on the hydrogen bond formed by these molecules and is less than one due to the high solubility in water. The low value of the 1-octanol/water partition coefficient is required for new substances, solvents, insecticides to avoid bioaccumulation. Kqw is an extremely important quantity because it is the basis of correlations to calculate bioaccumulation, toxicity, and sorption to soils and sediments. Computing the activity of a chemical in human, fish, or animal lipid, which is where pollutants that are hydrophobic will appear, is a difficult task. Thus, it is simpler to measure the 1-octanol/water partition coefficient. This parameter is used as the primary parameter characterizing hydrophobisity. 

California Administrative Code (1987) Title 22, Section 66699 "Inorganic Persistent and Bioaccumulative Toxic Substances". 

In California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 22, the State of California imposes additional requirements for the disposal of waste containing 20 inorganic and 18 organic persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances (CCR, 1991). Hazardous characteristics of waste streams contaminated with these substances are determined as Total Threshold Limit Concentrations (TTLQ and Soluble Threshold Limit Concentrations (STLC), shown in Appendix 4. 

This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Vince (J. Vincent) Nabholz, who died suddenly on February 23, 2008. He was a graduate of Christian Brothers University, received a PhD from the University of Georgia, and was senior biologist and ecologist with the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, where he served for 29 years, and where he chaired their Structure-Activity Team for the last two decades. He was the principal author of USEPA s ECOSAR computer program, which also is one of the three key elements in Persistence Bioaccumulation Toxicity (PBT), one of the most frequently used (Q)SAR tools of all time. 

The ultimate goals of the LRI are to fill the knowledge gap that is distorting public debate replace misinformation with scientific data increase the knowledge of the potential impacts that chemicals may have on the health of human and wildlife populations and the environment, especially sensitive sub-populations replace decisions based on hazard alone with decisions based on risk address issues such as bio-monitoring, methodologies, endocrine disruption and provide alternatives to animal testing and persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances (PBTs). 

Chlorinated organics 0.5 kg ton pulp (less Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic)... 

Preventive Measures Unless voluntary measures are proven sufficient, the precautionary approach requires anticipatory regulation. If a substance can be substituted with a suitable, better known and less hazardous substance or non-chemical option, then that should be the first priority. Secondly, partial or full restrictions can be implemented on substances that are precautionarily classified as being persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic or otherwise hazardous. 

Phenomena such as chemical and biological transformations, metal mobility, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and persistence in the environment frequently depend on the chemical form or speciation of a given ion, especially the metallic ions. For example, there is normally a great difference between the sorption behavior of a free metal cation and that of its anionic complexes onto mineral oxides and hydroxides. 

USEPA (1999). Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT) Chemicals Proposed Rule, Federal Register, 64, 699, Washington, DC, USA. 

The TRI program has changed over the 18-year program life with chemicals added and deleted from the list of chemicals tracked. For example, sulfuric acid was delisted in 1994 but persistent-bioaccumulative-toxic (PBT) chemicals were added in 1999. Mining and electrical utilities were included in TRI beginning in the 1998 reporting year. 

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act charges Environment Canada with controlling toxic substances, reducing pollution, and eliminating persistent bioaccumulating toxic substances. Enforcement officers are given the power to issue environmental protection compliance orders on the spot to stop illegal activity and correct any violations of the act. 

In addition to the LCIA methodology, one may report substances of priority concern, such as those identified as persistent and bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs), as a separate metric. Both approaches are in fact used in companies, as illustrated in the case studies of GlaxoSmithKline (Section 6.1.2) and BASF (Section 6.1.3). 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Bushman, D. R., Guidance documents for dioxin and dioxin-like compounds and other persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemicals. Community right-to-know toxic chemical release reporting. Fed. Reg., 65(116), 37548, June 2000, www.epa.gov/tri. 

US EPA. 1999. Federal Register, Part VII, 40 CFR Part 372 Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT) Chemicals Final Rule, Vol. 64, No. 209, Friday, October 29,1999. 

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Bioaccumulation Toxicity Persistent UNEP Chemicals Programme Rotterdam Convention Stockholm Convention 1997... 

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