Further Information

Information Sources

Where this project focuses on the emissions of POPs from landfills, the related “WAFER” project (Identification and Treatment options for Waste Streams of Certain Bromine Containing Flame Retardants) focused on determining the concentrations of BFRs entering the recycling stream through flame retarded-products and also developing a method of screening contaminated goods for POP-BFRs. You can read about this project and some of its findings though the project’s website (www.wafer-research.com).

Another collaborative research project between NUI Galway and the University of Birmingham has also recently commenced. The “ELEVATE” project (Elucidating Levels and Pathways of Human Exposure in Ireland to POP-BFRs and PFOS) evaluates human exposure to POP-BFRs and PFOS through inhalation of air, ingestion of and dermal contact with household dust, as well as ingestion of water. Further details of this study can be found on the project website (www.nuigalway.ie/elevate/).

The legislation governing the use and treatment of these chemicals stem from the UNEP Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (http://chm.pops.int/TheConvention/Overview/tabid/3351/) and, in Ireland, is governed by various European Commission regulations including the “POPs Directive” (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/international_conventions/index_en.htm), the “WEEE Directive” (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm) and REACH (https://echa.europa.eu/regulations/reach).

References

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/browse/summaries.html

http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/enforcement/epalicensedsitesreportonwasteenforcement2014.html