Canada, US Seek Feedback on Managing Chemicals of Concern

The governments of Canada and the US are soliciting feedback to inform the ongoing development of binational strategies for managing identified chemicals of mutual concern (CMC), including PCBs and HBCD.

The work comes under the CMC annex of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which outlines the countries' commitments to protecting human health and the environment "through cooperative and coordinated measures to reduce the anthropogenic release of chemicals of mutual concern into the waters of the Great Lakes".

Last year, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the US EPA agreed the following list of CMCs:

> hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD);

> polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs);

> polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs);

> perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA);

> perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS);

> long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCAs);
mercury; and

> short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs).

Agencies, organisations and individuals have an opportunity to provide "any relevant information" for possible inclusion in the work.

HBCD, PCB risk management strategies

The governments have also issued two draft risk management strategies, covering PCBs and HBCD, as a pilot.

Each of these lays out risk mitigation options for achieving human health or environmental benefits, or for improving the understanding of the substance’s sources, environmental fate and effects.

One approach outlined for HBCD, for example, calls for evaluating alternatives substances for use in XPS and EPS foams and in specialty fabrics, and for ensuring that the environmental impacts of these alternatives are well understood.

And in the case of PCBs, the draft strategy proposes revisiting existing risk management measures to ensure they reflect the most current scientific knowledge. This includes determining whether levels of PCBs in consumer products "can and should be regulated".

Additional strategies cover compliance enforcement, pollution prevention and monitoring and surveillance, among others.

The two nations will host webinars on 28 June and 13 July to answer questions and receive comments on the PCB and HBCD draft strategies.BioaccumulativeToxic