On 17 September 2024 (14:00-16:30 CEST), the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP) hosted the online training webinar "Introduction to SCCP/MCCP and PFAS and Inventory Development".
The webinar introduced participants to the methodology of inventory development for industrial persistent organic pollutants (POPs), with a special focus on PFAS and short-chain and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs/MCCPs). These substances represent some of the most prevalent and persistent pollutants, with SCCPs/MCCPs still being produced and used in massive quantities globally—around 1 million tonnes per year.
Alarmingly, SCCPs/MCCPs are detected as the industrial POPs with the highest levels in human milk, and the levels of PFAS in humans frequently exceed the EU's tolerable weekly intake. Given these concerns, the webinar highlighted the urgent need for robust inventories to understand the major uses and presence of these POPs in products, which is crucial for controlling and reducing their use. Participants explored inventory methodologies for presumptive PFAS-contaminated sites, and met environmental professionals working on the front lines of pollution control.
Objectives
- Equip participants with an overview of the development of industrial POPs inventories and the relevant inventory steps and to understand why the simple sectoral inventory approach cannot address POP-PFAS and SCCPs/MCCPs.
- Provide relevant information on inventory development for POP- PFASs (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and related compounds) for current use, the presence in stocks like firefighting foams and waste streams and the high relevance of contaminated sites; provide countries with a methodology to establish an inventory of presumptive POP-PFAS contaminated sites.
- Provide relevant information on inventory development for SCCPs (and for MCCPs proposed for listing 2025) for current production, import/export, use in production, and the presence in products, stocks, waste streams and contaminated sites.
Target audience
- Stockholm Convention Official Contact Points and National Focal Points particularly from project countries
- National officials and experts involved in the process of reviewing and updating the NIPs
- Practitioners working on POPs inventory and management
- Members of NIP National Coordinating Mechanism/ Committees and Project Coordination Units/Thematic Task Groups
- Representatives of Regional Centers and relevant stakeholders
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CEST (GMT+2) 14:00 |
1. Welcome and opening remarks |
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Moderator: Anastasiya Buchok, Component 4, GGKP |
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Speakers: Dr. Roland Weber; POPs Environmental Consulting |
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14:05 |
Part A gives an overview of the development of industrial POPs inventories and the relevant inventory steps and discusses why POP-PFASs and SCCPs/MCCPs cannot be addressed by the simple sectoral inventory approach. |
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14:20 |
Part B provides relevant information on inventory development for POP-PFASs (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and related compounds) for current use, the presence in stocks, waste, and POP-PFAS contaminated sites. |
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15:00 |
Part C introduces the methodology for inventorying presumptive POP-PFAS contaminated sites as a first step for assessing and reducing human exposure from former releases of POP-PFAS. |
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15:20 |
Part D gives information on inventory development for SCCPs and MCCPs for current production, import/export, use in production, and the presence in products, stocks, waste, and contaminated sites. |
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16:00 |
Q&A session |
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16:30 |
Closing remarks |
In Russian: https://www.greenpolicyplatform.org/ZA2
In French: https://www.greenpolicyplatform.org/ZAX
In Spanish: https://www.greenpolicyplatform.org/ZAu