Webinar recordings:
Part I: Understanding POPs in plastics
Day 1: April 24, 2023 recording
Day 2: April 25, 2023 recording
Part II: Sampling of plastics from major sectors to monitor POPs in plastics
Friday, May 19, 2023 recording
Part III: Extraction, clean-up, and analysis of POPs in plastics
Day 1: Monday, May 22, 2023 recording
Day 2: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 recording
Host: International Panel in Chemical Pollution, IPCP
Background: To promote a circular economy of plastics, hazardous chemicals used in plastics production need to be controlled or substituted. Several POPs newly listed in the Stockholm Convention since 2009 are plastic additives, including brominated flame retardants (PBDEs, HBCD, HBB), chlorinated flame retardant/plasticizer (SCCP) and plastic/polymer related fluorinated POPs (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS). Two other plastic additives are proposed for listing as POPs at the Conference of Parties: the flame retardant Dechlorane Plus and the UV stabilizer UV-328. Furthermore, a recent study by UNEP(1) has found that 13,000 chemicals are associated with plastics and plastic production across a wide range of applications, of which over 3,200 substances are of potential concern due to their hazardous properties. Scientific knowledge and analytical capacity need to be strengthened to support effective decision making at the national and regional levels, and to address priority issues such as plastics/pellets and the health and environmental risks of POPs additives. Therefore, UNEP has initiated in the frame of the GEF-funded POPs Global Monitoring Plan (GMP) projects an initial capacity building and monitoring of POPs in plastics, in particular, in recycled plastic pellets. This includes a series of webinar organised by the International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP).
(1) UNEP (2023) Chemicals in plastics: a technical report. https://www.unep.org/resources/report/chemicals-plastics-technical-report.
The objective: Part I of this webinar series (on April 24 and 25) provided an overview on relevant POP groups (and other chemicals of concern) in plastics and some insights into related human exposure and environmental pollution including biota. Part II (on May 19) introduced screening and sampling strategies of plastic categories potentially containing POPs, such as plastics in electronics and vehicles or recycled pellets. Part III (on May 22 and 23) focused on extraction and clean-up methods of plastic samples for POP analysis as well as the instrumental analysis of the major POP groups.
Audience: Authorities in environmental ministries working on POPs, plastics, environmental monitoring or circular economy; researchers interested in chemicals in plastics and others interested in plastic management and assessment of POPs and related chemicals.
Background UN guidance document: UNEP (2021). Guidance on sampling, screening and analysis of persistent organic pollutants in products and recycling. Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva. http://chm.pops.int/Implementation/NationalImplementationPlans/Guidance/tabid/7730/Default.aspx (available under “Inventories” tab).
Webinar program & slides:
Part I: Understanding POPs in Plastics
Day 1: April 24, 2023
| Time (CEST) | Topic | Speaker | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00-12:05 | Welcome | Martin Scheringer (IPCP chair) and Roland Weber (IPCP; POPs Environmental Consulting) | |
| 12:05-12:15 | The importance of chemicals in plastics and relevance to international environmental agenda | Sandra Averous-Monnery (UNEP) | |
| 12:15-12:25 | IPCP supporting Science-Policy making | Martin Scheringer (IPCP chair) | |
| 12:25-13:00 | Short introduction to polymers, plastics, additives, and other plastic-related chemicals | Roland Weber | slides |
| 13:00-13:50 | POPs and selected other chemicals of concern in plastics-human exposure from some plastic priority sectors
Q&As from the chat |
Roland Weber
Liza Zvereva (Univ. of Toronto) |
slides |
| 13:50-14:00 | Short Break | All | |
| 14:00-14:40 | Plastic-mediated long-range transport of additives in marine environments and their bioaccumulation through plastic ingestion | Hideshige Takada (Tokyo University of Agriculture; Pellet Watch; IPCP) | slides |
| 14:40-15:05 | POPs in plastic and contamination of the terrestrial environment and the food chain | Yuyun Ismawati (IPEN, Nexus3 Foundation) | slides |
| 15:05-15:35 | Short overview on international Conventions to control plastics and related hazardous chemicals | Roland Weber | slides |
| 15:35-16:00 | Q&As from the chat; Webinar wrap-up |
Day 2: April 25, 2023
| Time (CEST) | Topic | Speaker | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00-12:05 | Welcome (IPCP; POPs Environmental Consulting) | Martin Scheringer (IPCP chair) and Roland Weber (IPCP; POPs Environmental Consulting) | |
| 12:05-12:45 | Introduction to Brominated POPs (PBDEs, HBCD, HBB) in plastics and recycling | Roland Weber | slides |
| 12:45-13:00 | Recycling PBDEs to new products including toys and consumer products | Natsuko Kajiwara (NIES, Japan; IPCP) | slides |
| 13:00-13:45 | Introduction to short-chain and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP/MCCPs) in plastics and some lessons learned from PCB in plastics | Roland Weber | slides |
| 13:45-14:00 | Monitoring of chlorinated paraffins in plastic products
Q&As from the chat |
Yago Guida (NIES, Japan; IPCP)
Roland Weber |
slides |
| 14:00-14:10 | Break | All | |
| 14:10-14:30 | Introduction to the POP candidate Dechlorane Plus in plastics and suggested exemptions for use in plastics | Agustin Harte (BRS Secretariat) | slides |
| 14:30-15:15 | Introduction to fluorinated POPs (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and other PFAS) related to polymers & plastics | Ian Cousins (Stockholm University; IPCP) | slides |
| 15:15-15:35 | Introduction to the POP candidate UV-328 in plastics and suggested exemptions for use in plastics | Narain Asta (EMPA) | slides |
| 15:35-16:00 | Q&As from the chat, Closure of the webinar | Roland Weber |
Part II: Sampling of plastics from major sectors to monitor POPs in plastics
Friday, May 19, 2023
| Time (CEST) | Topic | Speaker | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00-12:05 | Welcome | Martin Scheringer (IPCP chair) and Roland Weber (IPCP) | |
| 12:05-12:30 | UNEP “Draft guidance on sampling, screening and analysis of persistent organic pollutants in products and recycling” Part I | Roland Weber (IPCP; POPs Environmental Consulting) | slides |
| 12:30-13:20 | Sampling of POPs in plastic in major POPs use sectors | Roland Weber (IPCP) | slides |
| 13:20-13:40 | Sampling plastics recyclates in selected GRULAC countries and information on recycling situation | Yago Guida (NIES Japan; IPCP) | slides |
| 13:40-14:00 | Q&As from the chat | All | |
| 14:00-14:10 | Short Break | All | |
| 14:10-14:35 | Sampling plastics recyclates in Nigeria and information on recycling situation | Innocent Nnorom (Abia State University, Nigeria) | slides |
| 14:35-14:55 | Sampling plastics recyclates in Thailand and information on recycling situation | Nudjarin Ramungul (MTEC, Thailand) | slides |
| 14:55-15:15 | Screening of brominated and chlorinated additives in plastic pellets | Natsuko Kajiwara (NIES Japan; IPCP) | slides |
| 15:15-15:45 | Monitoring of PFAS in products & recycling including screening methods for fluorine in plastics, side-chain fluoropolymer coatings and other materials | Roland Weber (IPCP) | slides |
| 15:45-16:00 | Q&As from the chat; Webinar wrap-up | IPCP; All |
Part III: Extraction, clean-up, and analysis of POPs in plastics
Day 1: Monday, May 22, 2023
| Time (CEST) | Topic | Speaker | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00-12:05 | Welcome | Anna Soehl (IPCP Executive Director) and Roland Weber (IPCP) | |
| 12:05-12:25
12:25-13:00 13:00-13:30 |
Some lessons learned to protect the analytical instrument when analysing POPs in plastic
Extraction of POPs in plastic with static extraction Extraction of POPs by dissolution and precipitation of plastics |
Ludwig Gruber (Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Germany) | slides |
| 13:30-13:50 | Q&As from the chat | All | |
| 13:50–14:00 | Break | All | |
| 14:00-14:20 | Experience of capacity building on extracting and analysing POPs in plastic in Africa | Omotayo Sindiku (University, Ibadan, Nigeria) | slides |
| 14:20-14:40 | UV-activated Total Oxidizable Precursor (TOP) Assay – option to “extract” PFOS, PFOA and other PFAS from side-chain fluoropolymers? | Jun Huang (Tsinghua University, China) | slides |
| 14:40-15:10 | Screening of brominated flame retardants in WEEE plastic without extraction by FT-IR | Nudjarin Ramungul (MTEC, Thailand) | slides |
| 15:10–15:35 | Screening of SCCPs/MCCPs and other plasticisers in PVC without extraction/clean-up by pyrolysis GC/MS | Nudjarin Ramungul (MTEC, Thailand) | slides |
| 15:35-16:00 | Q&As from the chat, Webinar wrap-up | IPCP; All |
Day 2: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
| Time (CEST) | Topic | Speaker | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00–12:05 | Welcome | Anna Soehl (IPCP Executive Director) & Roland Weber (IPCP) | |
| 12:05–12:30 | Instrumental analysis of brominated POPs | Natsuko Kajiwara (NIES, Japan; IPCP) | slides |
| 12:30–12:50 | Instrumental analysis of brominated POPs with GC-ECD | Omotayo Sindiku (University, Ibadan, Nigeria) | slides |
| 12:50–13:15 | Analysis of SCCPs and MCCPs with low resolution GC/MS | Jannik Sprengel (CVUA Stuttgart; Germany) | slides |
| 13:15–13:35 | Analysis of SCCPs and MCCPs with LC-MS/MS | Hidenori Matsukami (NIES, Japan) | slides |
| 13:35–13:50 | Q&As from the chat | All | |
| 13:50–14:00 | Break | All | |
| 14:00–14:25 | Instrumental analysis of new listed POPs Dechlorane Plus and UV-328 | Ludwig Gruber (Fraunhofer Institute, Germany) | slides |
| 14:25–14:40 | UNEP “Draft guidance on sampling, screening and analysis of persistent organic pollutants in products and recycling” Part II | Roland Weber (IPCP) | slides |
| 14:40–15:10 | Biomonitoring of certain POPs and endocrine disrupting chemicals in plastic | Peter Behnisch (BDS, The Netherlands) | slides |
| 15:10–15:30 | Q&As from the chat | All | |
| 15:30–15:40 | Closing remarks: The importance of chemicals in plastics and relevance to international environmental agenda | Sandra Averous-Monnery (UNEP) | |
| 15:40–15:45 | Closure of the webinar | IPCP |