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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INTERWASTE (Synergising International Research Studies into the Environmental Fate and Behaviour of Toxic Organic Chemicals in the Waste Stream)

Teaser

Summary

The overall vision of INTERWASTE is to develop scientific understanding of issues related to environmental contamination with toxic organic chemicals (specifically flame retardants (FRs) and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs)) arising from their presence in the waste stream. Examples of such issues include recent reports of the presence of banned FRs in plastic children\'s toys and food contact articles as a result of such items containing recycled plastics that were originally treated with FRs. Moreover, there are concerns that facilities for processing waste may be a substantial source of such banned chemicals to the environment with implications for exposure of wildlife and humans. Specific research objectives of INTERWASTE include: (a) exchange of knowledge of and best practice in methods for rapid and cost-effective identification of waste items containing restricted FRs; (b) developing scientific understanding of environmental contamination due to processing of waste items containing FRs; and (c) furthering understanding of the sources of PPCPs and FRs in the sewerage system as this can provide useful insights into the extent of human exposure to such chemicals. To facilitate such research on the global level required, INTERWASTE will exchange best practice in the analytical chemistry techniques required to study FRs and PPCPs, and evaluate the measurement capability of INTERWASTE participants via an interlaboratory comparison. INTERWASTE\'s vision will be achieved via a co-ordinated programme of collaboration and research secondments between world-leading research groups both within and outside the EU; coupled with regular workshops to discuss the latest findings. The research programme will exploit the complementary expertise of the consortium members, and in so doing foster synergies. Cross-sectoral interaction and knowledge sharing will be achieved via the participation of organisations from both academic and non-academic sectors. All secondments and workshops will be conducted within a framework designed to maximise the training and career development benefits to participating staff by providing them with opportunities for knowledge and skills acquisition, with a particular (but not exclusive) focus on early career researchers.

Work performed

\"To date, 60 secondments have taken place spanning 125 researcher months. 4 peer-reviewed articles have been published, with several others submitted, and others in preparation. INTERWASTE researchers have also made 6 conference presentations. The project has held 2 meetings (in 2017 and 2018), with the next 2 day meeting planned for August 2019.
Research highlights so far include:
An international comparative study applying a waste water epidemiology approach to identifying sources of and public exposure to flame retardants and PPCPs in 7 cities. Sampling took place in 2018, with analysis currently being undertaken.
An interlaboratory comparison amongst INTERWASTE participants for flame retardants in waste-related samples was launched (February 5th, 2018). This is designed to highlight both strengths and weaknesses in the capacity of the international scientific community to accurately and reliably measure the extent of environmental contamination with FRs. Results from all 12 participating laboratories have been reported and are currently being analysed and interpreted. The outcomes will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Several secondments have involved exchange of expertise in state-of-the-art techniques for the measurement of FRs and PPCPs in waste-related samples. A particular highlight has been the application of targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometric techniques to characterising the organic contaminants present in landfill leachate in South Africa.
In addition, some secondments have been exchanging expertise in the use of in vitro methods that do not involve the use of laboratory animals to study human metabolism of FRs so that we can better understand their fate and impacts on the human body. In particular, new insights into the human metabolism of a group of very widely used chemicals (short chain chlorinated paraffins) have been generated.
Finally, INTERWASTE secondments have been evaluating whether there are viable inexpensive, rapid and user-friendly alternative measurement methods that can be used to replace the current \"\"gold standard\"\" techniques for measuring FRs in waste polymers to check whether they comply with EU limits on concentrations of some FRs in such articles. They have contributed to evaluations of the applicability of such techniques for monitoring compliance with EU limit values for brominated flame retardants commissioned by the Irish government and have highlighted their potential utility for monitoring compliance with any future limit values introduced for chlorinate organophosphate flame retardants.\"

Final results

NTERWASTE has four strands of research activity. These are:

Strand 1 Characterising and understanding FR emissions from waste and their impacts
Progress to date here has highlighted the potential for application of simpler, cheaper, faster methods for screening compliance with limit values on halogenated flame retardants in waste. INTERWASTE has also highlighted the human exposure risks that may arise if we fail to remove waste articles containing halogenated flame retardants from the recycling stream. For example, INTERWASTE has shown such chemicals to be present in children\'s plastic toys and has assessed the risk of exposure arising from their use.

Strand 2 â€“ Wastewater-based epidemiology
Progress thus far here has been largely focused on collecting samples of wastewater from the sewer systems of Cartagena (Colombia), Lagos (Nigeria), Mendoza (Argentina), Bristol (UK), Durban (South Africa), Antwerp (Belgium), and Brisbane (Australia). These samples are currently being analysed by INTERWASTE partners. This is one of the largest, most geographically diverse studies of its kind to date and will provide new insights into the extent of chemical use in the cities studied.

Strand 3 â€“ In vitro techniques to study metabolism and dermal uptake of FRs
Progress over the 1st 2 years of the project has provided new data on the human metabolism of a very widely-used class of chemicals (short chain chlorinated paraffins). It has also generated what we believe to be the first data on the metabolism of a widely-used brominated flame retardant by enzymes present on human skin.

Strand 4 - Application of state-of-the-art instrumentation to addressing Strands 1-3, along with promoting contaminant measurement quality and harmonization
Over the 1st 24 months of the project, substantial progress has been made with the inter laboratory comparison. Twelve participants have provided data for the same set of samples. These data are now being analysed and interpreted to highlight aspects for which there is good agreement between different laboratories and where there is not. Such information is vital to ensure that accurate data is generated by laboratories worldwide. In addition, invaluable training in state-of-the-art techniques for measuring environmental contamination has been provided to early career scientists undertaking secondments.