Short- and Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins in Polyvinylchloride and Rubber Consumer Products and Toys Purchased on the Belgian Market

Abstract

This study investigates the presence of Stockholm Convention listed short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and their replacement medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) counterparts in polyvinyl chloride and rubber consumer products and toys purchased on the Belgian market in 2019. SCCPs were detected in 27/28 samples at concentrations ranging from <LOQ–130,000 µg/g with a median level of 2.5 µg/g, while MCCPs were detected in only five samples ranging <LOQ–3500 µg/g. Levels of SCCPs in all but one of the samples were below the European Union’s guideline limit of 0.15%, by weight, and concentrations of both SCCPs and MCCPs in the majority of products suggested unintentional incorporation to the polymeric materials. The homologue distribution of SCCPs was generally dissimilar to known commercial formulations and appeared to be indicative of contamination during manufacture or via recycling of previously treated goods. MCCP patterns, conversely, were broadly representative of those reported for industrial mixtures and may have been inadvertently incorporated via the application of mixed carbon-chain length CP formulations or recycled goods. This research suggests that overall SCCP presence has decreased in goods on the European market compared with previous reports and that both SCCPs and MCCPs may still enter EU marketplaces from unintentional sources.

Direct Measurements of Vapor Pressures of Chlorinated Paraffin Congeners from Technical Mixtures

“…Another technical mixture was provided by Shandong Yousuo Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. (China) (Nishida et al 2019), and is hereby referred to as the SYCT-wax mixture. The distributions of CP congeners in these mixtures were determined by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MSMS) (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021), as described below.…”

“…A water solution containing 5 mM ammonium acetate was used as mobile phase A and 100% methanol containing 5 mM ammonium acetate as mobile phase B. The following gradient was used with minor modifications from the original parameters in our earlier reports (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021): 0 min (60% B), 5 min (73% B), 20 min (99% B), min (99% B), and 22.1 min (60% B). For Chlorowax 500C and 25 SCCP congeners (C10Cl4−8, C11Cl4−9, C12Cl4−10, C13Cl4−10) and 28 MCCP congeners (C14Cl4−10, C15Cl4−10, C16Cl4−10, and C17Cl4−10) were quantified as described previously (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021).…”

“…The following gradient was used with minor modifications from the original parameters in our earlier reports (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021): 0 min (60% B), 5 min (73% B), 20 min (99% B), min (99% B), and 22.1 min (60% B). For Chlorowax 500C and 25 SCCP congeners (C10Cl4−8, C11Cl4−9, C12Cl4−10, C13Cl4−10) and 28 MCCP congeners (C14Cl4−10, C15Cl4−10, C16Cl4−10, and C17Cl4−10) were quantified as described previously (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021). For Paroil 179-HV, peak areas of 22 SCCP congeners, C10Cl7−11, C11Cl8−12, C12Cl8−13, and C13Cl9−14 were acquired by the LC−ESI−MSMS method with optimization of multiple-reaction-monitoring (MRM) transition parameters.…”

Direct Measurements of Vapor Pressures of Chlorinated Paraffin Congeners from Technical Mixtures

“…A water solution containing 5 mM ammonium acetate was used as mobile phase A and 100% methanol containing 5 mM ammonium acetate as mobile phase B. The following gradient was used with minor modifications from the original parameters in our earlier reports (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021): 0 min (60% B), 5 min (73% B), 20 min (99% B), 22 min (99% B), and 22.1 min (60% B). For Chlorowax 500C and SYCT-wax experiments, 25 SCCP congeners (C10Cl4−8, C11Cl4−9, C12Cl4−10, C13Cl4−10) and 28 MCCP congeners (C14Cl4−10, C15Cl4−10, C16Cl4−10, and C17Cl4−10) were quantified as described previously (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021).…”

“…The following gradient was used with minor modifications from the original parameters in our earlier reports (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021): 0 min (60% B), 5 min (73% B), 20 min (99% B), 22 min (99% B), and 22.1 min (60% B). For Chlorowax 500C and SYCT-wax experiments, 25 SCCP congeners (C10Cl4−8, C11Cl4−9, C12Cl4−10, C13Cl4−10) and 28 MCCP congeners (C14Cl4−10, C15Cl4−10, C16Cl4−10, and C17Cl4−10) were quantified as described previously (Matsukami et al 2020;McGrath et al 2021). For Paroil 179-HV, peak areas of 22 SCCP congeners, C10Cl7−11, C11Cl8−12, C12Cl8−13, and C13Cl9−14 were acquired by the LC−ESI−MSMS method with optimization of multiple-reaction-monitoring (MRM) transition parameters.…”