On Tuesday 9 March, the European Commission published its third report on the implementation of EU Regulation (850/2004) on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chemical substances that are used in pesticides and industrial processes, last for many years and ‘bioaccumulate’, thereby posing a risk to human health and the environment.
The report, which covers the period 2010-2013, concludes that the regulatory measures established “have had the intended impact”, as emissions of the chemical substances covered by the regulation, which was revised in 2019 (see EUROPE 12275/24), are decreasing within the European Union.
The data show that dioxin and furan emissions, mainly from the domestic use of solid fuels, fell by 45% between 1990 and 2012 in the EU as a whole.
Emissions of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the main source of which is dielectric devices, fell by about 50% between 1990 and 2012.
The falls in emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which derive mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), which is mainly used as a pesticide, were 37% and 54% respectively.
The report states that, while the general trend in the EU is downwards, an increase in emissions of some POPs were found in some Member States, highlighting the need for further work.
The French version of the report can be found at: https://bit.ly/38niBjp (Damien Genicot)