科研成果 by Type: 期刊论文

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs), mainly short-chain CPs (SCCPs) and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs), are currently the most produced and used industrial chemicals related to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) globally. These chemicals are widely detected in the environment and in the human body. As the release of SCCPs and MCCPs from products represents only a small fraction of their stock in products, the potential long-term release of CPs from a large variety of products at the waste stage has become an issue of great concern. The results of this study showed that, by 2050, SCCPs and MCCPs used between 2000 and 2021 will cumulatively generate 226.49 Mt of CP-containing wastes, comprising 8610.13 kt of SCCPs and MCCPs. Approximately 79.72 Mt of CP-containing wastes is predicted to be generated abroad through the international trade of products using SCCPs and MCCPs. The magnitude, distribution, and growth of CP-containing wastes subject to environmentally sound disposal will depend largely on the relevant provisions of the Stockholm and Basel Conventions and the forthcoming global plastic treaty. According to multiple scenarios synthesizing the provisions of the three conventions, 26.6–101.1 Mt of CP-containing wastes will be subject to environmentally sound disposal as POP wastes, which would pose a great challenge to the waste disposal capacity of China, as well as for countries importing CP-containing products. The additional 5-year exemption period for MCCPs is expected to see an additional 10 Mt of CP-containing wastes subject to environmentally sound disposal. Thus, there is an urgent need to strengthen the Stockholm and Basel Conventions and the global plastic treaty.

各类塑料制品中广泛分布的塑料添加剂赋予塑料以阻燃、增塑和抗氧化等优异功能，但其中已有100多种因其潜在的环境和健康危害性被列入欧盟高关注物质（SVHCs）候选清单.以上SVHCs普遍分布在各类塑料及各行业产品中，比较集中分布在PVC和PUR等类塑料和包装、汽车、建材、电子电器和纺织等行业中.在不同功能的SVHCs中，增塑剂和阻燃剂用量最高，品类相对集中，一直是国内外化学品风险评估和风险管理关注的重点.现有研究已建立起塑料制品中SVHCs物质流分析方法，揭示出PBDEs、HBCD和PAEs等典型阻燃剂和增塑剂类SVHCs在塑料制品全生命周期普遍存在的环境和健康风险；大量SVHCs随塑料产品寿命终结进入废物阶段，揭示了各类含SVHCs塑料废物环境无害化管理的重要性.除在产品使用周期发生的环境释放外，各种形式的塑料泄露所产生的塑料碎片，构成了环境中各种SVHCs的长期释放源，对生态环境和人体健康造成持久威胁.未来亟需重视各类塑料制品中大量潜在有害化学品的识别及其全生命周期环境释放与风险评估研究，尤其包括塑料中有害化学品排放系数测算、动态物质流分析方法的优化，以及塑料泄露途径有害化学品释放机制研究等. 

Persistent, mobile, and toxic (PMT) substances are affecting the safety of drinking water and are threatening the environment and human health. Many PMT substances are used in industrial processing or consumer products, but their sources and emissions mostly remain unclear. This study presents a long-term source distribution and emission estimation of melamine, a high-production-volume PMT substance of emerging global concern. The results indicate that in China, approximately 1858.7 kilotonnes (kt) of melamine were released into the water (∼58.9%), air (∼27.0%), and soil systems (∼14.1%) between 1995 and 2020, mainly from its production and use in the decorative panels, textiles, and paper industries. The textile and paper industries have the highest emission-to-consumption ratios, with more than 90% emissions per unit consumption. Sewage treatment plants are the largest source of melamine in the environment for the time being, but in-use products and their wastes will serve as significant melamine sources in the future. The study prompts priority action to control the risk of PMT substances internationally.

Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) is the main alternative to decabromodiphenyl ether (deca-BDE) in commercial use. However, there is increasing evidence show that DBDPE is a potential persistent organic pollutant, and it has been found ubiquitously in environmental media across China in recent years. Monitoring studies have not been able to determine the overall levels and temporal trends of DBDPE contamination in China, and have been unable to explain how emission patterns can affect their environmental distribution. Therefore, this study estimated the temporal variance of DBDPE emissions and environmental concentrations in five regions of China from 2006 to 2026 using the PROduction-To-EXposure (PROTEX) mass balance model. The results showed that Guangdong Province was the greatest DBDPE pollution hotspot in China due to emissions from plastics manufacturing and e-waste disposal; there was also severe pollution in Shandong Province, where almost all the DBDPE in China is produced. The DBDPE concentrations in indoor and outdoor environments increased substantially in all regions during 2006–2021. Furthermore, in Guangdong Province and Shandong Province, the ratio of indoor/outdoor air concentrations was greater than or close to 1, indicative of significant outdoor emission sources of DBDPE. In contrast, the ratios for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, East China, and Southwest China were below 1 due to the indoor use of electronic equipment containing DBDPE. The temporal trends of these ratios indicated that DBDPE contamination has gradually spread from high-concentration environments with strong emission sources to low-concentration environments. The outcomes of this study have important implications for the risk assessment of DBDPE use in China and can be used to establish contamination-mitigation actions.

持久性、迁移性、毒性或高持久和高迁移性化学品(PMT/vPvM)在全球地表水、地下水和饮用水水体已被广泛检出, 是未来可能显著影响人类健康和环境的一类重要新兴污染物.按照欧盟提议的鉴别标准, 现有化学品中的PMT/vPvM数以千计, 涉及用途广泛, 包括三聚氰胺等数10种较高产量的工业化学品.PMT/vPvM可通过农田径流、工业废水和生活污水排入环境, 污水处理厂目前被认为是其主要排放途径.因难以被现行常规水处理技术有效去除, PMT/vPvM可长期存在于城镇人居环境水循环系统中, 危及居民饮用水及生态系统安全.欧盟已率先开始将PMT/vPvM专门纳入现行化学品风险管理体系中的优先范畴.目前, 环境中仍有众多潜在PMT/vPvM, 其监测方法亟待进一步完善, 物质鉴定、类别范围及清单建立均尚需时日; PMT/vPvM在全球各地区的环境分布和暴露研究十分有限, 其潜在、长期的生态毒性和人体健康危害效应研究较为匮乏.与此同时, 替代品或替代技术以及污水处理、污染场地修复等环境工程治理技术的研究和开发, 都将成为未来PMT/vPvM风险科学研究与管理决策的迫切需求. 持久性、迁移性、毒性或高持久和高迁移性化学品(PMT/vPvM)在全球地表水、地下水和饮用水水体已被广泛检出, 是未来可能显著影响人类健康和环境的一类重要新兴污染物.按照欧盟提议的鉴别标准, 现有化学品中的PMT/vPvM数以千计, 涉及用途广泛, 包括三聚氰胺等数10种较高产量的工业化学品.PMT/vPvM可通过农田径流、工业废水和生活污水排入环境, 污水处理厂目前被认为是其主要排放途径.因难以被现行常规水处理技术有效去除, PMT/vPvM可长期存在于城镇人居环境水循环系统中, 危及居民饮用水及生态系统安全.欧盟已率先开始将PMT/vPvM专门纳入现行化学品风险管理体系中的优先范畴.目前, 环境中仍有众多潜在PMT/vPvM, 其监测方法亟待进一步完善, 物质鉴定、类别范围及清单建立均尚需时日; PMT/vPvM在全球各地区的环境分布和暴露研究十分有限, 其潜在、长期的生态毒性和人体健康危害效应研究较为匮乏.与此同时, 替代品或替代技术以及污水处理、污染场地修复等环境工程治理技术的研究和开发, 都将成为未来PMT/vPvM风险科学研究与管理决策的迫切需求.

Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively) have raised environmental concern due to their potential for persistence, long-range transport, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. However, little is known about the production, use, and environmental emissions of SCCPs and MCCPs in China, the world’s largest producer and consumer. In this study, we estimated the amounts of SCCPs and MCCPs produced and used in China in 2018–2019 based on a nationwide survey and measurements of concentrations in products, from which we estimated the environmental emissions of SCCPs and MCCPs in China. Our results show that 225.2 and 236.4 metric kilotons (kt) of SCCPs and 428.5 and 450.2 kt of MCCPs were used in China in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) products dominating SCCP and MCCP usage. Moreover, a total of 3.9 and 4.2 kt SCCPs and 3.8 and 4.1 kt MCCPs were emitted into China’s environment in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Although less MCCPs are released into the air relative to SCCPs, their level exceeds the emission of SCCPs into soil. Finally, detailed mass balance calculation indicates that, although emissions from the use of PVC products dominate SCCP and MCCP inputs into the air, emissions from the use of polyurethane foam adhesives are more closely related to input into surface waters for SCCPs and MCCPs. For input into soil, the main emission sources are the use of polyurethane foam adhesives (for SCCPs) and rubber products (for MCCPs). This study provides a preliminary overview of the distributions of SCCPs and MCCPs in products and insight into the mass balance of SCCPs and MCCPs from their production and use to emission in China. This assessment also provides an important foundation for better understanding the environmental risks and fates associated with SCCPs and MCCPs in China and around the world.

Recent studies have revealed that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important source of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) in the environment. However, it remains unclear whether volatilization to the atmosphere or discharge with wastewater effluent into receiving water bodies is the dominant pathway through which FTOHs enter the environment; it also remains unclear how the relative importance of these two emission pathways varies among seasons and homologs. Here, we estimated the emissions of 6:2 and 8:2 FTOHs through these two pathways from a typical WWTP in Beijing, China, by measuring height-dependent air concentrations above the wastewater surface; we also measured wastewater concentrations among the four annual seasons. Our results showed that atmospheric emissions dominate total annual FTOH emissions, but are not dominant in every single season. Emission to the aquatic environment is dominant during seasons with less wind (i.e., summer and fall). While the abundance of 6:2 FTOH has increased in recent years, 8:2 FTOH remains the major FTOH homolog released into the environment in China. This study provides comprehensive information regarding FTOH emissions from WWTPs to the environment and practical guidance for future monitoring practices.

Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) is an alternative to the commercial decabromodiphenyl ether (deca-BDE) mixture but has potentially similar persistence, bioaccumulation potential and toxicity. While it is widely used as a flame retardant in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in China, DBDPE could be distributed globally on a large scale with the international trade of EEE emanating from China. Here, we performed a dynamic substance flow analysis to estimate the time-dependent mass flows, stocks and emissions of DBDPE in China, and the global spread of DBDPE originating in China through the international trade of EEE and e-waste. Our analysis indicates that, between 2006 and 2016, ∼230 thousand tonnes (kt) of DBDPE were produced in China; production, use and disposal activities led to the release of 196 tonnes of DBDPE to the environment. By the end of 2016, ∼152 kt of the DBDPE produced resided in in-use products across China. During the period 2000–2016, ∼39 kt of DBDPE were exported from China in EEE products, most of which (>50%) ended up in North America. Based on projected trends of China's DBDPE production, use and EEE exports, we predict that, by 2026, ∼74 and ∼14 kt of DBDPE originating in China will reside in in-use and waste stocks, respectively, in regions other than mainland China, which will act as long-term emission sources of DBDPE worldwide. This study discusses the considerable impact of DBDPE originating in China and distributed globally through the international trade of EEE; this is projected to occur on a large scale in the near future, which necessitates countermeasures.

    While short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) comprise a myriad of components whose physicochemical properties are extremely diverse, many previous studies characterized the SCCP mixtures collectively using a single set of physicochemical properties when modeling the global environmental fate and risk. In this work, we explore whether a discrepancy exists between simulations based on a single set of physicochemical properties and multiple component-specific ones in global fate and risk modeling, and the environmental condition (e.g., proximity to emission source vs. temperature) in which such a discrepancy is most notable. We simulated the environmental concentrations and compartmental distribution of SCCPs, using a mechanistic fugacity-based multimedia BETR-Global model. We observed a discrepancy between modeled concentrations based on a single and multiple sets of properties, which is more notable in regions with a low temperature and negligible emissions, e.g., the remote and cold background Arctic region. The modeled compartmental distribution differs slightly between simulations based on different sets of physicochemical properties. While using a single set of properties minimizes input data required for model-based evaluation of the risk of SCCPs, it tends to underestimate the environmental occurrence and risk in remote and cold regions, which are vulnerable and hence deserve a more conservative evaluation conclusion, and prevents us from drawing conclusions on which SCCP component is of greatest concern. The current work can be a relevant step towards improving the methodology for global environmental modeling and risk assessment of SCCPs and other complex halogenated chemical mixtures.

While it has been acknowledged that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is associated with human diseases, the overall disease burden attributable to the exposure to a specific EDC has rarely been evaluated. Based on existing models for assessing probabilities of causation and a comprehensive review of available data, we analyzed the burden of three diseases, i.e., male infertility, adult obesity, and diabetes, among the general Chinese population resulting from exposure to phthalates. Our estimation indicates that exposure to phthalates is associated with ~2.50 million cases of the three diseases across China in 2010, causing ~57.2 billion Chinese Yuan (equivalent to ~9 billion US dollars) of health care costs in a year. Male infertility has the largest number of cases, followed by adult obesity and diabetes. Based on these phthalate-specific estimates, we further estimated that the total disease cost due to exposure to the overall EDCs amounted to ~429.43 billion Chinese Yuan in China in 2010, accounting for 1.07% of nationwide gross domestic product (GDP). When comparing our results with an earlier estimate for the European Union (EU) member countries, we find that exposure to phthalates leads to quite a similar disease burden per unit of GDP in both regions. Our study illustrates the considerable socio-economic impact of EDC exposure on human society, implying the imperative need for global risk reduction actions on EDCs, especially in view of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.