Synergising International Research Studies into the Environmental Fate and Behaviour of Toxic Organic Chemicals in the Waste Stream

Project Information

INTERWASTE

Grant agreement ID: 734522

DOI

10.3030/734522

Project closed

EC signature date 9 December 2016

Start date 1 January 2017

End date 30 June 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 1 008 000,00

EU contribution

€ 832 500,00

Coordinated by

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INTERWASTE (Synergising International Research Studies into the Environmental Fate and Behaviour of Toxic Organic Chemicals in the Waste Stream)

Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2022-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The overall vision of INTERWASTE was to develop scientific understanding of environmental contamination with toxic organic chemicals (specifically flame retardants (FRs) and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs)) arising from their presence in waste. Examples include the presence of banned FRs in plastic children's toys as a result of such items containing recycled plastics originally treated with FRs. Concerns also exist that facilities for processing waste may emit such banned chemicals to the environment, exposing wildlife and humans. Specific research objectives of INTERWASTE include: (a) exchange of knowledge of and best practice in methods for rapid, cost-effective identification of waste 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 sewage system to provide useful insights into human exposure to such chemicals. INTERWASTE has exchanged best practice in the techniques required to measure FRs and PPCPs, and evaluated the capability of INTERWASTE participants and other organisations to do so, highlighting some strengths but also areas where improvements are required. Particular achievements of INTERWASTE include 35 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. It also disseminated best practice in use of wastewater based epidemiology as a tool for monitoring human exposure to FRs and PPCPs, thereby increasing knowledge of human exposure to these chemicals. The project also enhanced the career development of ~70 early career researchers, equipping them with new skills unobtainable at their employing institution, and building their personal research networks.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Overall, 170.21 EU-funded researcher months were completed, a 92% completion rate. 35 peer-reviewed articles have been published, with one submitted, and others in preparation. INTERWASTE researchers have made 13 conference presentations. The project held 3 meetings (in 2017, 2018, and 2019) to discuss project progress and plans.
Research highlights include:
An international comparative study applying a waste water epidemiology approach to identifying sources of and public exposure to flame retardants and PPCPs was undertaken in 7 cities. Sampling took place in 2018, chemical analysis of samples is complete, and is being interpreted with a view to scientific publication.
An interlaboratory comparison amongst INTERWASTE participants (and other institutions) for flame retardants in waste-related samples has been undertaken. This was 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 have been analysed and interpreted. As well as a project report, the outcomes have been published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at an international conference.
Several secondments have exchanged 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 efficiency of organic contaminant removal by waste water treatment facilities.
Some secondments exchanged expertise in the use of in vitro methods that do not involve laboratory animals to study human metabolism of FRs and enhance understand their fate and impacts on the human body. New insights into the human metabolism of a group of very widely used chemicals (short chain chlorinated paraffins) have been generated, with new analytical methods for measuring these contaminants in plastic consumer items developed.
INTERWASTE has evaluated whether there are viable inexpensive, rapid and user-friendly alternative measurement methods that can replace the current "gold standard" techniques for measuring FRs in waste polymers to check whether they comply with EU limits 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 chlorinated organophosphate FRs.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

NTERWASTE had four strands of research activity.

Strand 1 Characterising and understanding FR emissions from waste and their impacts
INTERWASTE has highlighted the potential for application of simpler, cheaper, faster methods for screening compliance with limit values on halogenated flame retardants in waste. It also highlighted the human exposure risks that may arise if we fail to remove waste articles containing halogenated flame retardants from the recycling stream. It revealed such chemicals to be present in children's plastic toys and assessed the risk of exposure arising from their use. A notable advance has been the development of a technique to measure concentrations of short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in plastic goods. This has been applied to the analysis of plastic products and led to a peer-reviewed publication.

Strand 2 – Wastewater-based epidemiology
INTERWASTE has collected samples of wastewater from the sewer systems of 7 cities worldwide. These samples have been analysed for concentrations of pharmaceutical and personal care products. The data thus produced are under analysis currently. 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. In addition, a critical review of the state-of-knowledge about waste water-based epidemiology and its application to consumer chemicals has been written and is currently under consideration for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Strand 3 – In vitro techniques to study metabolism and dermal uptake of FRs
Secondments in this strand provided new data on the human metabolism of SCCPs and the metabolism of a widely-used brominated flame retardant by enzymes present on human skin. Two peer-reviewed publications have resulted.

Strand 4 - Application of state-of-the-art instrumentation to addressing Strands 1-3, along with promoting contaminant measurement quality and harmonisation
An inter laboratory comparison of the ability of laboratories to measure concentrations of FRs in waste-related samples was conducted. Twelve participants provided data for the same set of samples. The data show reasonably good performance across participating labs, while highlighting some areas for improvement. Such information is vital to ensure that accurate data is generated by laboratories worldwide. The outcomes of this exercise have been written up as a peer-reviewed publication and presented at an international conference. Invaluable training in state-of-the-art techniques for measuring environmental contamination has been provided to early career scientists undertaking secondments. Quality assurance and control protocols employed at one beneficiary that represent best practice have been disseminated to all secondees hosted by that beneficiary, thereby assisting harmonisation of measurement of FRs and PPCPs.

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