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You are here: Home / Data and maps / Indicators / Persistent organic pollutant (POP) emissions / Persistent organic pollutant (POP) emissions (APE 006) - Assessment published Dec 2011

Persistent organic pollutant (POP) emissions (APE 006) - Assessment published Dec 2011

Created : Sep 12, 2011 Published : Dec 21, 2011 Last modified : Sep 26, 2012 05:50 PM

This item is open for comments. See the comments section below

Generic metadata

Topics:

Air pollution Air pollution (Primary topic)

Chemicals Chemicals

Industry Industry

Tags:
HCB | persistent organic pollutants | APE006 | dioxin | polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons | POPs | PAH | APE2011 | air emissions | furan | PCB | assessment11 | HCH | APE | pollution
DPSIR: Pressure
Typology: Performance indicator (Type B – Does it matter?)
Indicator codes
  • APE 006
Dynamic
Temporal coverage:
1990-2009
 
Contents
 
Switch to full indicator view

Indicator definition

  • The indicator tracks trends since 1990 in anthropogenic emissions of persistent organic pollutants. Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are presently described, other POP compounds will be added in the future.
  • The indicator also provides information on emissions by sectors: Energy production and distribution; Energy use in industry;, Industrial processes; Road transport; Non-road transport; Commercial, institutional and households; Solvent and product use; Agriculture; Waste; Other.
  • Geographical coverage: EEA-32. The EEA-32 country grouping includes countries of the EU-27 (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) EFTA-4 (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway) and Turkey.
  • Temporal coverage: 1990-2010

Units

Tonne (metric ton)


Key policy question: What progress is being made in reducing emissions of persistent organic pollutants?

Key messages

  • EEA-32 emissions of a number of compounds categorised as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), have decreased between 1990 and 2009 – e.g. hexachlorobenzene (HCB, by 92%), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH, by 85%), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, by 75%), dioxins & furans (by 83%), and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, by 61%). While the majority of countries report that POPs emissions have fallen during this period, a number do report that increased emissions have occurred.
  • In 2009, the most significant sources of emissions for these POPs included the ‘Commercial, institutional and households’ (10% of HCB, 32% of dioxins and furans, 16% of PCBs) and ‘Industrial processes’ (70% of HCB, 32% of HCH, 27% of PCBs) sectors.
  • Important emission sources of PAH, include residential combustion processes (open fires, coal and wood burning for heating purposes etc), industrial metal production processes, and the road transport sector. Emissions from these sources have all declined since 1990 as a result of decreased residential use of coal, improvements in abatement technologies for metal refining and smelting, and stricter regulations on emissions from the road transport sector.
  • Environmental context: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemical substances that persist in the environment, have potential to bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. This group of substances includes unintentional by-products of industrial processes (such as PAHs, dioxins and furans) pesticides (such as DDT), and industrial chemicals (such as polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs). All share the property of being progressively accumulated higher up the food chain, such that chronic exposure of lower organisms to much lower concentrations can expose predatory organisms, including humans and wildlife, to potentially harmful concentrations. In humans they are also of concern for human health because of their toxicity, their potential to cause cancer and their ability to cause harmful effects at low concentrations. Their relative toxic/carcinogenic potencies are compound specific. POPs have also been shown to possess a number of toxicological properties. The major concern is often centred on their possible role in carcinogenic, immunological and reproductive effects but more recently concern has also been expressed over their possible harmful effects on human development.

Change (%) in HCB emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Change (%) in HCB emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Note: The reported change in hexachlorobenzene (HCB) emissions for each country, 1990-2009.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Change (%) in HCH emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Change (%) in HCH emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Note: The reported change in hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) emissions for each country, 1990-2009.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Change (%) in PCB emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Change (%) in PCB emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Note: The reported change in polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) emissions for each country, 1990-2009.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Change (%) in Dioxin & Furan emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Change (%) in Dioxin & Furan emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Note: The reported change in dioxin and furan emissions for each country, 1990-2009.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Change (%) in PAH emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Change (%) in PAH emissions 1990-2009 (EEA member countries)

Note: The reported change in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) emissions for each country, 1990-2009.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Key assessment

In the EEA-32 region, emissions of PAHs have fallen by 61% between 1990 and 2009 (Figure 1). A combination of targeted legislation (for details see Indicator specification - policy context) coupled with improved controls and abatement techniques has led in general to significant progress being made in most countries to reduce PAH emissions (Figure 2).

While the majority of individual countries report decreased PAH emissions since 1990, there are six countries (Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Italy, Latvia and Portugal) in which increased emissions have occurred. Of these countries, the largest increase in emissions is reported by Denmark. One cause of the increased emissions in Denmark has been due to the introduction of policy measures that have encouraged the burning of renewable materials (e.g. wood) by Danish households. Wood-burning also produces PAHs, and hence in this instance policies that have been implemented to address one environmental issue (climate change) have had unintended consequences in terms of air pollution. In absolute terms however, emissions of PAHs from Denmark are relatively low compared to other countries. Of the EEA-32 group of countries, the largest PAH emissions are reported by Belgium and Spain, where emissions are more than 15 times greater than in Denmark.

Emissions of HCB have fallen sharply in the EEA-32 since 1990, mostly due to a drop in HCB emissions in the United Kingdom of 4.3 tonnes between 1998 and 1999, accounting for 98% of the decrease in 1999. This large decrease was due to the introduction of regulations in the UK to control the use of hexachloroethane (HCE) tablets as a degassing agent in secondary aluminium production. Across all EEA-32 countries, the decrease in 1999 accounts for 83% of the overall change in HCB emissions between 1990 and 2009, 58% of which is due to the fall in HCB emissions in the United Kingdom since 1990.

HCH emissions in EEA-32 countries have fallen overall by 86% from 1990 to 2009 (Figure 1), however one country (Belgium) has reported increases in emissions. Of this overall decrease in emissions, 39% may be accounted for by decreased emissions from the ‘Agriculture’ sector, 36% from 'Industrial processes' from ‘Non-road transport’, and 25% from 'Solvent and product use' from ‘Waste’. In 2009, 67% of emissions of HCH were from ‘Agriculture’ sources.

Emissions of PCBs in the EEA-32 have fallen 75% between 1990 and 2009, due mainly to reductions in ‘Industrial processes’ emissions, which accounted for 82% of the decrease over this period. PCBs emissions have risen from 1990 levels in one EEA-32 country (Portugal), whilst 19 countries reported lower emissions in 2009 than 1990, and the remaining 12 countries either did not report data, or reported zero emissions for 1990.

EEA-32 countries’ reported emissions of dioxins & furans show a decrease of 83% by 2009 when compared with 1990 levels. Of 28 countries which reported non-zero emissions, only one (Latvia) reported an increase in emissions from 1990 to 2009. The overall decrease in emissions across all EEA-32 countries was due to significantly reduced emissions from the ‘Waste’ sector (27% of overall decrease), 'Energy production and distribution' (25%) and 'Commercial, institutional and households' (21%). In 2009, 32% of dioxin and furan emission were from sources in the ‘Commercial, institutional and households’ sector, 19% from 'Waste' and 16% from 'Energy use in industry'.

Specific policy question: How do different sectors and processes contribute to emissions of persistent organic pollutants?

Sector split of emissions of selected POPs (EEA member countries)

Sector split of emissions of selected POPs (EEA member countries)

Note: The contribution made by different sectors to emissions of: HCB - hexachlorobenzene, HCH - hexachlorocyclohexane, PCBs - polychlorinated biphenyls; dioxins & furans; and PAHs - polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Contribution to total change in PAH emissions for each sector between 1990 and 2009 (EEA member countries)

Contribution to total change in PAH emissions for each sector between 1990 and 2009 (EEA member countries)

Note: The contribution made by each sector to the total change in emissions of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) between 1990 and 2009: HCB - hexachlorobenzene, HCH - hexachlorocyclohexane, PCBs - polychlorinated biphenyls; dioxins & furans; and PAHs - polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

Data source:
Downloads and more info

Specific assessment

Important emission sources of POPs typically include residential combustion processes (open fires, coal and wood burning for heating purposes etc), industrial metal production processes, and the road transport sector (Figure 4).

Emissions from each of these sources have in general declined since 1990 as a result of decreased residential use of coal, improvements in abatement technologies for metal refining and smelting, and stricter regulations on emissions from the road transport sector (Figure 4). In particular, the majority of the PAH emission reduction observed in Europe since 1990 has been due to reduced emissions from within the industrial processes sector (Figure 5). This reflects various initiatives designed to reduce the formation and emission of (unintended) POPs through improved process design, control and pollution abatement technology.

Data sources

Justification for indicator selection

POPs (including PAHs) are recognised as being directly toxic to biota. All have the quality of being progressively accumulated higher up the food chain, such that chronic exposure of lower organisms to much lower concentrations can expose predatory organisms, including humans and wildlife, to potentially harmful concentrations. In humans they are also of concern for human health because of their toxicity, their potential to cause cancer and their ability to cause harmful effects at low concentrations. Their relative toxic/carcinogenic potencies are compound specific. POPs including PAHs have also been shown to possess a number of toxicological properties. The major concern is centred on their possible role in carcinogenic, immunological and reproductive effects but more recently concern has also been expressed over their possible harmful effects on human development.

Scientific references:

  • No rationale references available

Policy context and targets

Context description

Coupled with improved control and abatement techniques, targeted EC legislation (directives and regulations) has led to strong progress by EEA-32 countries in reducing air emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that include the PAH group of chemicals. Such legislation includes:

  • The 1998 UN/ECE Aarhus Protocol on POPs (to the 1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)) – ultimate objective is to eliminate any discharges, emissions and losses of POPs. The original Protocol bans the production and use of some products outright (aldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, dieldrin, endrin, hexabromobiphenyl, mirex and toxaphene), with others scheduled for elimination at a later stage (DDT, heptachlor, hexaclorobenzene, PCBs). In 2009 the Protocol was updated to list commercial Pentabromodiphenyl (Penta-BDE) and commercial Octabromodiphenyl (Octa-BDE) as POP substances, whilst the POPs task force concluded that hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) met the criteria to be considered as a POP, and potential risk management options are therefore currently being considered for HBCD. Finally, the Protocol severely restricts the use of DDT, HCH (including lindane) and PCBs. The Protocol includes provisions for dealing with the wastes of products that will be banned. It also obliges Parties to reduce their emissions of dioxins, furans, PAHs and HCB below their levels in 1990 (or an alternative year between 1985 and 1995). For the incineration of municipal, hazardous and medical waste, it lays down specific limit values.

  • The 2001 UNEP Stockholm Convention on POPs – aims to reduce and ultimately cease manufacture, use, storage and emissions of POPs, as well as destroying existing stocks; provides for measures to reduce or eliminate emissions resulting from intentional and unintentional production and use; plans to meet the obligations; technical and financial assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition; cooperate and exchange information. 12 POPs were covered under the original scope of the Convention:

    • Pesticides: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene;

    • Industrial chemicals: hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and

    • By-products: hexachlorobenzene; polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF), and PCBs.

  • In May 2009, nine additional chemicals were added to the Convention:

    • Pesticides: chlordecone, alpha hexachlorocyclohexane, beta hexachlorocyclohexane, lindane, pentachlorobenzene;

    • Industrial chemicals: hexabromobiphenyl, hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether, pentachlorobenzene, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride, tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether; and

    • By-products: alpha hexachlorocyclohexane, beta hexachlorocyclohexane and pentachlorobenzene

  • Regulation (EC) No. 850/2004 on Persistent Organic Pollutants entered into force on the 20th of May 2004. The main purpose of this Regulation is to enable the European Community to ratify the Stockholm Convention and the Aarhus Protocol. The Regulation also deals with stockpiles of redundant substances.

  • EC Communication on a Community Strategy for Dioxins, Furans and PCBs (COM (2001) 593 final) – aims to assess current state of the environment and to reduce human exposure and long term environmental effects. The Communication does not propose legislative measures, but could be the basis for a Community action plan;

  • The Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (2008/1/EC) (replaces 96/61/EC) – aims to prevent or minimise pollution of water, air and soil by industrial effluent and other waste from industrial installations, including energy industries, by defining basic obligations for operating licences or permits and by introducing targets, or benchmarks, for energy efficiency. It also requires the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) in new installations from now on (and for existing plants over the next 10 years according to national legislation) to reduce emissions of heavy metals and POPs. Emissions of these substances are required to be estimated under the terms of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) (166/2006/EC);

  • The CAFE Directive on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe (2008/50/EC) (has repealed and replaced the Directive 96/62/EC on Ambient Air Quality Assessment and Management and three of its daughter directives 99/30/EC, 2000/69/EC, 2002/3/EC). Its fourth daughter directive (2004/107/EC), still remains as it contain provisions and limit values for the further control of heavy metals and PAH in ambient air;

  • Directive 2000/76/EC on the Incineration of Waste contains limits on emissions of dioxins and furans from waste incineration processes. It also provides for member states to set limits on emissions of PAHs from waste incineration processes. During 2007 the Commission carried out a review of this Directive. It is proposed that the Waste Incineration Directive should be incorporated into a revised IPPC Directive, but this is unlikely to occur before 2013;

  • The Directive on the Limitation of Emissions of Certain Pollutants into the Air from Large Combustion Plants (2001/80/EC) – has has had the effect of reducing heavy metal and PAH emissions via dust control and absorption;

  • There are also a number of specific EU environmental quality standards and emission standards for heavy metals and POPs for these substances in coastal and inland waters, drinking waters etc. These have only indirect relevance to air emissions as they do not directly specify emission or precipitation quality requirements, but rather specify the required quality of receiving waters. Such measures include Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) Discharges (84/491/EEC); Dangerous Substances Directives (76/464/EC) and (86/280/EC); Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC).

Targets

As noted above, the POPs protocol to the UNECE LRTAP Convention obliges Parties to reduce their emissions of dioxins, furans, PAHs and HCB below their levels in 1990 (or an alternative year between 1985 and 1995 inclusive).

Related policy documents

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

 

This indicator is based on officially reported national total and sectoral emissions to EEA and UNECE/EMEP (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/Co-operative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention), submission 2011. For the EU-27 Member States, the data used is consistent with the emissions data reported by the EU in its annual submission to the LRTAP Convention.

Recommended methodologies for emission inventory estimation are compiled in the EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook, (EMEP/EEA, 2009). Base data are available from the EEA Data Service (http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/dataservice/metadetails.asp?id=1096) and the EMEP web site (http://www.ceip.at/). Where necessary, gaps in reported data are filled by ETC/ACC using simple interpolation techniques (see below). The final gap-filled data used in this indicator are available from the EEA Data Service (http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/PivotApp/pivot.aspx?pivotid=478)

Base data, reported in the UNECE/EMEP Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR) sector format are aggregated into the following EEA sector codes to obtain a consistent reporting format across all countries and pollutants:

 

  • Energy production and distribution: emissions from public heat and electricity generation, oil refining, production of solid fuels, extraction and distribution of solid fossil fuels and geothermal energy;
  • Energy use in industry: emissions from combustion processes used in the manufacturing industry including boilers, gas turbines and stationary engines;
  • Industrial processes: emissions derived from non-combustion related processes such as the production of minerals, chemicals and metal production;
  • Road transport: light and heavy duty vehicles, passenger cars and motorcycles;
  • Non-road transport: railways, domestic shipping, certain aircraft movements, and non-road mobile machinery used in agriculture & forestry;
  • Commercial, institutional and households: emissions principally occurring from fuel combustion in the services and household sectors;
  • Solvent and product use: non-combustion related emissions mainly in the services and households sectors including activities such as paint application, dry-cleaning and other use of solvents;
  • Agriculture: manure management, fertiliser application, field-burning of agricultural wastes
  • Waste: incineration, waste-water management;
  • Other: emissions included in national total for entire territory not allocated to any other sector

 

The following table shows the conversion of Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR) sector codes used for reporting by countries into EEA sector codes:

EEA classification

Non-GHGs (NFR)

 

National totals

National total

 

Energy production and distribution

1A1, 1A3e, 1B

 

Energy use in industry

1A2

 

Road Transport

1A3b

 

Non-road transport (non-road mobile machinery)

1A3 (excl. 1A3b)

 

Industrial processes

2

 

Solvent and product use

3

 

Agriculture

4

 

Waste

6

 

Commercial, institutional and households

1A4ai, 1A4aii, 1A4bi, 1A4bii, 1A4ci, 1A4cii, 1A5a, 1A5b

 

Other

7

 

Methodology for gap filling

An improved gap-filling methodology was implemented in 2010 that enables a complete time series trend for the main air pollutants (eg NOX, SOX, NMVOC, NH3 and CO) to be compiled. In cases where countries did not report emissions for any year, it meant that gap-filling could not be applied. For these pollutants, therefore, the aggregated data are not yet complete and are likely to underestimate true emissions. Further methodological details of the gap-filling procedure are provided in section 1.4.2 Data gaps and gap-filling of the European Union emission inventory report 1990–2009 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).

Methodology references

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

The use of gap-filling for when countries have not reported emissions for one of more years can potentially lead to artificial trends, but it is considered unavoidable if a comprehensive and comparable set of emissions data for European countries is required for policy analysis purposes.

Emissions of 'total PAH' reported by Poland for 2004 and 2005 were around a thousand times higher than expected. For the purposes of this assessment these data have therefore been adjusted by a factor of 10-3 to correct for this unit error.

Data sets uncertainty

Uncertainties in the emission estimates of PAHs reported by countries are considered to be higher than for other more 'traditional' air pollutants such as NOX and SO2 due to the relatively higher uncertainties that exist in both activity data and emission factors for this group of pollutants. Emission estimates for the other POPs are also considered to be of high uncertainty. 

Rationale uncertainty

This indicator is regularly updated by EEA and is used in state of the environment assessments. The uncertainties related to methodology and data sets are therefore of importance. Any uncertainties involved in the calculation and in the data sets need to be accurately communicated in the assessment, to prevent erroneous messages influencing policy actions or processes.

More information about this indicator

See this indicator specification for more details.

Contacts and ownership

EEA Contact Info

Martin Adams

Ownership

EEA Management Plan

2011 2.1.1 (note: EEA internal system)

Dates

First draft created: 2011/09/12 17:54:58.610000 GMT+2
Publish date: 2011-12-21T15:00:00+02:00
Last modified: 2012/09/26 17:50:41.253826 GMT+2
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