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Consumer spray products release aerosols that can potentially be inhaled and reach the deep parts of the lungs. A thin layer of liquid, containing a mixture of proteins and lipids known as lung surfactant, coats the alveoli. Inhibition of lung surfactant function can lead to acute loss of lung function. We focused on two groups of spray products; 8 cleaning and 13 impregnation products, and in the context of risk assessment, used an in vitro method for assessing inhibition of lung surfactant function. Original spray-cans were used to generate aerosols to measure aerodynamic particle size distribution. We recreated a real-life exposure scenario to estimate the alveolar deposited dose. Most impregnation products inhibited lung surfactant function at the lowest aerosolization rate, whereas only two cleaning products inhibited function at the highest rates. We used inhibitory dose and estimated alveolar deposition to calculate the margin of safety (MoS). The MoS for the inhibitory products was ≤1 for the impregnation products, while much larger for the cleaning products (>880). This risk assessment focused on the risk of lung surfactant function disruption and provides knowledge on an endpoint of lung toxicity that is not investigated by the currently available OECD test guidelines.
Elsevier
2022
While carbon dioxide is the main cause for global warming, modeling short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) such as methane, ozone, and particles in the Arctic allows us to simulate near-term climate and health impacts for a sensitive, pristine region that is warming at 3 times the global rate. Atmospheric modeling is critical for understanding the long-range transport of pollutants to the Arctic, as well as the abundance and distribution of SLCFs throughout the Arctic atmosphere. Modeling is also used as a tool to determine SLCF impacts on climate and health in the present and in future emissions scenarios.
In this study, we evaluate 18 state-of-the-art atmospheric and Earth system models by assessing their representation of Arctic and Northern Hemisphere atmospheric SLCF distributions, considering a wide range of different chemical species (methane, tropospheric ozone and its precursors, black carbon, sulfate, organic aerosol, and particulate matter) and multiple observational datasets. Model simulations over 4 years (2008–2009 and 2014–2015) conducted for the 2022 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) SLCF assessment report are thoroughly evaluated against satellite, ground, ship, and aircraft-based observations. The annual means, seasonal cycles, and 3-D distributions of SLCFs were evaluated using several metrics, such as absolute and percent model biases and correlation coefficients. The results show a large range in model performance, with no one particular model or model type performing well for all regions and all SLCF species. The multi-model mean (mmm) was able to represent the general features of SLCFs in the Arctic and had the best overall performance. For the SLCFs with the greatest radiative impact (CH4, O3, BC, and SO), the mmm was within ±25 % of the measurements across the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, we recommend a multi-model ensemble be used for simulating climate and health impacts of SLCFs.
Of the SLCFs in our study, model biases were smallest for CH4 and greatest for OA. For most SLCFs, model biases skewed from positive to negative with increasing latitude. Our analysis suggests that vertical mixing, long-range transport, deposition, and wildfires remain highly uncertain processes. These processes need better representation within atmospheric models to improve their simulation of SLCFs in the Arctic environment. As model development proceeds in these areas, we highly recommend that the vertical and 3-D distribution of SLCFs be evaluated, as that information is critical to improving the uncertain processes in models.
2022
Siberian Arctic black carbon: gas flaring and wildfire impact
As explained in the latest Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report released in early 2021, the Arctic has warmed 3 times more quickly than the planet as a whole, as well as faster than previously thought. The Siberian Arctic is of great interest mainly because observations are sparse or largely lacking. A research aerosol station has been developed on Bely Island (Kara Sea) in western Siberia. Measurements of equivalent black carbon (EBC) concentrations were carried out at the “Island Bely” station continuously from August 2019 to November 2020. The source origin of the measured EBC and the main contributing sources were assessed using atmospheric transport modeling coupled with the most updated emission inventories for anthropogenic and biomass burning sources of BC.
The obtained climatology for BC during the period of measurements showed an apparent seasonal variation with the highest concentrations between December and April (60 ± 92 ng m−3) and the lowest between June and September (18 ± 72 ng m−3), typical of the Arctic haze seasonality reported elsewhere. When air masses arrived at the station through the biggest oil and gas extraction regions of Kazakhstan, Volga-Ural, Komi, Nenets and western Siberia, BC contribution from gas flaring dominated over domestic, industrial and traffic sectors, ranging from 47 % to 68 %, with a maximum contribution in January. When air was transported from Europe during the cold season, emissions from transportation were more important. Accordingly, shipping emissions increased due to the touristic cruise activities and the ice retreat in summertime. Biomass burning (BB) played the biggest role between April and October, contributing 81 % at maximum in July. Long-range transport of BB aerosols appeared to induce large variability to the absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) with values > 1.0 (excluding outliers). As regards the continental contribution to surface BC at the Island Bely station, Russian emissions dominated during the whole year, while European and Asian ones contributed up to 20 % in the cold period. Quantification of several pollution episodes showed an increasing trend in surface concentrations and frequency during the cold period as the station is directly in the Siberian gateway of the highest anthropogenic pollution sources to the Russian Arctic.
2022
In support of the global stocktake of the Paris Agreement on climate change, this study presents a comprehensive framework to process the results of an ensemble of atmospheric inversions in order to make their net ecosystem exchange (NEE) carbon dioxide (CO2) flux suitable for evaluating national greenhouse gas inventories (NGHGIs) submitted by countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). From inversions we also deduced anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions regrouped into fossil and agriculture and waste emissions, as well as anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. To compare inversion results with national reports, we compiled a new global harmonized database of emissions and removals from periodical UNFCCC inventories by Annex I countries, and from sporadic and less detailed emissions reports by non-Annex I countries, given by national communications and biennial update reports. No gap filling was applied. The method to reconcile inversions with inventories is applied to selected large countries covering ∼90 % of the global land carbon uptake for CO2 and top emitters of CH4 and N2O. Our method uses results from an ensemble of global inversions produced by the Global Carbon Project for the three greenhouse gases, with ancillary data. We examine the role of CO2 fluxes caused by lateral transfer processes from rivers and from trade in crop and wood products and the role of carbon uptake in unmanaged lands, both not accounted for by NGHGIs. Here we show that, despite a large spread across the inversions, the median of available inversion models points to a larger terrestrial carbon sink than inventories over temperate countries or groups of countries of the Northern Hemisphere like Russia, Canada and the European Union. For CH4, we find good consistency between the inversions assimilating only data from the global in situ network and those using satellite CH4 retrievals and a tendency for inversions to diagnose higher CH4 emission estimates than reported by NGHGIs. In particular, oil- and gas-extracting countries in central Asia and the Persian Gulf region tend to systematically report lower emissions compared to those estimated by inversions. For N2O, inversions tend to produce higher anthropogenic emissions than inventories for tropical countries, even when attempting to consider only managed land emissions. In the inventories of many non-Annex I countries, this can be tentatively attributed to a lack of reporting indirect N2O emissions from atmospheric deposition and from leaching to rivers, to the existence of natural sources intertwined with managed lands, or to an underestimation of N2O emission factors for direct agricultural soil emissions. Inversions provide insights into seasonal and interannual greenhouse gas fluxes anomalies, e.g., during extreme events such as drought or abnormal fire episodes, whereas inventory methods are established to estimate trends and multi-annual changes. As a much denser sampling of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 concentrations by different satellites coordinated into a global constellation is expected in the coming years, the methodology proposed here to compare inversion results with inventory reports (e.g., NGHGIs) could be applied regularly for monitoring the effectiveness of mitigation policy and progress by countries to meet the objective of their pledges. The dataset constructed by this study is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5089799 (Deng et al., 2021).
2022
A pooled analysis of molecular epidemiological studies on modulation of DNA repair by host factors
Levels of DNA damage represent the dynamics between damage formation and removal. Therefore, to better interpret human biomonitoring studies with DNA damage endpoints, an individual’s ability to recognize and properly remove DNA damage should be characterized. Relatively few studies have included DNA repair as a biomarker and therefore, assembling and analyzing a pooled database of studies with data on base excision repair (BER) was one of the goals of hCOMET (EU-COST CA15132). A group of approximately 1911 individuals, was gathered from 8 laboratories which run population studies with the comet-based in vitro DNA repair assay. BER incision activity data were normalized and subsequently correlated with various host factors. BER was found to be significantly higher in women. Although it is generally accepted that age is inversely related to DNA repair, no overall effect of age was found, but sex differences were most pronounced in the oldest quartile (>61 years). No effect of smoking or occupational exposures was found. A body mass index (BMI) above 25 kg/m2 was related to higher levels of BER. However, when BMI exceeded 35 kg/m2, repair incision activity was significantly lower. Finally, higher BER incision activity was related to lower levels of DNA damage detected by the comet assay in combination with formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg), which is in line with the fact that oxidatively damaged DNA is repaired by BER. These data indicate that BER plays a role in modulating the steady-state level of DNA damage that is detected in molecular epidemiological studies and should therefore be considered as a parallel endpoint in future studies.
2022
Important clarifications regarding the long-range environmental transport of chemical additives contained in floating plastic debris are presented.
Springer
2022
First documentation of plastic ingestion in the arctic glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus)
Arctic wildlife is facing multiple stressors, including increasing plastic pollution. Seabirds are intrinsic to marine ecosystems, but most seabird populations are declining. We lack knowledge on plastic ingestion in many arctic seabird species, and there is an urgent need for more information to enable risk assessment and monitoring. Our study aimed to investigate the occurrence of plastics in glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) breeding on Svalbard. The glaucous gull is a sentinel species for the health of the arctic marine ecosystem, but there have been no studies investigating plastic occurrence in this species since 1994. As a surface feeder and generalist living in an area with high human activity on Svalbard, we expected to find plastic in its stomach. We investigated for plastic >1 mm and documented plastic ingestion for the first time in glaucous gulls, with a frequency of occurrence of 14.3% (n = 21). The plastics were all identified as user plastics and consisted of polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). Our study provides new quantitative and qualitative data on plastic burden and polymer type reported in a standardized manner establishing a reference point for future research and monitoring of arctic gulls on national and international levels.
Elsevier
2022
2022
Updated trends for atmospheric mercury in the Arctic: 1995–2018
The Arctic region forms a unique environment with specific physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting mercury (Hg) cycles and limited anthropogenic Hg sources. However, historic global emissions and long range atmospheric transport has led to elevated Hg in Arctic wildlife and waterways. Continuous atmospheric Hg measurements, spanning 20 years, and increased monitoring sites has allowed a more comprehensive understanding of how Arctic atmospheric mercury is changing over time. Time-series trend analysis of TGM (Total Gaseous Mercury) in air was performed from 10 circumpolar air monitoring stations, comprising of high-Arctic, and sub-Arctic sites. GOM (gaseous oxidised mercury) and PHg (particulate bound mercury) measurements were also available at 2 high-Arctic sites. Seasonal mean TGM for sub-Arctic sites were lowest during fall ranging from 1.1 ng m−3 Hyytiälä to 1.3 ng m−3, Little Fox Lake. Mean TGM concentrations at high-Arctic sites showed the greatest variability, with highest daily means in spring ranging between 4.2 ng m−3 at Amderma and 2.4 ng m−3 at Zeppelin, largely driven by local chemistry. Annual TGM trend analysis was negative for 8 of the 10 sites. High-Arctic seasonal TGM trends saw smallest decline during summer. Fall trends ranged from −0.8% to −2.6% yr−1. Across the sub-Arctic sites spring showed the largest significant decreases, ranging between −7.7% to −0.36% yr−1, while fall generally had no significant trends. High-Arctic speciation of GOM and PHg at Alert and Zeppelin showed that the timing and composition of atmospheric mercury deposition events are shifting. Alert GOM trends are increasing throughout the year, while PHg trends decreased or not significant. Zeppelin saw the opposite, moving towards increasing PHg and decreasing GOM. Atmospheric mercury trends over the last 20 years indicate that Hg concentrations are decreasing across the Arctic, though not uniformly. This is potentially driven by environmental change, such as plant productivity and sea ice dynamics.
Elsevier
2022
2022
The chemical pollution crisis severely threatens human and environmental health globally. To tackle this challenge the establishment of an overarching international science–policy body has recently been suggested. We strongly support this initiative based on the awareness that humanity has already likely left the safe operating space within planetary boundaries for novel entities including chemical pollution. Immediate action is essential and needs to be informed by sound scientific knowledge and data compiled and critically evaluated by an overarching science–policy interface body. Major challenges for such a body are (i) to foster global knowledge production on exposure, impacts and governance going beyond data-rich regions (e.g., Europe and North America), (ii) to cover the entirety of hazardous chemicals, mixtures and wastes, (iii) to follow a one-health perspective considering the risks posed by chemicals and waste on ecosystem and human health, and (iv) to strive for solution-oriented assessments based on systems thinking. Based on multiple evidence on urgent action on a global scale, we call scientists and practitioners to mobilize their scientific networks and to intensify science–policy interaction with national governments to support the negotiations on the establishment of an intergovernmental body based on scientific knowledge explaining the anticipated benefit for human and environmental health.
Springer
2022
The Covid-19 pandemic and environmental stressors in Europe: synergies and interplays
This report provides an overview of the potential impacts of Covid-19 restrictions, in particular, focusing on review and assessment of Covid-19 impacts on air quality, for the year 2020. Complementary analyses address compliance with the National Emission reductions Commitments (NEC) Directive and noise. This expands the initial analysis of impacts of the pandemic-related restrictions on air quality based on data for the first months of 2020, presented in the EEA Air quality report for 2020. The results show a clear decline in NO2 short-term levels and annual average throughout Europe. Results for other pollutants are less uniform, and mostly do not show significant changes in annual average or other relevant metrics . The results regarding air quality are robust, obtained by a wealth of methods and consistent also with literature findings. The noise analysis shows a general decline in noise levels related to road traffic, though some areas show an increase. An analysis of policies and measures reported by Member States in 2021 for base year 2019 shows that additional measures related to emissions of NH3 are expected to be negatively impacted to the greatest extent by the Covid-19 related restrictions.
ETC/ATNI
2022
Numerical Study of Non-Linear Effects for a Swept Bias Langmuir Probe
We present a numerical study disclosing non-linear effects and hysteresis loops for a swept bias Langmuir probe. A full kinetic particle in cell (PIC) model has been used to study the temporal sheath effects and the probe current. Langmuir "close to steady state" condition is required to characterize the plasma. However, during operations above frequencies normally used, capacitive and non-linear resistive effects are being unveiled. We demonstrate how ion and electron density and temperature change properties of the probe-plasma system. We also show that a swept Langmuir probe exhibits essential properties described as the "fingerprint of memristors" and how a Langmuir probe can be identified as a transversal memristor. Understanding non-linear processes might enable new ways to operate Langmuir probes with higher sampling rates and better accuracy.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
2022
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are found in Antarctic wildlife, with high levels in the avian top predator south polar skua (Catharacta maccormicki). As increasing PFAS concentrations were found in the south polar skua during the breeding season in Antarctica, we hypothesised that available prey during the breeding period contributes significantly to the PFAS contamination in skuas. To test this, we compared PFAS in south polar skuas and their main prey from two breeding sites on opposite sides of the Antarctic continent: Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica) stomach content, eggs, chicks, and adults from Svarthamaren in Dronning Maud Land and Adélie penguin chicks (Pygoscelis adeliae) from Dumont d’Urville in Adélie Land. Of the 22 PFAS analysed, seven were present in the majority of samples, except petrel stomach content [only perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnA) present] and Adélie penguins (only four compounds present), with increasing concentrations from the prey to the skuas. The biomagnification factors (BMFs) were higher at Dumont d’Urville than Svarthamaren. When adjusted to reflect one trophic level difference, the BMFs at Svarthamaren remained the same, whereas the ones at Dumont d’Urville doubled. At both the colonies, the skua PFAS pattern was dominated by perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), followed by PFUnA, but differed with the presence of branched PFOS and perfluorotetradecanoate (PFTeA) and lack of perfluorononanoate (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) at Dumont d’Urville. At Svarthamaren, the pattern in the prey was comparable to the skuas, but with a higher relative contribution of PFTeA in prey. At Dumont d’Urville, the pattern in the prey differed from the skuas, with the domination of PFUnA and the general lack of PFOS in prey. Even though the PFAS levels are low in Antarctic year-round resident prey, the three lines of evidence (pattern, BMF difference, and BMF adjusted to one trophic level) suggest that the Antarctic petrel are the significant source of PFAS in the Svarthamaren skuas, whereas the skuas in Dumont d’Urville have other important sources to PFAS than Adélie penguin, either in the continent or external on the inter-breeding foraging grounds far from Antarctica.
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
The oil and gas (O&G) sector is a significant source of methane (CH4) emissions. Quantifying these emissions remains challenging, with many studies highlighting discrepancies between measurements and inventory-based estimates. In this study, we present CH4 emission fluxes from 21 offshore O&G facilities collected in 10 O&G fields over two regions of the Norwegian continental shelf in 2019. Emissions of CH4 derived from measurements during 13 aircraft surveys were found to range from 2.6 to 1200 t yr−1 (with a mean of 211 t yr−1 across all 21 facilities). Comparing this with aggregated operator-reported facility emissions for 2019, we found excellent agreement (within 1σ uncertainty), with mean aircraft-measured fluxes only 16 % lower than those reported by operators. We also compared aircraft-derived fluxes with facility fluxes extracted from a global gridded fossil fuel CH4 emission inventory compiled for 2016. We found that the measured emissions were 42 % larger than the inventory for the area covered by this study, for the 21 facilities surveyed (in aggregate). We interpret this large discrepancy not to reflect a systematic error in the operator-reported emissions, which agree with measurements, but rather the representativity of the global inventory due to the methodology used to construct it and the fact that the inventory was compiled for 2016 (and thus not representative of emissions in 2019). This highlights the need for timely and up-to-date inventories for use in research and policy. The variable nature of CH4 emissions from individual facilities requires knowledge of facility operational status during measurements for data to be useful in prioritising targeted emission mitigation solutions. Future surveys of individual facilities would benefit from knowledge of facility operational status over time. Field-specific aggregated emissions (and uncertainty statistics), as presented here for the Norwegian Sea, can be meaningfully estimated from intensive aircraft surveys. However, field-specific estimates cannot be reliably extrapolated to other production fields without their own tailored surveys, which would need to capture a range of facility designs, oil and gas production volumes, and facility ages. For year-on-year comparison to annually updated inventories and regulatory emission reporting, analogous annual surveys would be needed for meaningful top-down validation. In summary, this study demonstrates the importance and accuracy of detailed, facility-level emission accounting and reporting by operators and the use of airborne measurement approaches to validate bottom-up accounting.
2022
Content and migration of chemical additives from plastic products
NILU has, on behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency, performed chemical analyses of a selection of additives in plastic products. The goal was to identify content and migration of the chemical additives in and from the products to air and surfaces of the products at room temperature. The plastic products covered extension cord, sockets, flooring, wall papers, upholstery, PC-mouse and PCs. Targeted chemicals were organophosphorous flame retardants (OPFRs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs) including TBBPA, and chlorinated substances. TPHP (triphenyl phosphate) was detected in most sample types, but the highest concentrations were found for TBEP (tris(2-butoxyethyl)phosphate. The highest number of compounds were detected in the PC-mouses and high levels were also found in the surface wipes on PC-mouses. None of the targeted compounds were detected in the air samples.
NILU
2022
Evaluation and Global-Scale Observation of Nitrous Oxide from IASI on Metop-A
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas difficult to estimate by satellite because of its weak spectral signature in the infra-red band and its low variability in the troposphere. Nevertheless, this study presents the evaluation of new tropospheric N2O observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer (IASI) on Metop-A using the Toulouse N2O Retrieval Version 2.0 tool. This tool is based on the Radiative Transfer for Tiros Operational Vertical sounder (RTTOV) model version 12.3 coupled to the Levenberg-Marquardt optimal estimation method enabling the simultaneous retrieval of methane, water vapour, temperature profiles together with surface temperature and emissivity within the 1240–1350 cm−1 window. In this study, we focused on the upper troposphere (300 hPa) where the sensitivity of IASI is significant. The IASI N2O data has been evaluated using aircraft N2O observations from the High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) campaigns in 2009, 2010, and 2011 and from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network (GGGRN) in 2011. In addition, we evaluated the IASI N2O using ground-based N2O measurements from 9 stations belonging to the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). We found a total random error of ∼2 ppbv (0.6%) for one single retrieval at 300 hPa. Under favorable conditions, this error is also found in the vertical level pressure range 300–500 hPa. It decreases rapidly to ∼0.4 ppbv (0.1%) when we average on a 1° × 1° box. In addition, independent observations allows the estimation of bias with the IASI TN2OR v2.0 N2O. The bias between IASI and aircraft N2O data at 300 hPa is ∼1.0 ppbv (∼0.3%). We found an estimated random error of ∼2.3 ppbv (∼0.75%). This study also shows relatively high correlations between IASI data and aircraft in situ profiles but more varying correlations over the year 2011 depending on the location between IASI and NDACC remote sensing data. Finally, we present daily, monthly, and seasonal IASI N2O horizontal distributions in the upper troposphere as well as cross sections for different seasons that exhibit maxima in the Tropical band especially over Africa and South America.
MDPI
2022
Screening Programme 2020, Part 1 and 2: Plastic Additives and REACH Compounds
I screening 2020 gjennomført av Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA) og NILU-Norsk institutt for luftforskning i fellesskap ble det satt søkelys på forekomst og mulige miljøproblemer av 160 kjemikalier. Forbindelser som er valgt ut til Screening 2020 inkluderer tilsetningsstoffer til plast og nylig registrerte stoffer i REACH registeret.
Norsk institutt for vannforskning
2022
Optical properties of surface aerosols at Dome C, Antarctica, in 2007–2013 and their potential source areas are presented. Scattering coefficients (σsp) were calculated from measured particle number size distributions with a Mie code and from filter samples using mass scattering efficiencies. Absorption coefficients (σap) were determined with a three-wavelength Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) and corrected for scattering by using two different algorithms. The scattering coefficients were also compared with σsp measured with a nephelometer at the South Pole Station (SPO). The minimum σap was observed in the austral autumn and the maximum in the austral spring, similar to other Antarctic sites. The darkest aerosol, i.e., the lowest single-scattering albedo ωo≈0.91, was observed in September and October and the highest ωo≈0.99 in February and March. The uncertainty of the absorption Ångström exponent αap is high. The lowest αap monthly medians were observed in March and the highest in August–October. The equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentrations were compared with eBC measured at three other Antarctic sites: the SPO and two coastal sites, Neumayer and Syowa. The maximum monthly median eBC concentrations are almost the same ( ng m−3) at all these sites in October–November. This suggests that there is no significant difference in eBC concentrations between the coastal and plateau sites. The seasonal cycle of the eBC mass fraction exhibits a minimum f(eBC) ≈0.1 % in February–March and a maximum ∼4 %–5 % in August–October. Source areas were calculated using 50 d FLEXPART footprints. The highest eBC concentrations and the lowest ωo were associated with air masses coming from South America, Australia and Africa. Vertical simulations that take BC particle removal processes into account show that there would be essentially no BC particles arriving at Dome C from north of latitude 10∘ S at altitudes
2022
2022
2022
Ecologically unequal exchange arises if more developed economies ('core') shift the environmental burden of their consumption and capital accumulation to less developed economies ('periphery'/'semi-core'). Here we demonstrate that human populations in core regions can benefit from the use of products containing toxic chemicals while transferring to the periphery the risk of human and ecological exposure to emissions associated with manufacturing and waste disposal. We use a global scale substance flow analysis approach to quantify the emissions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a group of flame retardants added to consumer products, that are embodied in the trade of chemicals, products and wastes between seven world regions over the 2000–2020 time period. We find that core regions have off-loaded PBDE emissions, mostly associated with the disposal of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), to semi-core and peripheral regions in mainland China and the Global South. In core regions this results in small emissions that mostly occur during the product use phase, whereas in peripheral regions emissions are much higher and dominated by end of life disposal. The transfer of toxic chemical emissions between core and periphery can be quantified and should be accounted for when appraising the costs and benefits of global trade relationships.
2022