Phase-out date for hexabromocyclododecane
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To implement the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, on December 26, 2016, the former Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, among other agencies, jointly issued the \"Announcement on the Entry into Force of the Amendment to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Adding Hexabromocyclododecane\" (Announcement No. 84 of 2016; hereinafter referred to as the \"Entry into Force Announcement\"). In 2018, they jointly prepared an **implementation plan for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (updated version)\", stipulating that as of December 26, 2021, the production, use, import, and export of hexabromocyclododecane would be prohibited.
In daily life, people can be exposed to HBCD through various means, such as food, dust, air, textiles, polystyrene products, and electronic devices. In the air, humans come into contact with HBCD through their skin and inhale particles containing HBCD while breathing. Studies have found that non-professional exposed individuals inevitably come into contact with HBCD in the environment or in products, and they are exposed to much lower levels of HBCD compared to professional exposed individuals; as a result, the levels of HBCD in the blood of non-professional exposed individuals are generally much lower than those in professional exposed individuals. Workers at factories that produce expanded polystyrene containing HBCD had higher levels of HBCD in their blood compared to those with no occupational exposure. Therefore, we can see that long-term exposure to HBCD leads to a significant increase in HBCD levels in the human body. The HBCD risk assessment completed by the EU in 2008 concluded that HBCD may cause reproductive and chronic toxicity, whereas it does not exhibit acute toxicity, irritation, sensitization, mutagenicity, or carcinogenicity. When standard industrial hygiene measures are followed, HBCD does not pose a risk to adult consumers or workers. The report also indicates that currently, in the general population, the concentration of HBCD in human tissues is much lower than that in other mammals. Although the concentration of HBCD in human tissues is low, it may still pose a risk to vulnerable groups such as embryos and infants. Researchers suspect that HBCD can impair female fertility and affect fetal development, and it is also likely to harm infants through breast milk. HBCD can be passed on to infants through breast milk; therefore, compared to adults, younger children may ingest more HBCD, which is a matter of concern.
Production has stopped now, and everyone is working on finding alternatives to hexabromocyclododecane, such as methyl octabromide and SBS bromide