Risk based management of chemicals and products in a circular economy at a global scale (risk cycle), extended producer responsibility and EU legislation

Abstract

Background: Global waste recycling streams are accompanied by pollutant emission and concentration of hazardous substances within material cycles. For the latter, the term "risk cycle" is introduced. E.g. the illegal or semi-legal export of hazardous wastes like electronic scrap in developing countries for recycling is associated with risks for man and the environment, based on toxic and/or persistent chemical components of the discarded products.Results: The problem of cycling of pollutants within global waste recycling streams (risk cycle) can be solved in principle with the aid of REACH regulations. According to the demands of the REACH guidance documents, risk cycle associated emissions would have to be identified during the development of exposure scenarios and to be reduced by risk management measures. This would also apply to chemicals in electronic scrap as they pose health risks to workers at recycling sites with poor working conditions e.g. in Africa and Asia -regardless if exported illegally. Therefore it is necessary to check whether the substance dossiers of these chemicals, that have or had to be submitted under REACH, have considered such exposure scenarios.

Convenient Cr(VI) Removal from Aqueous Samples: Executed by a Promising Clay‐Based Catalytic System, Magnetized by Fe3O4 Nanoparticles and Functionalized with Humic Acid

“…Among various species of toxic heavy‐metals, chromium(VI) is considered as one of the most hazardous agents for human health . Several adverse health effects such as respiratory, nose, skin and eye irritations, kidney and liver damages, and cancer are created by mobile Cr(VI) ion in the water resources . This toxic ion is generated through industrial processes for various manufacturing aims like electroplating .…”

Raising Awareness on Health Impact of the Chemicals Used in Consumer Products: Empirical Evidence from East-Central Europe

“…It demands increased consumer/customer access to information connected to the chemical content in products by using a unified database [2]. However, as different regions of the world vary in their degree of economic development, the absence of an internationally standardized approach to this issue can be easily noticed [28,33,37]. Details on the legislation in the European Union applied for rational use of chemicals in consumer products [2,28,[38][39][40][41][42][43] are provided in Table A2 in the Appendix A.…”

“…To assess the risk generated by the exposure to chemicals, complex, expensive, and time-consuming tests are required [33][34][35]. This is because the details about the chemical content of products are not always available to consumers, organizational buyers, or regulators who evaluate the risks of using these products in our everyday life [2].…”

“…Organizing consumer awareness campaigns is just one approach that should be considered, along with finding the right methods for substance substitution or efficient waste management [33].…”

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“…With this, plastic packaging is likely 74 to substantially contribute to chemical exposures of the human population and the environment 75 (Biryol et al, 2017;Grob et al, 2006). Recycling can also result in accumulation of hazardous 76 chemicals in secondary materials, negatively affecting their market value and restricting downstream 77 applications Lahl and Zeschmar-Lahl, 2013; Ragossnig and Schneider, 2017). 78 Therefore, a detailed assessment of plastic packaging-associated chemicals may be necessary 79 (Bilitewski et al, 2012b;Bodar et al, 2018;Guzzonato et al, 2017).…”