Electronic waste (e-waste) poses a significant threat to Thailand's environment and human health, as highlighted by IPEN`s study focused on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) near e-waste processing facilities. The research, conducted in Chachoengsao province and Prachinburi province, targeted POPs used in electronic equipment and plastic, including brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs). The study revealed contamination with POPs in soils, sediments, dust, and free-range duck eggs, with the highest levels near the Supcharoen Recycle Co. Ltd. factory in Nong Khok. This contamination, linked to the dismantling and incineration of e-waste, particularly affected the food chain, evidenced by elevated POPs levels in duck eggs. Additionally, the dumping of industrial sludge contributed to serious contamination with SCCPs. The study emphasizes the urgency of addressing e-waste processing practices to mitigate environmental and health risks, urging a shift towards sustainable waste management and recycling practices.

With diverse perspectives shedding light on the global and local dimensions of e-waste, one might ponder: How can we collectively address these challenges and strive towards sustainable solutions for the electronic waste predicament?

Did you know that Copenhagen Airport Environment department is still working on cleaning up from AFFF pollution in other areas of the airport where AFFF foam has been used?

"Just to maintain the sewer system around the fire training ground, the airport spends more than 1.5 million EUR every year and expects to be doing this at least the next 80 years!" (Kim Olsen, Head of Copenhagen Airport Fire & Rescue Academy.).

Developed in the 1960s firefighting foams with PFAS have seen significant advancements in the last decades. Today, cutting-edge technologies allow environmentally safe alternatives. The IPEN report emphasizes that fluorine-free firefighting foams offer significant benefits over persistent fluorochemical-based foams. These advantages include financial, socio-economic, public health, and environmental aspects. Unlike highly persistent PFAS in AFFF, fluorine-free foams are non-persistent, and biodegradable, with short-term, localized, and self-remediating effects. This stands in contrast to the toxic and bio-accumulative nature of PFAS, causing environmental and human health concerns, including extreme long-range transport and global contamination.

What kind of fire fighting foams are commonly used in aviation in your country?

This study is shifting dominating narrative on plastic recycling.

The electrical and electronic engineering industry is a major consumer of Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), using them to reduce flammability in plastic components for electronics. Despite existing regulations, studies have detected BFRs like Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in various consumer products, including children's toys, kitchen utensils, and recycled plastic items. These BFRs found in new products are not deliberately added but come from recycled plastics used in their production.
The objective of this study was to investigate whether BFRs from e-waste end up in new consumer goods due to plastic recycling. This research focused on assessing the impact of unregulated e-waste plastic recycling in African and Arabic regions on products like children's toys, hair accessories, kitchen utensils, and office supplies. The study examined 434 samples of consumer products made from recycled black plastic in eleven countries, revealing a mix of various BFRs. This practice affects the market with potentially harmful consequences for human health.

What do you think about the measures to address this issue and control BFRs in products and waste?

Good day, NIP colleagues,

We are delighted to introduce our project team, diligently working on Components 1-4 across six regions worldwide. If you need to get in touch with the project implementation team members in your region, please find their contact details following the link below. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or require assistance!

Hope everyone is having a great and productive Monday!

This is to quickly share the updates on the Gender Guidance with you. Generic tools (Annex 1) and NIP-specific gender tools (Annexes 3-5) are now available on our initiative page.

For colleagues working on NAPs, please kindly refer to Annexes 2-4 on the same page.

Wish everyone a nice day!

Hello colleagues! Hope your Monday is off to a great start!

We trust you had time to explore Sectoral Guidance for Inventories of POPs and other Chemicals of Concern by Dr.Roland Weber available on the Global NIP Update Project Initiative page.

New industrial POPs are present in polymers and wood in buildings and construction, in plastics in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), vehicles, textiles, and a range of other consumer goods. These uses result in human exposure indoor, environmental releases and food chain contamination, and the generation of POP-contaminated waste and recycling cycles in particular for plastics.

This guidance steps away from the chemical-by-chemical approach and brings a more systematized sectoral overview of chemicals present in the construction, electronics, and transport sectors.

Hello Colleagues!

Sharing another piece of information on PFAS from the consumer's perspective.

While they are not commonly listed ingredients in cosmetics, PFAS compounds can sometimes be present in cosmetics as contaminants if they are used in manufacturing processes or sourced from contaminated raw materials.

Green Science Policy Institute`s research on PFAS concludes that some of its compounds in cosmetics may remain unlisted. The institute is also providing an extensive list of resources to identify PFAS in cosmetic products, such as Clearya.

Clearya is a free browser plug-in and mobile app that automatically analyzes cosmetics' ingredients while users shop online on platforms like Amazon and Sephora. It instantly notifies users of unsafe chemicals, including PFAS. Clearya's database revealed nearly 1,000 products from 120 brands containing at least one PFAS, with 34 different PFAS identified, and the most common being PTFE (Teflon). Some personal care products even contained multiple PFAS, such as a pore-cleaning foam with six different PFAS.

Being aware of the chemical compounds when shopping is an important step.

Dear colleagues,

We are excited to share the records of our gender webinar held on June 21, 13:00 - 14:30 CEST (GMT 2).

In English: https://youtu.be/xfJW5jPZKJE
In French: https://youtu.be/RXx5PvCVs1Q
In Spanish: https://youtu.be/taAQySFvguk
In Russian: https://youtu.be/B3W2BANw2TQ

Please feel free to drop your questions in the stream, we will be happy to interact!

Dear colleagues,

We are excited to share the records of our second webinar held on May 18, 15:00 - 16:30 CEST (GMT 2).

In English: https://youtu.be/5ZkCgLT58sA
In Russian: https://youtu.be/TyGQDoeoLtY
In Spanish: https://youtu.be/6obaRTfoDDo
In French: https://youtu.be/CJx1WK6nAi8

As promised in the webinar, we are hereby answering questions from the chat:

Q1. Over 90% share of data for National reporting (article 15) and other reporting purposes is generated inside NIP, however National Reporting is conducted separately from NIP, how do we ensure the coherence between NIP data and national reporting data?

Our speaker from UNEP, Chemicals and Health Branch, Components 1 and 2, Programme Management Officer Ms. Mihaela Claudia Paun answers:

"To date there was no or very limited coherence and consistency between NIP data and national reporting data. But now, with the new Stockholm Convention integrated electronic toolkit put in place such harmonization is happening and countries would be able to acknowledge the interlinkages with the reporting requirements from the very beginning of their NIP review and update process and would be able to address it in a coherent and coordinated manner."