Comprehensive Interpretation of the 2023 Edition of the List of New Pollutants under Key Control

Release time:

2023-09-20 13:49

The "List of Key Control New Pollutants (2023 Edition)" issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has been implemented on March 1, 2023, and 14 new pollutants have been included in the scope of the key control list. Among them, the transitional period is reserved for the prohibition or restriction measures for some existing uses, and the deadline is December 31, 2023. For example, short chain chlorinated paraffin 2, clone and its cis isomer and trans isomer will be prohibited from January 1, 2024. Production, processing, use, import and export are prohibited from January 1, 2024.

What are new pollutants?

New pollutants (Emerging contaminants, referred to as ECs) refer to newly discovered or concerned pollutants that have risks to the ecological environment or human health, have not been included in the management or existing management measures are not enough to effectively prevent and control their risks.

The environmental and health risks of such substances are relatively hidden. Even if they enter the environment at a low dose, they may bring risks and hidden dangers to human health, environmental health and environmental safety.

Control actions

For the new pollutants listed in the list, the state shall take measures to prohibit, restrict and limit the discharge of environmental risks. According to relevant laws and regulations, departments at all levels of ecological environment, industry and information technology, agriculture and rural areas, commerce, market supervision and management, as well as customs, strengthen the control and treatment of new pollutants in accordance with the division of responsibilities in accordance with the law, and dynamically release the list of key control and control new pollutants and their environmental risk control measures such as prohibition, restriction and discharge.

List interpretation (see the list below for a specific list)

Numbers 1-9 are defined as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Persistent organic pollutants have the characteristics of environmental persistence and bioaccumulation. Once they enter the environment, they are not easy to degrade, and even very low concentrations may cause greater environmental risks. Taking into account the compliance requirements, environmental risk control measures based on source prohibition or restriction are mainly adopted for such new pollutants, and the basic situation of substitutes and alternative technologies is comprehensively evaluated, and the impact on production enterprises and their downstream industrial chains is analyzed., The prohibition or restriction measures for some existing uses have reserved a transition period, allowing time for enterprises to completely replace and management departments to improve their regulatory capabilities.

No. 10-11 is a new pollutant that has been listed in the list of toxic and harmful air pollutants or the list of toxic and harmful water pollutants and needs to be controlled. These two types of new pollutants in China's production and consumption are large, widely used. Although the relevant management departments have taken some use and emission control measures, environmental risks still exist, mainly focusing on the point source emissions of production and use enterprises, and the environmental risks caused by the environmental emissions of related products in the consumption process. In view of the main environmental risk points, environmental risk control measures, including use restrictions, product content restrictions, pollutant discharge control and environmental risk early warning, are adopted, covering the main environmental risk links, highlighting the whole life cycle environmental risk prevention and control.

No. 12 is an environmental endocrine disruptor nonylphenol that has recently been highly concerned by the society. In China, nonylphenol is mainly used in the production of surfactants-nonylphenol ethoxylates, a small part of the pesticide additives. The main environmental risks focus on the point source emissions of production and use enterprises, as well as the environmental risks caused by the environmental emissions of related products in the use process. Combined with my country's current management regulations, three control measures are adopted: one is to prohibit the use of nonylphenol as an auxiliary to produce pesticide products; the other is to prohibit the use of nonylphenol to produce nonylphenol polyoxyethylene ether; the third is to prohibit the use of nonylphenol Phenol is used as a cosmetic component.

No. 13 is an antibiotic substance of high concern at home and abroad. The environmental hazards of antibiotics are mainly manifested in the problem of bacterial resistance caused by the transfer of drug-resistant genes between the flora through the environment. The main environmental risks focus on the environmental emissions caused by excessive and irregular use. Three main environmental risk control measures are adopted: one is to strictly implement the relevant national management regulations on the sales and use of antibacterial drugs to reduce environmental emissions caused by excessive and irregular use; the second is to treat antibiotics according to the national hazardous waste list or hazardous waste identification standards. Implement environmental management of antibiotic residue produced during the production process; the third is to strictly implement the "Discharge Standards for Water Pollutants in the Fermented Pharmaceutical Industry" and other relevant emission control requirements.

Number 14 is a persistent organic pollutant that has been eliminated in my country. The main environmental risk control measures taken are to continue to strictly implement the current source prohibition, solid waste environmental management and soil pollution risk control requirements.

List of Key New Pollutants under Control (2023 Edition)

(Promulgated by Order No. 28 of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration for Market Regulation on December 29, 2022, and shall come into force on March 1, 2023)

Article 1 This list is formulated in accordance with the "the People's Republic of China Environmental Protection Law", "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening the Fight against Pollution", and the "New Pollutant Control Action Plan" issued by the General Office of the State Council and other relevant laws, regulations and normative documents.

Article 2 New pollutants mainly come from the production and use of toxic and harmful chemical substances.

This list is determined according to the environmental risks of toxic and hazardous chemical substances, combined with the actual supervision, after technical feasibility and economic and social impact assessment.

Article 3 For new pollutants included in this list, environmental risk control measures such as prohibition, restriction, and emission restriction shall be taken in accordance with relevant national regulations.

Article 4 Departments of ecological environment, industry and information technology, agriculture and rural areas, commerce, market supervision and management and customs at all levels shall, in accordance with the division of responsibilities, strengthen the control and treatment of new pollutants in accordance with the law.

Article 5 This list shall be dynamically adjusted according to the actual situation.

Article 6 This list shall come into force as of March 1, 2023.

Schedule

List of Key Control New Pollutants