A Study on the Management of Hazardous Substances in Plastics
Ⅴ. Policy Suggestion and Direction for the Promotion
Construction of the domestic plastic additive database
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In order to determine the distribution of plastic additives in Korea and derive a domestic list of additives, a system is needed to secure relevant data.
- To secure a list of candidates for plastic additives through government data, it is necessary to analyze data registered under the ARECs and the database of the results of statistical investigations conducted under the Chemicals Control Act.
- It is speculated that a separate code for plastic additives can be added to the chemical use classification system under the ARECs and the Chemicals Control Act. Or, existing codes for the classification system can be subdivided for the identification of plastic additives.
- Private data including industry overviews and the database of the plastic additives used abroad can also be used for listing plastic additives. It will also be possible to more accurately check the use of additives by analyzing the current status of the industry with cooperation from companies that handle substances that are candidates for plastic additives.
- For this purpose, a plan should be prepared to analyze the list of companies in question using the data registered under the ARECs and the results of statistical investigations conducted under the Chemicals Control Act. Based on this analysis, the target companies can be selected and information on plastic additives can be obtained through surveys.
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It is necessary to come up with a plan to establish an information database for each domestic plastic additive, including the physico-chemical properties, hazard information, handling status, and regulatory status.
- It is necessary to secure basic substance information through reported and registered data under ARECs, the results of statistical investigations on chemicals conducted under the Chemicals Control Act, and analysis of domestic and foreign chemical databases.
- Information production measures need to be developed for substances that do not have relevant information in Korea, such as hazard information including GHS.
Designing the domestic plastic additive management system
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To improve, it is necessary to consider the following in the process of selecting management priorities:
- In case uncertainty exists, caused by the application of estimates such as QSAR due to insufficient data or the lack of experiment data in release potential estimation of domestic plastic additives, it is necessary to consider other information production methods to secure relevant figures or to consider expanding the scope of qualitative estimation and
- It is also necessary to supplement the estimation method by considering the characteristics of plastic types, additives, media, and interaction between media when estimating the quantitative release potential.
- However, it should be considered that the estimation of release potential is not the result of risk assessment, and is used for an initial screening process to prioritize the substances for their management.
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It is suggested that the domestic plastic additive management system consist of phases of identifying the status of additives, drawing up a list, establishing an information database for each additive, screening for prioritization, and determining follow-up measures for management and regulation.
- Priority will be selected in three stages: the first stage is screening based on release potential;
the second screening is reviewing hazard data such as GHS, risk information, and the
possibility of additional exposures due to other uses; the third screening is analyzing domestic and international regulations to prioritize plastic additives for the management.
- In order to operate such a management system, institutional grounds should be established through revision of related laws and notices, such as the ARECs and the Chemicals Control Act.
- Based on this, an organic management system should be developed which designates additives feared to have risks as permitted/restricted/ prohibited substances or substances subject to intensive control, linked with the existing regulatory measures in the ARECs.
- Considering the quantitative and qualitative expansion of plastic additives, the government may have to consider extending the management system to cover not only phase-in chemicals but also non-phase-in chemicals.
Key References
International Literature
● ECHA (2019), Plastic additives initiative Supplementary Information on Scope and Methods.
● The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) (2020), Turning the Plastic Tide: The Chemicals in Plastic that Put Our Health at Risk.
● OECD (2019), Complementing Document to the Emission Scenario Document on Plastic Additives:
Plastic Additives during the Use of End Products, OECD Environment, Health and Safety Publications Series on Emission Scenario Documents No. 38.
● Plastic Europe (2019), Plastics – The Facts 2019: An Analysis of European Plastics Production, Demand and Waste Data, p.22.
● Thonemann N., D. Maga, and J. Bertling (2020), “Environmental Assessment of Possible Leaching of Additives Present in Plastics”, SETAC Europe 30th Annual Meeting, virtual meeting, Poster.
● Wiesinger H., Z. Wang, and S. Hellweg (2020), “Establishing a Comprehensive Database of Chemical Additives Used in Plastics”, SETAC Europe 30th Annual Meeting, virtual meeting, Poster.
Online Sources
● Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge, “기록학용어사전, 인벤토리”, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?d ocId=441135&cid=42081&categoryId=42081, Search Date: January 18, 2021.
● ECHA, “Plastic Additives Initiative”, https://echa.europa.eu/plastic-additives-initiative, Search Date:
August 18, 2020.
● ECHA, “Mapping Exercise – Plastic Additives Initiative”, https://echa.europa.eu/mapping-exercise-plastic-additives-initiative, Search Date: September 7, 2020.
HIGHLIGHTS
◆ The aim of this study is to establish an assessment system that incorporates health risks based on the principles of environmental justice and implement a management strategy that considers the elements of environmental justice.
◆ For the pilot application of the health risk assessment based on the environmental justice, the environmental justice screening result and the research by the Ministry of Environment of Korea on the area of concern were compared in order to assess the vulnerable areas and the health risk assessment results.
◆ In order to construct a health risk assessment system that incorporates the elements of environmental justice, it is required that an assessment system be developed that primarily considers the environmentally disadvantaged in the entire process of health risk management (planning, diagnosis, assessment, utilization).
◆ To introduce health risk assessment based on the principles of environmental justice, the concept of environmental justice should be taken into account in the health impact assessment and environmental impact assessment, as well as in off-site impact assessment and risk management planning.