Country Report

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Country Report

• For training course
• RISK ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
  CHEMICALS
• by Feng Heng
• Guizhou Research and Designing Institute of
• Environmental Science, China

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1.Organization chart of my organization, my
position and functionThe organization I come
from is Guizhou Research and Designing Institute
of Environmental Sciences. It is the exclusive
provincial organization in Guizhou Province,
specialized in the field of studies of
environmental sciences. Our Institute consists of
13 sub-organizations. The sub-organization I come
from is by the name of Advisory Center of
Environmental Sciences and Technologies
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• It principally provide consultancy services of
  environmental impacts assessment, cleaner
  production auditing, regional and urban
  environmental planning, certification of ISO
  14001 environmental management system for
  clients.

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Organization Chart of Guizhou Research and
Designing Institute of Environmental Sciences


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• As the vice director of this center, my major
  responsibilities are fallen on EIA project
  management and the technical supervising to
  environmental risk assessment of EIA

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2. Current status of environmental protection
policy for environmental chemicals and on
management of industrial chemicals including
agrochemicals in China
Generally speaking, the environmental protection
policy system in China consists of the
fundamental law environmental laws for specific
purposes environmental technological policy and
the international environmental conventions in
which China is one of the participants etc.,.
Therefore, major environmental protection
policies for environmental chemicals and on
management of industrial chemicals including
agrochemicals are the following
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1) Fundamental environmental Laws
Fundamental environmental law in China is
Environmental Protection Law of China, which
was enacted for the purpose of protecting and
improving the living environment and ecological
environment, preventing and controlling pollution
and other public hazards to human health and to
promote the development of socialist
modernization construction. As the fundamental
law, it serves as the base for legislation of
rest of environmental laws including the laws
related with the varied impacts of environmental
chemicals on environment
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2) Environmental laws for specific purposes

• Environmental laws for specific purposes most
  closely related with environmental chemicals and
  its management is Solid wastes pollution
  control law of China, in which detailed
  provisions have been made over the issues such as
  utilization, transportation, storage, dispose, of
  solid wastes especially the toxic and hazardous
  wastes, and the relevant legal liabilities etc.,
  within the territory of China. Specific
  environmental laws such as Marine environment
  protection law of China, Water pollution
  control law of China,

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• and Air pollution control law of China,
  Environmental impacts assessment law of China
  and Cleaner production promotion law of China
  specified the control measures, legal liabilities
  for pollution of specific environment due to
  environmental chemicals, and the EIA for
  construction project concerning industrials and
  agrochemicals, as well as pushing forward cleaner
  production through prohibition or limiting
  utilization of hazardous or toxic materials. In
  addition, some of non-environmental protection
  laws, however, specify the detailed regulations
  for management of industrial chemicals and
  agrochemicals. These laws include Medicine
  management law of China, Food sanitation law of
  China etc.,

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3) Environmental technological policy

• Environmental technological policy concerning the
  environmental chemicals is Technological control
  policy for hazardous wastes pollution, which
  specifies the goals for management of hazardous
  wastes, and the technologies selection during the
  whole process of production, collection,
  transportation, classification, tests, package,
  comprehensive utilization, storage, and dispose
  of hazardous wastes.

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4) International environmental
conventions in which China is one of the
participants

• Chinese government always attaches importance on
  the pollution control, security and management of
  environmental chemicals. For years, China
  positively participate the international
  cooperation on that respects and fulfill the
  relevant responsibilities. Environmental
  conventions concerning the environmental chemical
  in which China is one of the participants are the
  following London Guidelines for the Exchange of
  Information on Chemicals in International Trade
  (amended in 1989)

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• International Marine Dangerous Goods Code
  (International Maritime Organization)
  Convention on the Prohibition of the
  Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of
  Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction
  (1997) The ILO 1990 Convention on the Safety
  of Chemicals at the Workplace (No. 170) Basel
  convention on the control of trans-boundary
  movements of hazardous wastes and its disposal
  The Vienna Convention on the Protection of the
  Ozone Layer (1989)

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• United Nations Convention Against Illicit
  Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
  Substances Rotterdam Convention on the Prior
  Informed Consent for Certain Hazardous Chemicals
  and Pesticides in International Trade (1998)
  and Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
  Pollutants.

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• 5)Relevant environmental standards

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3. Major problems on environmental contaminants
including pesticides residues, POPs, endocrine
disruptors and heavy metals and/ or management of
industrial chemical and agrochemicals

• Environmental contaminants including pesticides
  residues, POPs, endocrine disruptors and heavy
  metals can produce serious impacts on environment
  and human health characterizing by the long term
  retention in environment with low-concentration,
  and accumulation and

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• bioaugmentation in human bodies. Meanwhile
  these contaminants are given close attention
  worldwide. Chinese government also attaches great
  importance to this issue and great efforts have
  been made to control the impacts of these
  contaminants, including the establishment and
  improvement of the environmental law and
  regulation systems, participation of relevant
  international conventions, initiation of
  adjustment of industrial structure etc., However,
  the problem is still serious while great
  achievements is made. Meanwhile, the major
  problems can be briefly summarized as following

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• 1)The exceeding of standard of pesticides in
  agriculture products caused by irrational
  utilization of pesticides takes place from time
  to time. This may due to the irrational structure
  for pesticides employed, low awareness of farmer,
  and the lag-behind agriculture production style.
• 2) Pollution of heavy metals caused by
  enterprises employing traditional way for
  smelting As, Zn, Hg etc., enterprises dealing
  with heavy metal mining activities, is still
  serious though those backward production
  processes have been banned for years. These are
  partially because of the special physicochemical
  properties of heavy metals and partially because
  of historical reason.

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• 3)Great pressure from fulfilling the
  responsibilities of elimination of POPs
  stipulated in Stockholm Convention on Persistent
  Organic Pollutants is a great challenge of
  Chinese government. At present, 4 of 12 POPs to
  be banned are still in production, while the
  other 2 are discharged carelessly. The great
  difficulties to seek alternatives are to be
  overcome by Chinese enterprises producing
  relevant products.

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• 4) For the technical reason, there are still no
  efficient measures for the control of impacts of
  environmental endocrine disruptors that already
  take place. Expect for the above-mentioned
  problems, there is still long way to go to
  improve the environmental law and regulation
  system as well as environmental management
  mechanism, and to strengthen the relevant studies
  on efficient control measures for pollution of
  above-mentioned contaminants, as well as to form
  the team of fellow researchers with high
  qualities.

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4.Regulation of environmental and industrial
chemical in China

• Major regulations of environmental and industrial
  chemical in China are the following The
  Regulations on the Safe Administration of
  Chemicals and Other Dangerous Materials, issued
  by the State Council The Regulations for
  Implementing the Regulations on the Safe
  Administration of Chemicals and Other Dangerous
  Materials, jointly issued by the Ministry of
  Chemical Industry and the Economic and Trade
  Office of the State Council

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• The Rules on the Administration of Toxic
  Chemicals Register, issued by the Ministry of
  Chemical Industry The Regulations on the
  Environmental Management of First Import of
  Chemicals and the Import and Export of Toxic
  Chemicals ,jointly issued by the SEPA, the
  General Administration of Customs and the
  Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic
  Cooperation The Rules for the Management of
  Chemical Production Licenses, issued by the
  Ministry of Chemical Industry

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• The Rules for the Granting of Hazardous
  Chemicals Distribution Licenses ,jointly issued
  by the former Ministry of Commerce, State
  Planning Commission, Ministry of Public Security,
  State Administration of Industry and Commerce,
  State Bureau of Materials and Equipment Supplies
  and State Pharmaceuticals Administration The
  Rules on the Safety in Use of Chemicals at
  Workplace, jointly issued by the Ministry of
  Labor and Ministry of Chemical Industry, The
  Rules on the Administration of Pollutant
  Discharge Declaration and Registration, issued
  by the State Environmental Protection
  Administration The Rules Concerning
  Environmental Pollution Caused in the Production
  of Chromium Compounds, issued by the Ministry of
  Chemical Industry and the State Environmental
  Protection Administration

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• The Regulations on the Administration of
  Environmental Protection in Construction
  Projects, adopted by the State Council The
  Regulations on Control of Dumping Wastes in the
  Ocean, issued by the State Council The Interim
  Regulations on Environmental Protection
  Management of Wastes Imports, jointly issued by
  the SEPA, MFTEC, General Administration of
  Customs, State Administration of Industry and
  Commerce and State Administration for Commodity
  Inspection The Rules on Preventing Electrical
  Devices Containing Polychlorinated Biphenyles and
  Their Wastes from Polluting the Environment,
  issued by the SEPA and the

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• Ministry of Energy on January 23, 1991 The
  Regulations of the Peoples Republic of China
  Concerning the Administration of Civil
  Explosives, issued by the State Council The
  Rules on Fire Control Supervision and Management
  of Inflammable and Explosive Chemicals, issued
  by the Ministry of Public Security The Rules of
  the Ministry of Railways Concerning the Transport
  of Dangerous Goods, issued by the Ministry of
  Railways The Regulations Concerning Hygiene
  Supervision of Cosmetics, issued by the State
  Council The Regulations on the Management of
  Pesticides, issued by the State Council The
  Regulations for the Administration of Veterinary
  Medicines, issued by the State Council

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• The Rules of the Ministry of Railways Concerning
  the Transport of Dangerous Goods, issued by the
  Ministry of Railways The Regulations Concerning
  Hygiene Supervision of Cosmetics, issued by the
  State Council The Regulations on the Management
  of Pesticides, issued by the State Council The
  Regulations for the Administration of Veterinary
  Medicines, issued by the State Council The
  Rules on the Safe Use of Pesticides, issued by
  the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of
  Health

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• The Rules for Management on Transportation of
  Dangerous Goods by Water, issued by Ministry of
  Communications The Regulations on the
  Administrative Protection of Agricultural
  Chemicals, issued by the State Council Rules
  of the Ministry of Chemical Industry for
  Implementing the Regulations on the Management of
  Pesticides The Rules for Implementing the
  Regulations on the Management of Pesticides,
  issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and The
  Rules for Management on Road Transportation of
  Dangerous Goods.

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5.Management system for environmental and
industrial chemical in China

• The Chinese Government attaches great importance
  to the safe management of chemicals, having
  formulated a series of laws, regulations and
  standards and having adopted rules and methods
  concerning chemicals management under the
  guideline of safety first, prevention first.
  These measures play an active role in effectively
  controlling the harm done by chemicals.

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• Expect the law, rules and regulations, an
  effective management system for environmental and
  industrial chemicals, integrated with the
  management mechanism of production license,
  registration, storage and transportation control,
  import/export control, for environmental and
  industrial chemicals, has come into being.

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6.Major technology for monitoring the
environmental chemicals in China

• Generally speaking, monitoring technologies for
  environmental chemicals include sampling
  technologies and analytical technologies. Major
  sampling technologies varied with the different
  environmental media in which sampling is done.
  Major sampling technologies for environmental
  chemical can be generalized as follow according
  to different sampling environmental media

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• 1) Major technologies of air sampling consist of
  direct sampling and accumulated sampling. Direct
  sampling technologies is suitable for samples
  with high concentrations or analytical method
  with high sensitivities while accumulated
  technologies is suitable for samples with low
  concentrations
• 2) Water sampling technologies can be generalized
  as technologies for surface water and deep water
  sampling as well as wastewater sampling.
• 3)The staple soil sampling method is sampling
  with multiple points and layers etc.,

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• The analytical technologies for environmental
  chemicals in China can also be briefly introduced
  as follow
• 1) atomic absorption spectrometry
• 2) atomic fluorescence spectrometry
• 3)gas phase chromatography
• 4) liquid phase chromatography
• 5) Spectrophotometric method
• 6)colorimetry
• 7)gas phase mass spectrometry
• 8)integrated method of chromatography and mass
  spectrometry etc.,
• Except for the above-mentioned monitoring
  technologies, bioassay was also employed for the
  ecological monitoring.

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7. Outline of my experience on risk assessment
and monitoring of environmental and industrial
chemicals

• My experience on risk assessment of
  environmental and industrial chemical is obtained
  when I deal with the environmental risk
  assessment of EIA projects especially for
  projects toxic and hazardous chemicals are
  involved, for an instance the projects for
  chemical industries, agriculture etc.,

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• Generally speaking the process of risk assessment
  can be summarized as following
• 1) Identification of key dangerous sources
  2)estimation of regular and accidental sources
  intensity
• 3)prediction the scope and extents of the impacts
  of regular and accidental emission according to
  the sources intensity and probation of accidental
  emission as well as correspondent modeling
  4)analysis on the long and short term impacts of
  environmental and industrial chemicals on the
  sensitive targets (population, animals and
  vegetation) exposing to given environmental and
  industrial chemicals

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• 5) propose the correspondent control measures for
  long term and accumulative adverse impacts and
  precaution measure for emergency situation.

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8.My purpose to attend in the training course

• My purposes to attend in the training course are
  to further develop my understanding over the
  characteristics of environmental chemicals such
  as pesticides, POPs, endocrine disruptors and
  heavy metals etc., the mechanism of their impacts
  on environment and human heath, and the
  experiences and techniques of developed country
  on analysis, monitoring and risk assessment for
  such kind of chemicals. All above-mentioned will
  benefit to me not only on my present job namely
  the environmental risk assessment but also on my
  future studies aiming at providing local
  government with the technical support for
  formulating the policy to control the impacts of
  these chemicals on environment and human health.

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Thank you!