Taiwan and China Control Chemicals Listed in the Stockholm Convention

The Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (only in Chinese) has entered three persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed in the Stockholm Convention to its own list of toxic chemicals. The chemicals involved include the group of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE), and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD).

SCCPs function as flame retardants, plasticizers, and additives in other products. The EPA will now classify them as toxic substances of Class 1. The flame retardant DecaBDE will also be listed in Class 1, along with HCBD, which is used as a solvent in the manufacture of rubber mixtures and as a hydraulic, heat-transfer, or transformer fluid. All these uses will be forbidden in the future. Use of HCBD will be permitted only for research and training.

The Chinese Ministry for Ecology and Environment (MEE) (only in Chinese) is implementing the requirements of the Stockholm Convention and forbidding (since end of March 2019) the production, sale, use, import, and export of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and it salts, perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (POSF), lindane, and endosulfan. The last two chemicals are used as insecticides and medications against lice and scabies. Because of their persistence and ecological toxicity, PFOA and POSF will be classified as chemicals of concern in the future.

Only PFOA and its salts along with POSF may be used in the future, according to the exceptions given in the Fact Sheet of the Stockholm Convention.

China signed the Stockholm Convention of the United Nations in May 2001 and ratified it in August 2004.

If you work with POPs and need support, please contact us at sds@kft.de.

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