Development of environmental risk assessment framework and methodology for consumer product chemicals in China

Abstract

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) methodologies for consumer product chemicals are well established in most developed regions including the United States, Canada, and the European Union. However, such methodologies are not yet fully developed for emerging economies, such as China. The objective of the present study was to develop an ERA framework involving an exposure methodology using conditions specific to China (i.e., physical setting, infrastructure, and consumers’ habits and practice). Incorporated in this newly developed ERA framework for assessing consumer product chemicals were China's current regulatory screening and prioritization schemes as part of a tiered risk assessment approach. The framework started with tier 0, which utilized the existing Chinese regulatory qualitative method; tiers 1 and 2 were quantitative, and used deterministic and probabilistic methods that accounted for per capita residential water usage, wastewater treatment capability, and wastewater/in‐stream dilution factors. Due to major differences in wastewater treatment infrastructure and water usage between urban versus rural regions in China, 2 scenarios were identified for quantitatively assessing environmental exposure: 1) urban with wastewater treatment, and 2) rural without wastewater treatment (i.e., direct discharge of wastewater). Our study presents the methodology of the framework with its technical rationale and the companion model Chera, and also provides an overview of the current status of ERA research in China. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:250–261. © 2018 SETAC

Spatial modeling framework for aquatic exposure assessments of chemicals disposed down the drain: Case studies for China and Japan

“…Higher water usage occurs in the East, South, and Southeast areas, while lower usage occurs in the more arid North and West. This difference in daily per capita water use between provinces in China was previously observed by Fan et al (2019), who estimated a rural per capita water use of 87 L/day and an urban per capita water use of 172 L/day, which is consistent with the data used in this study.…”

“…Wastewater treatment infrastructure has significantly improved over the past 10 years in China due to both economic development and increased environmental awareness among the government and citizens (Fan et al, 2019). In this model, 66% of the population (905 million) was served by WWTPs.…”

“…Important considerations include identifying chemicals with high potential for adverse impact to humans and the environment early in the assessment, while also recognizing regional differences in the levels of economic and infrastructure development as well as environmental conditions. Fan et al (2019) developed a tiered ERA approach for chemicals disposed down the drain in China (Figure S11). Tier 0 adopted the qualitative approach described in China's regulatory guidance document, "The Draft Guidelines for Risk Assessment of Chemicals" (China Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2011), which is based upon scoring exposure and hazard and then calculating a risk score.…”

“…The arid areas of North and Western China have low populations and limited wastewater treatment infrastructure. Significant differences in wastewater treatment in urban and rural areas of China have been observed by other researchers (Dong et al, 2012;Fan et al, 2019;Guo et al, 2014). To more accurately evaluate the environmental exposure where no WWTPs are available, we have introduced additional treatment methodologies into the model, on-site, and direct discharge facilities (Figure 2C).…”