Global Historical Production, Use, In-Use Stocks, and Emissions of Short-, Medium-, and Long-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins

Abstract

The last few decades have seen ubiquitous and increasing contamination of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) worldwide. Here, we develop the first global inventories of production, use, in-use stocks, and emissions of total CPs, including the short-, medium- and long-chain components (SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs) during 1930–2020 using a dynamic substance flow analysis model named Chemical in Products Comprehensive Anthroposhpheric Fate Estimation. The model estimates that a total of ∼33 million metric tons of CPs have been produced and used globally, ∼40% of which still resided in in-use products by 2020 and is available for long-term emissions in the next decades. Global cumulative emissions of CPs have increased to ∼5.2 million metric tons by 2020, with SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs accounting for ∼30, 40, and 30%, respectively. While the production, use, and emissions of CPs started declining in regions such as Western Europe, they remain high in China. The model also suggests that homologues with 10, 14, and 22–23 carbons were predominant in the cumulatively produced and emitted SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs, respectively. The emission estimates were evaluated by generating environmental concentrations that are comparable to literature-reported environmental monitoring data. Our estimates provide opportunities to link the environmental fate and occurrence of CPs to emission sources and lay the basis for future risk-reduction strategies of CPs around the world.

Dietary Intake Contributed the Most to Chlorinated Paraffin Body Burden in a Norwegian Cohort

“…The concentrations of SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs in the plasma samples were significantly correlated ( p < 0.05, Table S11), which might be an indication that these mixtures often have been used together either intentionally, such as the CP technical mixtures produced with mixed chain length classes, , or in the form of impurities . No significant differences in CP concentrations were observed between genders or in different age groups in the plasma ( p < 0.05, Table S12).…”

“…Nowadays, CPs have become one of the most popular plasticizers, additives to metal-machining fluids, paints, coatings and sealants, and flame retardants . The annual global production of CPs, over 1.3 million metric tons, exceeds the total amount of PCBs that have ever been produced . CPs are synthesized by chlorination of straight alkanes.…”

What do we know about the production and release of persistent organic pollutants in the global environment?

“…The highest priority was given to data in peer-reviewed scientific articles that synthesize, evaluate, and reconcile long-term information sourced from various datasets with global coverage, such as inventories for organochlorine pesticides, 3,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] PCBs, 2, 14 PBDEs, 32 HBCDD, 33 PFOS, 34 PFOA, 35 and SCCPs. 4 This is because these inventories are considered to meet the gold standards for quality assurance and quality control in the chemical inventory development: they are transparent (with full documentation of methodologies, data, procedures, results, and associated uncertainties), complete (with comprehensive coverage of emission sources throughout the life cycle), consistent (that is, not a patchwork of national or regional estimates derived using different methodologies), accurate (with thorough evaluation or verification against environmental monitoring data), and with spatial and temporal resolutions. When data were not available from these studies, we took information from the International Programme on Chemical Safety's Environmental Health Criteria monograph series, the International Agency for Research on Cancer's Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans monograph series, the chemical background documents prepared for the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (the OSPAR Convention), and the chemical risk profile documents prepared for the Stockholm Convention's POPs Review Committee.…”

Temporal Trends and Age-Dependent Sex Differences in Chlorinated Paraffin Accumulation in Moose

“…New chemical entities have replaced PCBs for industrial uses such as metal-working fluids, plasticizers, and flame retardants, and the primary replacement is chlorinated paraffins (CPs) . Today, the annual global production of CPs exceeds 1.3 million metric tons, which is equivalent to the total cumulative historical production of PCBs . CPs are polychlorinated straight-chain alkanes.…”

“…11 Today, the annual global production of CPs exceeds 1.3 million metric tons, which is equivalent to the total cumulative historical production of PCBs. 12 CPs are polychlorinated straight-chain alkanes. They are produced in the form of mixtures of C n H 2n+2−m Cl m homologues (C n Cl m ) of varying chain lengths (n) and different numbers of chlorines (m) with limited substitution selectivity.…”