Priority Lists of Chemicals

EPA. 1991. Twenty-seventh report of the Interagency Testing Committee to the administrator receipt of report and request for comments regarding priority list of chemicals. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Federal Register 56(44) 9534. 

This article describes the strategy on endocrine-disrupting substances issued by the European Commission last December, and details why its short-term goal to compile a priority list of chemicals for research and testing has been attacked by industry, environmentalists and scientists alike. 

Fay RM, Mumtaz MM 1996. Development of a priority list of chemical mixtures, occurring at 1188 hazardous waste sites, using HazDat database. Food Chem Toxicol 34 1163-1165. 

The Ministry of VROM is therefore also responsible for all formal tasks related to the procedures to derive, evaluate and formalize prohit functions. These tasks, that are described below in more detail, include the installation of a scientific expert panel, the establishment of a priority list of chemicals for which probit... 

From the wide variety of emerging pollutants of industrial origin that could be considered here, bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalate esters (PE) are of especial relevance not only because of the high volumes produced and their widespread use, but also because of their demonstrated toxicity, particularly as endocrine disrupters. Both of them have been included in the final report of the European Commission toward the establishment of a priority list of endocrine disrupter chemicals, EDCs [3], and have been rated as of high risk of exposure for human and wildlife populations. Because of their structural characteristics these compounds cannot be included in any of the groups described above, so they will be described in this section (see Fig. 10). 

Another piece of legislative action to be considered is the OSPAR strategy regarding hazardous substances, known as the Convention for the protection of the marine environment of North-Atlantic . Among the OSPAR list of chemicals of priority action, surfactants NPEOs and so-called related substances, such as NP, are included among other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like PCBs, PAHs and Hg, indicating that these compounds show a risk to the marine environment. 

Following considerations based on usage information, physico-chemical properties, and persistence, a priority list of herbicides was established for the Mediterranean countries, i.e., France, Italy, Greece, and Spain ([168, 182, 183] Table 6). This list considers selected herbicides which can cause contamination of estuarine and coastal environments. The selection of pollutants has been based on the availability of usage data and the consideration of half-lives [182,183]. 

OSPAR List of Chemicals for Priority Action (1998) Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs)... 

Abstract Phthalates are chemicals that have been used for over 80 years in large quantities due to their wide range of applications, mainly in the plastic industry. For many years, these compounds were not considered dangerous for humans due to their low toxicity shown in the preliminary studies and their low persistence. However, research conducted in recent years has evidenced their activity as endocrine disrupters, and they are now considered as emerging contaminants and included in the priority list of dangerous substances in the legislation of many countries. This chapter provides an overview on the properties, major uses, emission sources, environmental and human levels, current legislation, behavior and fate of phthalates, and their metabolites, with special emphasis on their toxicity and human exposure. 

At present the risk assessment of contaminated objects is mainly based on the chemical analyses of a priority list of toxic substances. This analytical approach does not allow for mixture toxicity, nor does it take into account the bioavailability of the pollutants present. In this respect, bioassays provide an alternative because they constitute a measure for environmentally relevant toxicity, that is, the effects of a bioavailable fraction of an interacting set of pollutants in a complex environmental matrix [9-12]. 

It is estimated that approximately 100,000 chemical compounds have been produced industrially [2,3] and many of them are harmful to human health and to the environment. However, only 7% of the largest-volume chemicals require toxicity screening [2]. In the United States, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintain a list, in order of priority, of substances that are determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human health due to their known or suspected toxicity. This Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Priority List of Hazardous Substances was first issued in 1999 and includes 275 substances (www.atsdr.cdc.gov/clist.html). 

The short-term actions include (1) establishment of a priority list of substances for further evaluation of their role in endocrine disruption monitoring levels of suspect chemicals in food and the environment (2) identification of vulnerable groups of people (such as children) who need to be given special consideration (3) establishment of an international network to enable information exchange and coordination of research and testing and (4) communication with the public and continuing consultation with stakeholders. 

With the joint capabilities of this network, the following sectors corresponding to the CCQM priority list of areas where traceability of chemical measurements is particularly important, can be addressed ... 

APPENDIX 31 INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS BASED ON THE PRIORITY LIST OF THE EPA, IRC, AND EEC... 

Make suggestions for modification or expansion of the Chemical Priority List by providing lists of chemicals and supporting rationale for their priority to the designated federal officer (DEO). 

More than 30000 of the commercially available chemicals have recorded production volumes of greater than 1 tonne and, of these, 5200 are known as high volume production chemicals, produced in quantities of more than 1000 tonnes. It is difficult to know exactly how many chemicals are available in the marketplace at any one time but estimates are in tens of thousands and for the high volume production chemicals the manufacturers or importers are required to submit information suitable for risk assessment to the European Commission. The details include information available on the uses of the chemical and on the physicochemical and toxicological properties. From these details the Commission has prepared priority lists of potentially hazardous substances that require more detailed testing and assessment. 

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