China's MEE to Ban 5 POPs including Deca-BDE

On March 15, 2023, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published a public consultation on the Notice of the Entry into Force (Draft for Comments) of the Amendments to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to List Three Persistent Organic Pollutants Including Polychlorinated Naphthalenes, and the Amendments to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to List Three Persistent Organic Pollutants Including Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins. The consultation closed on March 27, 2023.

On December 30, 2022, the Amendments to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to List Three Persistent Organic Pollutants Including Polychlorinated Naphthalenes and the Amendments to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to List Three Persistent Organic Pollutants Including Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (hereinafter referred to as the “Amendment”) was officially approved by the 38th Session of the 13th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. The Amendment specifies eliminations or restrictions on five POPs:

• hexachlorobutadiene;
• polychlorinated naphthalenes;
• pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters;
• decabromodiphenyl oxide; and
• short-chain chlorinated paraffins.

Based on the current situation in China, specific management measures for these five POPs are enumerated in the following:

I. Production, use, import, and export of hexachlorobutadiene, polychlorinated naphthalenes, pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters are prohibited.

II. Production, use, import, and export of decabromodiphenyl oxide are prohibited (except for the following uses):

• Used in textile products (excluding clothing and toys) that have the characteristic of flame retardancy;
• Used as additives for plastic enclosure and as components of household heating appliances, iron, fans, and immersion heaters, which contain or directly contact electrical parts, or need to comply with flame-retardant standards, with a density lower than 10% of the weight of the component.
• Used as polyurethane foam plastics for building insulation. These above uses shall be exempted until December 31, 2023.

III. Production, use, import, and export of short-chain chlorinated paraffins are prohibited except for the following uses:

• additives for the production of conveyor belts in the natural and synthetic rubber industry;
• components for the production of conveyor belts in the mining and forestry industry;
• leather fat in the leather industry;
• lubricant additives; especially for engines in automobiles, generators, and wind energy facilities, as well as for diesel refinery and oil and gas exploration and drilling;
• in outdoor decorative lighting;
• in waterproof and fire-retardant paints;
• adhesives;
• in metal processing;
• as a secondary plasticizer of flexible polyvinyl chloride (but not used in toys and children’s products).

These above uses are exempted until December 31, 2023.

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Source: https://www.mee.gov.cn/hdjl/yjzj/wqzj_1/202303/t20230315_1019705.shtml